Quality Embroidery Stabilizer

FACT 1: You Need Stabilizer
Stabilizer does just exactly what the name says it does, it stabilizes the fabric. The hoop holds the fabric so that it goes to the proper location, and the stabilizer keeps the fabric from moving, puckering or stretching while sewing.

FACT 2: As a Standard Rule
When the fabric you are going to embroider on has stretch to it, such as a knit, use cut away. When the fabric is fairly stable, such as a woven fabric, use tear away. If you don't want any stabilizer left in the garment or embroidery motif, use wash away. OESD's adhesive-backed stabilizers are available for use with hard to hoop items and specialty items that cannot be hooped.

FACT 3: How to Use Stabilizer
Hoop the stabilizer with the fabric wherever possible. If you adhere the stabilizer to the fabric with OESD's HRFive Temporary Spray Adhesive made especially for embroidery, it will be easier to secure the pieces in into the hoop. Make sure the fabric and stabilizer are smooth, but not stretched in the hoop and then tighten the screw.

FACT 4: The Stabilizer for You
OESD stabilizers do not stretch in any direction, ensuring good quality embroidery, even on knits. You'll notice that high quality and consistency of OESD stabilizers, as well as their versatility for a variety of projects. Let OESD stabilizers be the foundation on which you build good embroidery.

Note from Serena: OESD stabilizers are excellent for stitching embroidery designs. They stabilize and hold the stitches for the embroidery very well.

Article courtesy of www.embroideryonline.com

Eliminate Those Scratches!

Embroidery designs are great for stitching on garments, whether it's t-shirts, blouses or jeans. It's especially unique and special stitching those baby and toddler articles of clothing with cute little whimsical designs. But one complaint those little toddlers have of their very fun shirts is the rough threads against their soft skin on the back of the embroidery design.

Those thread ends and little knots are rough against a baby's or toddler's delicate skin. Metallic threads will cause more irritation than polyester or rayon embroidery threads. To eliminate this try fusing a fusible lightweight interfacing such as So Sheer to the back of the embroidery design, covering those thread ends. This will take care of the scratchiness against delicate or sensitive skin.

Screws & nuts; The overlooked factor in machine embroidery

A well digitized design, correct stabilizer, proper stabilizing methods and quality fabric and thread are all keys to a great stitched embroidery design. But there is one very important factor that often gets overlooked - the hoop screw and nut. If all the above are achieved, but the screw or nut in your hoop is stripped or close to it, your design is not going to meet your expectations or meet disaster before it's finished stitching.

Like mine did last week.

With the constant tightening and loosening of that little hoop screw, it will get striped over time. If you reach a point where you tighten your hoop, but the screw keeps slipping or the inner hoop just never seems to tighten enough to keep your stabilizer taunt, check the screw and nut.

Many times either the screw or nut will be stripped, not both. Most commonly it is the nut. Slip a new nut on the screw, checking to be sure the threads are not stripped. If it is still slipping, then check the old nut with a new screw. Put the new screw or nut into the hoop and tighten with stabilizer to be sure your hoop is ready for stitching.

If you start stitching a design with a stripped screw or nut, the stabilizer and fabric is not going to be held tightly as the design is stitching. Not only will you end up with puckers galore in your fabric, you run the risk of the inner hoop popping out of the outer hoop and therefore - disaster!

Keep an eye on your hoop screw and nut. If you do lots of machine embroidery, you will need to change it every 6 months to 1 year. I keep extra screws and nuts on hand so when I notice my hoop not tightening my stabilizer as it should, I can insert a new set. With my hoops, I usually have to change my nut or screw (most often it is the nut) every 6 months. Ask your machine dealer for extra screws and nuts.

You may not have to change yours that often, but you will notice when your hoop starts to lose its tension. If your inner hoop is not securely inside the outer hoop, the best digitized designs, perfect stabilizers, greatest stabilizing methods and quality fabric and threads won't do you a bit of good!

When disaster strikes, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times!

Oh...I had such great plans for today(and thankfully the day is not yet over)! Since I had a bunch of computer work caught up yesterday, today my plan was to sew and embroider all day! Exciting, yes I know! Until the first disaster struck...

I hooped my stabilizer, noticing slightly that my hoop screw was starting get stripped and my stabilizer was not as quite as taunt as I like it, but deciding it would be ok to stitch one more design. I stuck my fabric down and started stitching my rose design.

The first couple of thread colors stitched and I noticed more puckers than normal in the fabric. I smoothed down the fabric eliminating a few puckers, saying to myself that it will be ok and I can press out those puckers that are there.

I'm on the 9th color and there are more and more puckers and ripples in the fabric. I'm now thinking, "It will be ok. I just have to make it to the end of this design." Here's a glimpse of the puckers and they are 10 times worse seeing the actual fabric verses a photo.

