Machine Embroidery - Bigger Isn't Always Better

I've been working on needle felted designs for a jacket project I will be teaching in August in Puyallup and Silverdale, The Felted Jacket. We'll be doing something out of the ordinary (I don't know if I'm capable of doing the ordinary anyway) - a jacket that is not only embellished with needle felted designs but is also constructed using a needle felting machine (or tool).

So, I've also been auditioning various machine embroidery designs to use with these jackets. There are several ways to incorporate machine embroidery with needle felting. In this instance, I am looking at this outline design to be placed over the top of a background of colorful needle felted fibers.I was really glad I 'auditioned' this particular design, for as you can see - bigger wasn't better. these are both stitched out onto two layers of cutaway embroidery stabilizer, to fit into the same sized hoop. I love this design - The Three Graces - and my usual strategy is to make it as large as possible. (I'm in love with the huge hoops for my Pfaff Creative Vision!) But when I enlarged the design, I lost some of the detail - most noticeably in the hands and faces. It was an important lesson for me - not everything enlarges gracefully (no pun intended). I'm going to try a couple of different resizing programs - just in case - but chances are I'll stick with the original size. Stay posted for the jacket design!

Templates for Perfect Machine Embroidery

...or at least as close to perfect as machine embroidery can be. I have a super fabulous sewing/embroidery machine that does gorgeous work and is a joy to use. Its largest hoop is big enough to step through! But I've yet to see a machine embroidery project that doesn't lend itself to multiple 'learning opportunities' - which is what we in education call 'mistakes'.

The secret is templates - or more accurately, templates, outlines and placement stickers. Proper use of any and all of these make a big difference in the quality of your embroidery output. Especially when you are combining designs, creating large multi-hoop (or hoop turning) designs, or placing your design in very particular locations, such as matching collar points, pockets, etc. Or all of the above as I often find myself when I'm making stitch out samples for Sew Fun.

Embroidery design templates are easily created using most embroidery software. A full-sized picture of the design is printed with crosshairs that make it easier to align the design in the hoop. These are especially handy when printed onto semitransparent or special temporary adhesive paper. Use these not only to make sure your design is positioned correctly, but also for doing a design layout. I prefer to do my multiple design combinations using my software, but for many people it's much easier to use templates instead. With older software or smaller hoops it is necessary to stitch designs out using multiple hoopings, which makes templates essential.

Placement stickers are a great aid to use along with template to ensure that you really are placing your design where you intended it. Designs in Machine Embroidery (Eileen Roche) produces a large selection of placement stickers as well as handy tools such as special rulers and even an angle finder, for those times when you have accidentally hooped your fabric at a different angle than expected.

My personal favorite tool is using stitchout outlines. Nancy Zieman has a fantastic new product on the market called Place and Stitch. It's a very simple concept - it comes with a CD full of outlines of common embroidered objects - collar shapes, bibs, geometric shapes (which you can resize to fit various needs), etc. I would recommend it for anyone who likes to embroider on ready-made items, especially. Of all the various methods, so far I have the best success in creating mirror images on garment components (matching collars, button bands, etc.).

I've taken this same concept and put my own spin on it - when embroidering items prior to construction. Using a scanner, a .jpg file is made of the pattern piece, which can then be interpreted by embroidery software into an embroidery design. Combine that design with your decorative designs (keeping colors separate and the outline in the first stitch order) and you know your embroideries will be exactly where planned. You can't see it in this picture, but underneath the cutout front vest panel is an outline of the piece that showed me precisely where to place it on the stabilizer.

Here is a photo of the embroidered front sections of the vest showing the mirrored alignment on both sides:

Of course there is still thread, needle, stabilizer, tension - and other various potential mishaps. But if you use these tools wisely and accurately at least your placement won't be a nasty surprise!