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Lady Bugs 'n Bows Embroidery Project

By Ramona Baird on January 29, 2018

PROJECT DETAILS

SKILL LEVEL

Intermediate

TIME REQUIRED

04:00

Description

Sweet little lady bug embroidery designs adorn a purchased sunshine yellow dress and pretty bows with ribbon rose centers highlight the colors in this young girl’s dress.

Project Preview Video

Materials

Dress in the size needed

Embroidery threads as stated in the color sequence

Spool of grosgrain ribbon with black dots to coordinate with embroidery thread

Ribbon roses

Hand sewing thread and needle to sew the bows on

Stabilizer appropriate for the fabric being embroidered

Water soluble topper if appropriate (used for this dress because it was knit)

Designs used in this project

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/wind-bell-embroidery/stockdesign/1/wbe2155_008

https://www.embroiderydesigns.com/productdetails/wind-bell-embroidery/stockdesign/1/wbe2155_004

Final Product: What You Will Create

Preface:

The dress was purchased from BlanksBoutique.com; several colors and sizes are available. The bodice is embroidered with the “Welcome Spring” design centered on the bodice and the border designs were stitched across the front with grosgrain bows sewn between.

Step 1:

Gather the materials and read through the instructions before beginning. Print out a paper template of each of the designs and color sequence. Carefully match the color of the grosgrain ribbon purchased to the color of the lady bugs that are stitched. For this dress, fuchsia embroidery thread and matching ribbon with black dots was used. The tiny ribbon roses were matched to the ribbon and the green thread used in the embroidery designs was matched to the green “leaves” on the ribbon roses.

Step 2:

Press the dress well and cut out the paper templates so the design placement can be determined on the dress. Begin with the bodice. Fold the bodice in half matching the side seams and waist seam. Place pins along the folded line. Open up the bodice and then center the Welcome Spring template on the bodice using the pins as a guide for centering.

Step 3:

Fold the skirt in half matching the side seams to determine the center front. You’ll also want to determine the spacing from center point to center point of the border design to be stitched. For this garment, the designs were spaced 7” on center and 2” up from the top of the ruffle seam and marked with chalk. These measurements will vary depending upon the size of the dress and how many border designs you would like placed on the dress. For this dress only the front was done, but you could certainly run the border design all the way around the dress.

Step 4:

Hoop the fabric with the chosen stabilizer. Load the border design on the machine in the correct direction for sewing (for this machine the design had to be rotated 180 degrees). Center the needle over the start point for the first border design and if appropriate, place down a layer of water soluble stabilizer (used for this knit dress). Stitch the border design following the color sequence.

Step 5:

After the design stitches, remove the fabric from the hoop and trim away the excess stabilizer. Repeat the steps of hooping and stitching for the remainder of the border designs.

Step 6:

Hoop the bodice with the chosen stabilizer and stitch the “Welcome Spring” design following the color sequence. Rotate the design at the machine if necessary so it will be stitched on the bodice in the correct direction.

Step 7:

Remove the water-soluble stabilizer by steam creating steam in the iron and holding it above the design. With a circular motion, dissolve away the water-soluble stabilizer.

Step 8:

Determine the number of bows needed. For this dress, four bows were used, so 4- 10” lengths of ribbon were cut. Form the bows and then hand-sew a ribbon rose in the center of each bow. Hand-sew the bows to the dress between the border sections.

Step 9:

Fold each sleeve in half and sew a bow with a ribbon rose on each sleeve as well.

Step 10:

Congratulations on completing the “Lady Bugs ‘n Bows” dress for the special little girl in your life.

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Meet the Author: Ramona Baird

Ramona Baird has been in the embroidery industry for over 23 years. She and her husband owned a commercial and retail embroidery store in Arizona for many years. She is an experienced digitizer having been mentored by award-winners Pat Williams and Lindee Goodall. Ramona is a contributor to “Creative Machine Embroidery” magazine having 5 covers to her credit. Ramona has worked for Wilcom America and served many years as Education Director for the American Sewing Guild. With a degree in fashion design, she is able to design and execute patterns which Pat Williams says are “out of the box” in creativity and application. Ramona likes to challenge the boundaries of embroidery and bring new and exciting designs, ideas, and projects to EmbroideryDesigns.com. She wants embroiderers of all levels to increase their skills and enjoyment in using their embroidery machine for gift-making and personal pleasure.

Lady Bugs 'n Bows Embroidery Project

PROJECT DETAILS

Project Preview Video

Ladybug Border

Welcome Spring