With each stitch the machine is taking, the inner hoop is getting looser and looser inside the outer hoop. I know what could happen and keep hoping it won't: the inner hoop popping out of the outer hoop right in the middle of stitching!

Just completely ignore the fact that my sticky, dirty hoop
is in desperate need of cleaning. I can't believe
I'm actually posting this photo!

I'm keeping an eye on it, checking it every few minutes and finally breath a sigh of relief when it's on the final color. The last color outline starts on one rose and as it moves to the opposite end of the hoop it happens...

...the inner hoop slides right out of the outer hoop and the machine just keeps on stitching...

I should interject at this point and mention that this is the 9th design on this one panel of fabric that it has a total of 10 designs, so I'm almost done. And each design has over 30,000 stitches and takes over an hour to stitch. Ummm....there is no way I want to start over with this piece of fabric....

As soon as I saw it, I stopped the machine and knew at this point, it was not going to be ok. I had to do something. Ever so carefully I shoved the inner hoop with stabilizer/fabric back into the outer hoop ring, hoping it would somehow, be somewhat close to where it should be.

See where is started stitching before I
snapped the fabric back into place?

Thankfully the last color is shading so the slight movement of the fabric would never be noticed. If it were an outline, I would be in trouble. And thankfully I caught it before the machine had stitched too much to the fabric without actually being attached to the hoop.

Puckers galore to press out of the fabric! See the puckers on the front and back? Your design should never look like this if the hoop is correctly tightened!

I was more than relieved to finally have the design finished, but knew some massive pressing would be needed to get the fabric to lay flat with all those puckers. As I started pressing, I soon discovered that I hadn't cleaned my iron from my last project and now I not only have puckers in my panel of fabric, but also little brown marks - disaster #2.

Having pressed the puckers and taken care of the brown marks, I decided that the worst was over and I could stitch the 10th and final design on this panel. I changed my hoop nut which was stripped and keeping the hoop from tightening as it should, hooped my stabilizer, stuck on my fabric and started stitching.

Oh...so much better without all those puckers forming with every stitch! The worst part of the day is over - hooray! Until I get to the 9th color and realize that I stitched the 8th color with the wrong color of thread - disaster #3. To make matters worse, I had already done that once earlier in the week.

Taking the hoop out of the machine, I ripped the tiny little step stitches of color 8 and started stitching that same color with the correct color of thread. I moved onto color 9 and disaster #4 strikes. With less than 1 minute left and only a small space yet to stitch, I run out of thread.

And the really sad part is that if I would have stitched color 8 with the correct color of thread in the first place instead of the thread for color 9, I would have enough thread! That's the really disastrous part!

I hope, really hope, that there is not disaster #5 lurking about somewhere in the rest of the day.

So now that you've heard about my wonderful, disaster-filled morning, how was yours? Hopefully your day of stitching was not quite as eventful as mine! :)

Working on another project....

I've started working on another project and here's a sneak peek of some of the embroidery designs...

not quite right...try again...

looking better...I'll keep stitching...

continues to look great...I'll finish stitching...

PERFECT!!!

And four blocks stitched - FANTASTIC!!

Question regarding cataloging embroidery designs on the computer

Last week I received this question from Donna regarding embroidery storage:

It looks like you have all 3 types of folders directly under your "My
Embroideries" folder. Do you copy the designs multiple times into the folders? For example, do you have the designs for the MarJen quilt in 1.) the MarJen for Error file, 2.) the Jenny Haskins designs and 3.) each individual embroidery card?
Donna Z in Arizona

Good question, Donna...it can be rather complicated the way I have folders organized on my computer, but let me see if I can detail a little bit more than what I wrote before. This is a long answer to your short question, but hopefully it will be helpful.

Under my hard drive, I have a folder named: My Embroidery Designs. I have multiple folders under that one, but every single design that is on my computer is somewhere in that folder. That is one thing I would most certainly recommend that every one do, because you will know where all your designs will be when you go to search for them. One of the most frequent questions I have received is that when someone downloads their design(s), they seem to get "lost" on their computer. Usually they end up scattered in many places and it's a challenge to find out where each one is stored.

Under the My Embroidery Designs folder, I have lots of folders. I'm going to list a few and describe what is in each one. There are more than what is listed here, but this will give you an idea of how they are organized.

Embroidery Designs by Company
Embroidery Cards-Cds-USB Keys
MarJen for Error Quilt
Beyond the Color Purple Quilt
Latte Quilt
Camp Quilt
Embroidery Projects
Customer Designs

Folder: Embroidery Designs by Company - Inside this folder I have multiple folders, one for each company that I order and download designs from. Some of them are Amazing Designs, Embroidery.com, OESD Designs (embroideryonline.com), etc. These folders are just for designs that I download from the Internet and do not have a card, cd or usb key from where the design was originally.

