There's so much more to decorative stitching than just embroidery and even that has changed over the years. It doesn't have to be boring. Embroidery can be used on appliqués or to make free standing lace that can be sewn to a quilt.
Embroidermodder is a free open source program for designing machine embroidery. It is compatible with several different machines and capable of reading/writing a variety of files, including PES.
Embroidery is typically added to clothing with stabilizer beneath it. This method doesn't work as well in quilting because it interferes with the drape of the fabric and makes the quilt stiff. Embroidery for a quilt is best done with a dip stabilizer.
Fabric Stabilizer (Perfect Sew): Add 1/2 teaspoon of clear Dawn dishwashing soap and 2 ounces of Elmer's clear washable glue to 16 ounces of cold water. Stir to combine. Spray on or soak fabric until wet. Allow to dry until damp before ironing. Stabilizes foundation fabric and appliqués.
Wash Away Stabilizer from Thread Art at $1.75/20" yard is the only kind you need for creating the lace effect. It has the strength and properties of traditional tear away stabalizer with the added security of being water soluble so that it doesn't stiffen your work. Stand alone embroidery is stitched to the quilt the same as an appliqué.
Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester and Metallic are the best to use for embroidery.
YLI Silk is the best to use for thread painting.
H-M 60/08: Microtex Sharp for Thread painting w/100 wt. silk thread; 70/10 w/clear polyester thread; 80/12 w/water soluble thread.
Spring with a Microtex Sharp needle for thread painting.
H-ET 75/11: Gold Embroidery for embroidery w/40 wt. Trilobal Polyester.
DE 80/12: Double Eye Embroidery w/60 wt. fine thread. This needle is perfect for adding shadow to Celtic Knotwork.
The foot you need for embroidery is either the 7mm Satin Stitch foot on the left or the 9mm Open Toe foot on the right. The 7mm foot is limited to 1/4" wide stitches. The 9mm foot is spaced for wider stitches and is the better option. They both have a deep sole for the passing of raised stitches under the foot.
Don't use Brother's Monogramming foot. It was designed for use with the built-in monogramming stitches which are not embroidery. They are 1/4" wide straight stitches only suitable for labeling clothing, like your child's name on the inside of a jacket, etc. I suppose they were intended to replace a laundry pen, but I'm not impressed with them. The foot also has a flat sole which isn't suitable for embroidery.
These are some ideas if you have a machine with built in decorative stitches, but don't know what to do with them. The stitches are only a 1/4" wide.
Some of them like Stipple, Greek Key, Offset Squares, Loop, Wave, Crosshatch, and Diamond make great fillers for micro quilting.
A Border Guide foot is used for evenly spaced decorative stitches.
Variegated embroidery thread makes decorative stitches really stand out.
Leaves, snowflakes and flowers can be used to decorate seams, sashing and borders.
Use them to decorate Easter eggs or Christmas tree ornaments and appliqué them onto a quilt.
Make a Crazy quilt using every decorative stitch on your machine. But, don't stop there. A Crazy quilt begs to be embellished. Embroidery, cording, couching, beads, sequins, rick rack, braid, lace, and silk ribbon can all be added.
Use a Zigzag foot for Crazy foundation piecing.
A Flower Stitch foot lets you create cute flowers with different stitch settings on your machine.
Embroider monograms or beadwork designs on craft foam for a raised effect. Stick foam to fabric, sew, and tear away excess foam.
Another kind of raised embroidery is done with the Fringe Looping foot. The threads can be cut or left intact.
Cording feet for attaching crochet thread or embroidery floss. Size 10 crochet cotton, also called tatting thread, or embroidery floss will work for this method.
The Couching foot lets you embellish your stencil designs with yarn. It's a great way to outline stained glass blocks. The low shank model on the left come as a set of 3 for $12.99. The Janome model on the right comes as a kit with two feet and two guides for size 3 and 4 yarn. It is $39.99. The best yarn to use is Caron Simply soft because of its smooth texture.
The Chemille foot lets you sew multiple strip layers to a foundation. Those strips are cut with a chenille cutter and then roughed up with a brush or washed.
Ribbon & Sequins foot for attaching 1/4" silk ribbon and sequins.
A Braiding foot for attaching braid and rick rack.
Beading feet for embellishing with string beads. They're available in 2.5 and 4mm. Pfaff also has 6 and 8mm beading feet.
No comments:
Post a Comment