My last blog post was a tutorial on stitching an ITH ( in the hoop) project that was partially done in the hoop and then finished up on the sewing machine….
This weeks post is a tutorial on a really cute little needle organizer made entirely in the hoop…
Sometimes I am in the middle of one project and have to take a temporary detour and patch jeans real quick or put in a hem or something that requires a different size needle… so I needed a place to put my used (but not used up) needle while I stitch with a different size needle… this little organizer is perfect….
have fun with this one… I used cork and just regular quilting cotton to make this handy organizer…
An in the hoop embroidery project means a project will be applique’d or embroidered in the hoop… some ITH projects are done entirely in the hoop and some are done partially in the hoop and then finished on the sewing machine.
ITH designs are easy and fun and you just sit and watch your embroidery machine construct the project for you!
This project is an ITH design from Sweet Pea… it comes in two sizes and in this video I am making the larger size.
I’m using cotton fabrics, thermolamb fleece, cotton thread and Embroidery thread…I have a 90/14 needle in the machine and I am using Vilene water soluable stabilizer…
I printed off the PDF file that was in the design file I downloaded and simply followed the steps…
There are many many different kinds of ITH designs, even quilt blocks!
Did you know there are design files you can purchase that are greeting cards? Well, there sure are! You can use your embroidery machine to create lovely greeting cards of any kind….❤️
Materials needed….
cut away stabilizer ( to fit oval hoop)
3/16 wide double stick permanent tape
Card Stock in your choice of color, texture ect…
rulers and rotory cutter and scissors
Two colors of embroidery thread in your choice…
60 weight bobbin thread
a 65/9 universal needle
I used design number 12557-22 Valentine’s Card from OESD
You can use regular fleece or any fabric with similar stretch…
I used design M23263 from Embroidery Library
You will need three colors of thread if you use this design
You will need sticky back tear away stabilizer
You will need cut away stabilizer
regular sewing thread to finish
Due to the thickness of the luxe fleece I did not use my high tension yellow bobbin… I just used my regular black bobbin and filled it with 60 wt. bobbin thread…
Cut the fleece 12 by 22 with the most stretch going the 22 inch length… measure in from the left end 8 inches and then six inches up to find center and put a pin … this is the center of your design…
Hoop the sticky back tear away stabilizer, burp the hoop and take off the paper … fold the fleece lengthwise with right sides together and lay on the stabilizer so the pin is in the center of the hoop and use your top and bottom center hoop markings to line up the fleece and lightly press down …unfold and press the other side…
Load your design… I rotated my design just a little bit to make the rose sit in an upright position…
float the cut away under your hoop, lay the wss stabilizer on top of your fleece..stitch a basting box and stitch out your design…
when finished, remove basting stitches, cut the cut away close to stitching being careful and remove wss from top.
fold neck warmer lengthwise rst. stitch using 1/2 inch seam…
finger press seam open… reach in and without twisting, grab the other end of the seam and pull through to match the lengthwise seam ends… stitch a few inches leaving an opening to turn the neck warmer right side out and close the opening using a ladder stitch…
the lengthwise seam goes down the center of the neck warmer and the end seam is center back…
If you are seeing loops, or skipped stitches in your embroidery or sewing projects or having thread breakage, it might be your needle…Using the correct needle and correct stabilizer, sewing at a reasonable speed, and knowing the requirements for the fabric you are using is not a hard task if you think it through…
If you are stitching on denim, what needle would you use? what stabilizer if it is embroidery?Are you using good quality thread or old, dried out and brittle thread? Are you using metallic thread and can’t get ten stitches sewn without breakage?
The eye of a needle is a fascinating thing… needle eyes are round, long, oval and short… points are sharp, ball point, knit designed, denim designed, leather designed…you name it…Thread actually goes through the eye of a needle several times before it becomes a stitch in your project …
The way a spool of thread is wound is also a point to remember when trouble shooting stitching issues…Metallic thread must come off the spool straight and must have a needle eye big enough to allow it to move through forward and backward several times, and metallic thread does not like friction so a much slower speed is required…
I store all my thread in a dark, dry and dust free place… sunlight and the rise and fall of humidity in a room, seasons changing from spring (moist) to winter (dry) and just the amount of dust in the room, fabric makes a lot of lint dust…all affect how your thread will behave…Below is a suggested guide for needle use… the cover photo shows some various needle eye sizes…
Have fun sewing, it should be a wonderful experience….
When I got my bernina and handed over all that cash, I decided that what ever I wanted to do I was going to try it… My 770QE has never let me down…I did think that someday I would upgrade, and so with that in mind, I only purchased two extra hoops, the jumbo hoop and the mega hoop…that way, I would not need to buy them once I had the space to accomodate the jumbo hoop… I have never found anything I can not stitch in my jumbo hoop even though I can not access all of it….This tutorial is just some ideas and suggestions on how to hoop and stitch a project that is big, thick, padded and fluffy!The embroidery design I am using in this video is from Embroidery Weekly, file number EW219_pencil sketch elephants….size 7 by 12
Once you get the bug for machine embroidery, you will find yourself getting caught up in all the new designs that come out each week (in some cases every day!) and thinking how gorgeous those colors are or what a great idea for a gift and on and on and before you know it you have a whole bunch of designs and can never find the one you want!
Here is my method which has worked for me for many years…❤️ you may have a system that works for you much better and if so, go for it…whatever works is what we want…
This tutorial is for a free design from Kreative Kiwi… I have provided a link to the design below…When you download the design, open the folder and look for the PDF file … Open that and print it off and you will have the step by step directions that I am using in the tutorial…For beginners, do not trim the outer base fabric as I have done… wait until the directions tell you to trim it toward the end of the project…Have fun, and post photos of your finished mug rug! If you get stuck or have questions just post them here or message me and I’ll be happy to help…
I love the look of the vintage flour sack tea towels….
It’s pretty fun to re-create them today with the incredible embroidery machines now available…
I picked a couple of designs from embroidery library and a patriotic one from stitchtopia and made some sweet little vintage look flour sack tea towels…
As you begin to use that beautiful new embroidery machine you will soon find lots and lots of designs on-line that grab your attention and give you ideas for projects that you can make and even if you are not a computer wizard, it’s easy to download and move a machine embroidery file to your machine…. let’s go get a design and drop it on a USB stick….
Each machine embroidery design website is different…. some have the color sheet/guide in a separate download or print off… some will have a little different route to your purchases (very often you will get an email confirming your purchase with a link to the download)… but once you get started, you can navigate almost any web site to find your purchased designs…
Fiddlestix And Stitches 