With many online companies, you can purchase individual designs or a pack or collection of designs. So under each company's folder, there may be individual designs that I have purchased and folders of designs that were sold as a pack or collections. For example: Under the folder, OESD Designs, there are lots of individual designs such as flowers, animals and lace and there are folders for each design pack/collection such as 11031 Teacher or 11061 Nursing.

Folder: Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys - This is the folder that holds all the designs that I have taken off my embroidery cards, cds and usb keys. None of these designs are downloaded; they all are taken from tangible media which is how I purchased them. A few folders under this folder would be: Mrs. Mouse Sewing Treasures, The Good Life by Debbie Mumm, Lace Effects, Precious Moments, Christmas Cheer with Ingrid, Baby Talk by Cheri Strole, Fuzzy Tails, Floral Delights, Victorian Scrolls & Curlicues by Jenny Haskins, Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers by Jenny Haskins, Classic Lace by Sue Box, Timeless Teddy Bear Treasures by Sue Box, etc. Each of those folders hold the designs that are on that card, cd or usb key.

Even though all these folders are designs from tangible media sources, they included all different companies such as Bernina, OESD, Jenny Haskins, Sue Box, etc. Instead of these designs being sorted by company (which they could be if you wanted to do them that way), they are filed so that each collection is in one folder under the mother folder - Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys. They are not grouped by company, just by the collection.

Folder: MarJen for Error Quilt - In this folder I have all the designs for the MarJen for Error Quilt. The designs used in the quilt are from the Jenny Haskins CD titled, Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers. So what I have inside is not all the designs on the cd, but just the two designs (one for the embroidered fan blocks and the other for the embroidered
strips). Now I do have several copies of each of those two designs; in several sizes and several colors. I also have the label I created for the quilt inside this folder.

Folders: Beyond the Color Purple & Latte Quilt - These two quilts are done the same way as the MarJen for Error folder. With these two quilts, there are more than just two designs in the entire quilt. So under each folder, I have a folder for each block with the designs for that block under that folder. For example: In the Beyond the Color Purple Quilt, block 1 & 9 have the same designs, so I have a folder named Block 1 & 9 and in that folder are the two designs for those two blocks. Again, there may be copies of those designs in different sizes and colors. But the designs needed for that block are there. In block 1 & 9, the two designs that are used are from two different cds, so if they are kept together, you don't have to go hunting for the designs in the Embroidery Card/Cds/USB Keys folder for each design.

Folder: Camp Quilt - I made a camp memory quilt (three, actually) and all the designs I used for those quilts are in this folder. I may never (actually probably not, but just in case! :)) stitch this quilt again, but the tons of designs I used are there. There are over 100 designs from various cards, cds, companies that I changed and used in the quilt. Many I edited by rotating, resizing, combining the designs for different aspects of each block. If I didn't save every design I used, it would take forever to go back, find every design I used before and re-edit it to what it needed to be. So all the edited designs for those quilts are stored here.

Folder: Embroidery Projects - In this folder I store misc. designs that I have changed or edited in some way for past projects. Some of these I will use later on another project I am using. For example: The designs for my sewing room sign, one being a Mrs. Mouse cutting fabric, some lettering and some photosnap lettering that I digitized are inside. I may never stitch another sign like this, but I don't want to just delete the designs I used, especially the ones I digitized.

Customer Designs - I do custom digitizing and embroidery for companies, so I keep all my companies and individuals organized by folders under the mother folder - Customer Designs. Many of these are repeated customers, so I keep their embroidery files for everything I stitch for them.

One reason I have folders for all my designs (either downloaded or from a card/cd/usb key) is that I always save my original file. I make take some of those originals, make changes, resize, edit, combine with other designs, but I will save it under a new name in my projects folder. The
reason for that is: I may edit that design for this t-shirt but will want to make different changes when I stitch it on a quilt block. I always want to keep my original. And I would really recommend that you always keep your original file so you can always go back to that. If you make changes to a design, save it under a new name, so you still have your original.

So in answer to your MJE question, I have the two designs for the quilt (the original ones from the purchased cd) under the folder - Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys in a folder called Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers (this folder also has all the other designs on the cd). And I have the same two designs (with different colors and a few editing changes) under the MarJen for Error Quilt folder and those are the ones I use for the quilt. Because the designs are from a cd, they are in the folder for cds, not the Embroidery Designs by Company folder which just contains downloaded embroidery designs.

In one sense I do have duplicate designs on my computer, but technically they are not duplicates because one is the original file and the other is the edited file. I try to avoid duplicates of the same original design mainly because I really don't need two of the same thing and it takes up space on my computer that is not necessary.

