Embroidery 101: Improve Your Embroidery Embroidery Project

Whether you are concentrating on embroidery only, or if you are creating a new garment complete with embroidery, applique and textured fabrics, it's the little things that make the difference. It's very easy to become overwhelmed with all the details - just remember to keep it simple.

	Using unique fabrics can yield unique results - without extra effort.

1. Select a fabric that enhances your embroidery, not one that overpowers the design. Hand-painted and hand-dyed fabrics are terrific choices for backgrounds. Fabrics with slightly mottled coloration also work well.

Experiment with different fibers such as linen, wool, silk and synthetic blends. If you're going to spend a lot of time embroidering a garment, it might as well be one of high quality.

Whenever possible, complete your embroidery before assembling the final garment.

2. If you are making the garment, it's best to complete as much of the embroidery as possible before construction. Trace the outline of the pattern sections onto the fabric and leave ample seam allowance for shrinkage. Complete all embroidery within the sections. Cut out the pattern section. Sew the main seams of the garment and then add any embroidery that crosses over the seamlines.

3. When embellishing a ready-to-wear garment, consider opening a couple of seams to facilitate the hooping process. A tote bag is a breeze to embroider if you open one side seam. Patch pockets on jeans or shirts can be removed to complete your embroidery using sticky stabilizer. Pant legs are best opened on the inseam to give access to the cuff and hem area.

Use templates to plan your design. It's the only way to "see" the finished product without taking a stitch. If you're using a memory card, templates are available for purchase or are included with the card.

	You can make your own templates by printing onto transparencies - then you can properly plan your placement without making a stitch.

4. You can also make your own templates from your embroidery software. Just place a transparency into the printer and print the screen of your embroidery design. You now have a translucent copy of the embroidery in actual size. Use it to determine the placement of the embroidery.

	When combining designs, it is important to "think dimensionally" - what objects are in the foreground, and what is in the background.

5. If you are combining multiple motifs for a large-scale embroidery design, you must determine what gets stitched first. Usually, a portion of the first design will be hidden behind the next design so that it appears to be one very large design. Always start your embroidery from the background and work towards the foreground.

6. Add texture to plain, flat fabrics for added interest. Crinkling, stippling and pleating fabrics are just a few techniques that can enhance your embroidery or the area around your emboidery.

Consider crinkling or stippling fabrics for an added dimension. 7. Remember that you can incorporate other sewing machine features like satin and decorative stitches.

Applique can fill large areas, complementing your embroidery without overpowering it. 8. Add appliques to extend small embroidery designs. Appliques can help fill large design areas without overpowering your embroidery, like the ribbon on this doll quilt published in the Volume 5 issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery.

9. Use high quality embroidery thread and experiment with Ultra Twist®, metallics and Solaractive colors to name just a few.

10. Select the correct stabilizer for the job.

Cut-away:

Use a cut-away stabilizer when you need a permanent stabilizer for fabrics that can break down over many washings. Knits, both heavy and light weights, benefit from cut-aways. Cut-away is also available in lighter weights, making embroidery worn next to the skin more comfortable.

Tear-away:

Tear-away provides the stability to keep all of the stitches in place. Select this stabilizer when the act of tearing away will not harm or distort any stitches. Light weight tear-away can be layered to facilitate in care-free removal.

Iron-on tear away:

It is best used for stretchy fabrics like knits that can be ironed. It is a temporary stabilizer that prohibits the fabric from stretching or shifting once it is applied.

Water-soluble:

The stabilizer of choice when you want to eliminate the stabilizer after embroidering. You can wash it away instead of cutting, tearing or heating it away. Use it only on washable fabrics.

Heat-away:

A great substitute for cases where you would normally use a water-soluble stabilizer. It supplies a firm fabric foundation to your embroidery. Excellent for lace-making and edge work.

Self-adhesive:

A temporary stabilizer that offers strong support to any item that is too small to be hooped. Also great for fabrics that would be permanently marked by hooping.

11. Select the needle size according to the weight of the fabric.

The smaller numbers (10/70) are used with lightweight fabrics while the larger numbers (18/110) are used with heavier fabrics.

Needle types are determined by the task. The five types that I use for embroidery are metallica or metafil (specialty threads), embroidery (normal embroidery), denim (very dense embroidery when layering designs), twin (fantastic special effects) and microtex (silk and microfiber fabrics).

Needles are designed to perform for 6-8 hours of normal sewing. Since embroidery is anything but normal, plan on changing your needle every 1 to 2 hours. Deborah Jones, Club Ed editor and founder of Embroidery Direct, suggests changing needles before stitching the final outline of a design.

Obviously, needles must be changed frequently to avoid skipped stitches. Any kind of abuse, such as bird nesting or nicking of the hoop, should signal a needle change.

12. Fill your design library with professionally digitized designs.

Downloading free designs from the Internet is great fun, but be sure you are downloading from a quality source. Under no circumstances should you ever "borrow" designs from friends - you may be in violation of copyright laws. Not all sites provide the same quality designs you are used to. Free designs are great, until you have to stitch out the samples five or six times to achieve acceptable results.

Invest in a "stitch eraser" which is similar to an electric mustache trimmer. It can eliminate mistakes and clear the path for progress and should be used only on properly stabilized embroidery. The bobbin thread is 'shaved' from the wrong side which enables you to flip the embroidery over and rub away the embroidery threads.

14. Take care of your tools. Keep your sewing machine cleaned and oiled. Insert a new needle with every project (or more often as mentioned above).

15. Purchase an extra hoop to use solely with spray adhesives and sticky stabilizers.

16. Don't be afraid of your machine

- use it and you'll love it.