That may seem like a lot of folder making and storing of designs that is not necessary, but I tend to keep about every design scene or file I create or edit. There are many times I go back to something I made in the past and use over again. But I have to also admit, I tend to be a "keeper" of files and I'm sure I have many on my computer that I will never use again.

Save Time with a Second Hoop

If you are embroidering many designs at one time, whether they are the same or different designs, you can save lots of time by using two hoops in the stitching process.

Let's say you are making a baby quilt with sixteen 10" blocks that each have a design that takes around one hour to stitch. But it also takes another five to ten minutes to hoop the stabilizer, stick the fabric in the hoop and make sure it is aligned correctly. You have an afternoon to stitch several designs; how can you use the time you have most efficiently to get as many designs stitched as possible? Use two embroidery hoops; let me show you how.

Hoop your stabilizer, insert the fabric in the hoop, snap the hoop on the machine and start stitching the first design. While the first design is stitching, cut the next 10" block and mark it as needed. Hoop your second hoop with stabilizer and insert the fabric in the hoop, making sure it is aligned correctly. Once your first design is finished stitching, you can simply remove the first hoop, attach the second hoop and start stitching. You won't have to waste time getting your fabric in the hoop while your machine is sitting there doing nothing.

While your machine is stitching the second hoop, take the fabric out of the first one and rehoop the next block. It is now ready as soon as the current design is finished stitching. You can also get all your blocks cut and marked while your machine is stitching. The great thing is that you're still in the room if a thread breaks, needle breaks or thread change is required and you can still accomplish other tasks on the current project.

Yes, a second embroidery hoop is an added expense to your already valuable sewing room extras. But for me it is well worth the expense to have an additional hoop. That doesn't mean you have to have two hoops of every size you own. I would just purchase a second hoop for the size you use the most. With two hoops, you'll be surprised at how much faster you can get your designs stitched!

For the business logo I embroidered on polo shirts in a rush before Christmas, I used two hoops and it saved me a ton of time. The design took about 10 minutes to stitch. I would get one in the machine stitching and then mark the next shirt and hoop it in the second hoop. I had enough time between thread changes to get the next shirt ready. It always saves me tons of time I used to waste hooping and aligning the fabric!

The hoop to the left has the finished design and
the hoop to the right is ready to snap on the machine and stitch!

Stitch Multiple Designs in One Hoop

Many times we try to save as much stabilizer as we can and stitch as many designs as we can out of one piece. One way you can do that is to hoop the stabilizer and stitch multiple designs in that one hooping of stabilizer. Depending on the size of your designs and your hoop size, you can usually stitch several designs in one stabilizer hooping.

Let me show you how to do it! The design I used for stitching is about 1" high x 3" wide. I hooped two layers of tear away stabilizer in the hoop. I usually will use two layers of stabilizer if I am going to be stitching multiple design in one hooping because it gives more stability the design more stability. With only one stabilizer hooping (two sheets of tearaway) I was able to stitch this design on seven shirts.

I stitched the first design at the top of the hoop.

Hoop your cutaway, tearaway or water souble stabilizer in the hoop. Spray 505 spray adhesive at the top of the hooped stabilizer. Stick the area of your fabric where you want the design stitched down to the sticky stabilizer. Place your hoop grid in the hoop to be sure your fabric is aligned straight. Stitch the design.

After the design is finished stitching, carefully tear out only the design from the stabilizer, but leave the stabilizer in the hoop. If you are using cutaway or a water soluble stabilizer, you will need to carefully cut out the design from the stabilizer.

I carefully tore out the area where the first design was stitched.
I can now stitch another design right below it.

Spray the area of the stabilizer directly below the cut-out and stick down the next piece of fabric. Make sure it is aligned straight with the hoop grid and stitch the second design.

The next shirt is stuck down, aligned straight and ready to stitch.

Be sure the design is being stitched completely on the stabilizer. If any part of your design is being stitched on the cut-out area with stabilizer, it will not be correctly stitched. So be certain you have moved down enough from the first design.

After the second design is complete, tear or cut it out from the hooped stabilizer and repeat the same process. Continue moving down on the stabilizer and stitching designs until the hooped stabilizer is completely used up.

Keep in mind that this will not work with every design. Every time you stitch a design and tear away part of the stabilizer, it weakens the tauntness of the stabilizer. Use designs that are small and lightweight without too many stitches such as mini designs, small groups of lettering, small logos or little accent designs. You may be able to get only two designs in the hoop or you may be able to get six. It depends on the design size and the diminsions of your hoop.

I was able to stitch this design seven times in one hooping of stabilizer.

Clean Embroidery Hoops & Grids!

Does such a thing exist as a clean, sticky-free embroidery hoop not covered with overspray and embroidery threads stuck to it? What about your embroidery hoop grid? I don't know about yours, but mine gets so clogged up with overspray and fingerprints that I can see nothing beyond the foggy gridlines.

Spray adhesive is notorious for sticking to your embroidery hoop. No matter how careful you are spraying the stabilizer in the hoop, some overspray is bound to get on the outer edges of the hoop. There are lots of cleaners that can be used to clean off the residue on your hoops.

The method that works the best for me is simple and easy to do. Run a couple of inches of water deep in the sink or bathtub with as hot as water as you can get out of the faucet. Then set the inner and outer frame of the embroidery hoop in the water and let it soak for about 30 minutes.

After the hot water soak, take the hoop out. With a toothpick or toothbrush, gently peel off the residue attached to the hoop. The hot water loosens the sticky stuff so it will cleanly peel away from the hoop. Use the toothpick to get in the little grooves if needed.

For the hoop grid, there are many cleaners that clean off the filmy stuff, but some of them may also take off the gridlines. So carefully test the cleaner to be sure it won't remove those necessary lines on your grid. I like to use DK5 on my grids. With just a couple of sprays of DK5, my grids are once again clean and clear.

This is what works for me! What is your favorite method of cleaning your embroidery hoops and grids?

Spray Adhesive: How much to spray?

How do you know how much spray adhesive it too much or too little? There are two factors to consider when using spray adhesive: (1) the fabric being used (2) the design being stitched.

Some fabrics will stick better than others. Flannel and fleece grip the stabilizer very well with just a little bit of spray adhesive. More spray adhesive is needed for cotton, denim and polyester. Stiffer fabrics and fabrics with a finish will usually require more adhesive to hold it to the stabilizer. After you have stitched with several different fabrics, you will get a feel for which ones need more adhesive and which ones will require less.

If you are stitching a dense design (for example 10,000+ stitches), it will need more adhesive to hold the fabric down to the stabilizer. Each time the needle is inserted into the fabric, it weakens the hold the fabric has on the stabilizer just a little bit. For lighter designs such as satin stitch and redwork outlines, you may not need quite as much adhesive. If you are sticking stabilizer to the fabric for decorative stitches, only a light coating is needed as most decorative stitches contain open stitchwork.

Always remember to spray the stabilizer and not the fabric. Also be sure to spray not only the area that is going to be stitched, but also around it. Many times we (me included!) will spray the center of the hoop and stick the fabric on it. As the design is being stitched, the fabric tends to pucker toward the middle where the design is because the fabric near the edge of the hoop is not stuck down to the stabilizer. Be sure the fabric is completely stuck down before beginning to stitch and you will have less puckers in the fabric.

Note: If you spray on too much adhesive and it leaves a spot, check this post for some helpful removal tips!

Spray Adhesive: Spray the fabric or the stabilizer?

Spray adhesive is great to use for machine embroidery and decorative stitches! My favorite brand to use is 505 Spray Adhesive because it holds the fabric to the stabilizer while I'm stitching, but is not stuck so tight that I can't peel off the stabilizer after I'm finished. But what is the best to spray with the adhesive - the stabilizer or the fabric?

It is always best to spray the stabilizer instead of the fabric or garment. Never spray the back of the fabric because the spray adhesive can leave a residue mark that can be difficult to get out. Most of the time 90% rubbing alcohol will remove most of the stain, but some spots are really tough to get out. Always spray the stabilizer no matter if you are stitching embroidery designs or decorative stitches.

If you are stitching decorative stitches, you will want to spray the stabilizer and then stick it to the fabric. If you spray the fabric and not all the sticky residue is covered by the stabilizer you stick to the back of the fabric, it will tend to stick to the bed of the machine and not want to feed through as you are stitching. This can cause your decorative stitches to become distorted.

Note: If you do get some spray adhesive on your fabric, see this post for tips on how to get it out!

Embroidery Embellishments

Shhhh...don't tell anyone, but Christmas will be here before you know it and it's time to start thinking about some Christmas gift ideas. Here are some ideas on embellishing garments with your favorite embroidery designs!

Adding embroidery can turn a plain garment into an embellished item! Wonder through the stores or browse through catalogs and take notice of the many garments adorned with embroidery. Instead of buying these expensive garments, copy it with your own machine embroidery at a fraction of the cost!

Step 1. Hit the stores, browse through catalogs or search the web for embroidered garments. This will give you ideas of where to put your embroidery. Try areas such as fronts, back yokes, pockets, sleeves, cuffs, collars or plackets. If you are familiar with your embroidery designs, garments that contain similar designs will catch your eye.

Step 2. When you have found the perfect “example”, the next step is to find the blank garment. File through your clothing or shop sale racks to obtain the perfect “plain jane” garment.

Step 3. Sift through your embroidery designs to locate a replica of the embroidery. If you are stitching in multiple areas, use coordinating designs. Find a variety of smaller designs for collars, plackets, cuffs and pockets. Fronts, back yokes and sleeves provide a large amount of space for bigger designs.

Step 4. Once you have discovered some designs, it’s time to combine or change them to fit the garment. If you own computer software, the easiest way to create a combination is onscreen. Some embroidery machines will allow design combination onscreen. If you are not able to do that, you can pin design templates onto your garment in the desired stitching area. With computer software, you can also change designs to fit your purpose. Eliminate details you don’t need, pick out small designs within a large design or add little elements to make your design complete.

Step 5. Stitch the designs. Use a variety of threads–oliver twist, variegated colors, metallic threads and solid embroidery threads. Use the same threads in all areas of stitching to keep the designs coordinated. For items with stretch such as sweatshirts and t-shirts, use poly mesh (a cut away stabilizer). For woven items such as rayons, linens, denim or cotton, usually a tear away works well. On garments that have a pile, but sure to use water soluble aqua film on top of the design. This will keep the stitches from burying down into the fabric.

Step 6. After embroidery is complete, cut or tear off the stabilizer and clip all of the top jump threads. On the backside of the embroidery, clip any large jump stitches and leave short jump stitches. Wash garment if needed. Carefully press embroidery from the wrong side or with a press cloth. Add buttons, beads, ribbon or trim to enhance the designs. Be creative!! Now it’s time to wear your embellished apparel!!

"Rule" for Clipping Jump Threads

Do you ever wonder what the "rule" is for clipping jump threads on embroidery designs? Here are a few tips I recommend that you do:

Clip thread jumps close to the stitching on the TOP of your embroidery design. Clip those jump threads after each color change. This will keep your design neater so the jump threads are not covered with more stitches. It is much easier to clip the threads every time you change thread colors than having to pick out the tails after the design is complete.

If you have a jump stitch of bobbin thread on the BACK that is big enough in which to catch a finger or fingernail, cut it in half. If you can’t catch a finger or other item, the jump should remain in-tact. DO NOT cut close to the stitching. A ¼ inch or more of bobbin thread should always remain. This alleviates any threat of cutting out those valuable lock stitches. Avoid cutting the bobbin thread too close; you may have raveling threads on the top of your design.

Happy clipping!

Blue tape in your sewing room?

If you were to take a peek in my sewing room, you would find some unusual items inside. One of them is blue painter's tape! Why would I have this blue tape which is used in conjunction with painting? Good question!

Blue painter's tape is great for taping templates to the fabric with machine embroidery. Why? If you are needing your design to be in a peticular place on the fabric or if you are doing continuous embroidery designs where one design must follow another to complete a pattern, you will be using a template to place the designs on the fabric.

You can use straight pins to hold the paper or vellum template in place, but it will still tend to shift a little as you put the fabric in the hoop. But if you use a couple pieces of blue tape, it will securely hold the template in place. When you are ready to embroider, just gently peel your template from the fabric and start stitching.

I usually put a piece of tape on each side of the template to hold it. And usually the tape can be used several times on the same template before it has lost its stickiness. The great thing is that the blue tape does not leave a residue on the fabric or previously stitched designs like masking tape can do.

Not only can you use this tape to tape the template to the fabric, but you can also tape the hoop grid over the template to your fabric. You know the challenge of getting the hoop grid lines straight with your template lines, but this tape is a great help for that!

Tape your template to the fabric, where it needs to be. Then place your hoop grid on top of the template, matching your grid lines with the template lines. Tape the grid to the fabric. Pick up the fabric with the tempalte and hooped taped to it and insert it in your hoop. Match the grooves in your hoop with the gooves in your grid and your fabric will be straight in the hoop on the first try!

Not only is blue painter's tape great for taping templates and grids to fabric for machine embroidery, but it also works great to pick up loose threads and lint that sticks to your fabric. After I have broken a needle, I will tear off a piece of tape and put the needle ends in it before throwing it in the trash. This keeps needle points and the jagged edges of the needle confined to the tape and not lost in the trash can.

Note: There are several brands of blue painter's tape available, but I have found that the regular (not delicate) Scotch brand works the best!

Watch a video clip showing you how to tape your template and grid to your fabric and then insert it into the hoop! See below!

Creative Expressions Issue #16 by Jenny Haskins

Creative Expressions is a quarterly magazine and is a must for anyone who loves creativity, sewing, embroidery and quilting. This magazine captivates and inspires all who read it, with 84 pages full of luscious photography, easy-to-follow directions and inspirational ideas. Plus, there is a bonus pattern sheet in every issue of Creative Expressions.


World-renowned machine embroiderer, Jenny Haskins whose creativity and passion for beautiful colours, along with her philosophy on life “that it is never too late to be what you could have been”, is reflected in every glorious page. This luxuriously produced magazine attracts both the novice and the expert sewer, quiltmaker or embroiderer around the world.

In this issue:
Jenny's Essence Quilt - featured on the front cover
Through the Garden Gate Part 1
Customized Garment Apparel to Embellish
Lavender & Lace Key Minders
Plus many other creative ideas for you to enjoy!!


Note from Serena: The front cover caught my eye as soon as I saw this newest issue of Creative Expressions! You won't want to miss this issue and the fabulous techniques discussed inside the pages!

Pick up your copy today!

Sweet little blanket

One thing I love doing is embroidered baby receiving blankets! They are quick and easy and make such a great personalized gift! Here is a pink blanket I stitched a couple weeks ago for someone who needed a gift for a new little one.

It is 1 1/4 yards of pink flannel where the edges have been roll hemmed on a serger. The design is from OESD and one of my favorite embroidery packs with cute baby designs! Add lettering to the design in my computer software, send it to the machine and stitch it! Simple and so sweet!

Like to make your own receiving blanket? See this article for my simple directions and see here for other blanket ideas! Have a blanket that has a flaw? See my flawed blanket that turned out so cute when I was finished!

MarJen for Error - Embroidered strips are underway...

One strip of fabric stitching in the machine.

The second strip in the hoop and ready to stitch!

My machine had been busy stitching purple floral designs for the embroidered strips on the MarJen for Error quilt. The floral design is the same all the way down the strips, it is only rotated 180 degrees for every other design. This gives it the intwining ribbon look.

I made a few changes to the embroidery design itself. When I stitched the first design, it was missing come underlay stitches (those crazy stitches that seem to have no purpose, but help to stabilize the fabric). Some of the leaves were a step stitch and some were a fancy stitch, so I changed all of them to be the same fancy stitch, which helps to give the leaf texture.

The design itself takes about 1 1/2 hours to stitch by the time you count in thread changes. There are two strips with 10 designs on each one. So there are quite a few hours of embroidery. But at least my machine can be stitching as I am doing other things. And with 2 embroidery hoops and 2 strips of fabric, I can alternate between the two and get more stitching accomplished in a smaller amount of time.

I have one strip in the machine stitching. While it's stitching, I can get the other strip, marked and hooped in the second hoop so it is ready to embroider as soon as the first is finished. My machine just keeps on stitching!

The purple on the yellow looks fantastic!! I'm so excited about the color combination - it looks gorgeous!!

Quick Solutions for Embroidery Mistakes

This is the sixth and final lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions! I hope you have picked up some tips to use in the next design that doesn't turn out the way it should!

The first step when you are stitching embroidery designs is to eliminate as many possible problems that could occur. Keep your machine blown out and free from thread and lint in the bobbin area and tension discs. Oil your machine according to your instruction manual to keep it running smoothly. Have your machine serviced regularly by an authorized dealer.

Keep an eye on your machine as it is stitching. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit and watch every stitch, but be aware and listen as it is stitching. Some designs may need babysitting, but most will allow you to be doing something else between thread colors.

When the needle breaks is not the only time to change the needle. Titanium needles should be replaced every 10-12 hours of stitching or approximately 400,000 stitches. If the needle is causing thread breakage or thread pulls in the fabric, change it before something worse happens like a broken needle and a hole in your fabric.

Pay attention to where you moved the design in the hoop - up, down, left or right or rotated the design - clockwise or counterclockwise. Most machines will have numbers on the screen that will inform you as to where you moved the design. Usually a positive or negative number will be assigned to the vertical and horizontal movement of the design. Each number represents one point of movement. The positive and negative values will inform you as to vertical movement going up or down and horizontal movement going left or right. For example: You move the design down 20 movement points and your vertical movement is -20. The negative tells you that you moved the design down and the 20 means you moved it down 20 points. Always write the numbers down to where you moved the design or rotated the design. If power is lost to your machine, you can always return to the exact placement!

Use good quality fabric and garments. Fabrics that are lower in thread count will be more likely to create puckers in the fabric or holes with a dense design. Garments need to be able to hold a design and not weigh it down. Fusible interfacing can be applied to lighter weight fabrics and garments. Using spray starch will also give the fabric or garment more body and helps prevent puckering and misplaced outlines. Use quality embroidery thread and bobbin thread designed for embroidery. These threads will flow smoothly through your machine and achieve the design that looks great! Stitch professional digitized designs. No matter your fabric, thread or stabilizer, if the design itself is incorrect, your finished project will never turn out the way you want it to.

Use the right combination of stabilizers with the fabrics you are stitching. Follow the guidelines for cut away, tear away, aqua film and badgemaster. Knits, fabrics with stretch and large density designs (30,000+) need cut away stabilizer and possibly aqua film as a topping to prevent puckers, design distortion and misplaced outlines. Cottons, denim and lighter weight designs (30,000 or below) can use tear away stabilizer and depending on the fabric, usually won’t require aqua film. Badgemaster backing needs to be used on towels and other projects where you don’t want the backing to show. Towels, velvet, flannel and other fabrics with a nap require aqua film so the stitches will not sink into the fabric.

Do consider the time and materials involved in fixing the design. If it requires 2 hours of ripping on a $5 shirt, it may not be worth the time involved to rip the design. However, if the shirt is a birthday gift for a granddaughter’s birthday tomorrow and this is the only shirt you have at midnight, you may want to consider the ripping job or find a quicker solution. So keep in mind the project value and time involved!

Every mistake or flop that happens will be different and may need to be fixed with a unique method. The design size and density, fabric stability, threads and stabilizer all will effect the way your design is fixed. The most important thing to remember is to keep your cool and let your mind drift to different ways of how your project can be saved. Pressing is the first thing you want to do. Pressing can eliminate puckers and improve the overall look of the design; always press before you proceed to other solutions.

Markers, colored pencils and crayons can fix color mistakes. Instead of ripping the color that you don’t like, try coloring it with a marker or pencil. If your bobbin thread is showing on the front of your design, use a fine tip marker to color in the white sprinkles. If your fabric bleeds on white lettering, try using a bleach pen on just the thread to get the thread back to white. Be careful not to bleach your fabric!

If the fabric puckers around your design, try spray starching the back of the fabric and design. Sometime this will help to eliminate some of the wrinkles. Stipple or use other quilting methods to eliminate puckers around a design. Fuse interfacing to the back of a design to eliminate a rough texture or threads that feel scratchy.

Misplaced outlines can be repaired by filling in with straight stitches or satin stitches with your sewing machine. If outlines are completely off, create an applique with another fabric to place over the bad design. Fabric corners and garment hems and sleeves tend to hide underneath the hoop without your knowledge until the design is finished. Hems may need to be shortened or fabric added.

Ripping is sometimes necessary, unfortunate, but true. An outline may need to be ripped in places where it is misplaced. Try to avoid ripping on knits; you will usually end up with some holes in the knit. Consider the type of stitch before you start ripping. A satin stitch is simple to rip, but a step fill stitch will be more complex.

Mismatching borders, ink spots and fabric flaws can be covered up with 3D flowers, leaves, butterflies or other designs. Free standing lace designs can be stitched on badgemaster and tulle. Try stitching various other designs on cut away, polymesh or felt, cut out the designs and apply where needed. Try using crystals, jewels, beads and buttons to cover up mistakes.

As hard as we try to prevent errors from occurring, they will happen. And be guaranteed that the same mistake will probably happen more than once! But don't get discouraged when mistakes happen. There are many ways to fix them and you may come up with some creative ideas that you may want to use again in the future! :)

MarJen for Error - quilt block #1 completed

I actually finished the first quilt block for the MarJen for Error quilt I am working on last week, but haven't had a chance to post it until now. I have the decorative stitches finished on it. It's completely done except for trimming it down to size and maybe stippling.

There are 8 blocks of this same design in the quilt. So once one block is done, you just have to make 7 more just like it. That makes it pretty easy!

This shows the decoratives I used on the corner fan. The little oval stitch is one of my favorite stitches! I have used it on so many projects and it creates a soft finish to complement the fabric.

I can't decide whether to attach batting to each block and stipple as I have done in the past. Or just complete the quilt top and then add batting and stipple it. I know it will be easier to stipple now than later, but I think I want to try something different this time.

You can see the photo of the entire quilt here.

Fabric is caught under the hoop! How can that be fixed?

This is the fifth lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions!

What do you do when you remove your hoop from the machine and discover the fabric is caught in the stitching underneath the hoop? Perhaps it is only a small corner, but sometime it ends up being a huge chunk. Yes, I admit, it has happened to me also. I finish a design and find out a corner of my fabric was caught underneath the hoop. As the design was being stitched, the fabric underneath was stitched through also, making it caught in the hoop. How can you fix this or prevent it from happening in the future?

Cause: The fabric you are stitching is caught underneath the hoop between the hoop and the feed dogs. When the design is stitched, the stitches are going right through all the layers. This will often happen if you are stitching on a large piece of fabric. A corner slips underneath the hoop without your knowledge. If you are stitching on garments, especially baby or kids clothes which are small and hard to get in the hoop, it is easy to get the hem or a sleeve caught underneath the hoop without you knowing it. If the fabric underneath the hoop creates a lot of bulk, you may hear your machine make a noise that will alert you to the problem, but many times, you won't discover what happened until the design is finished.

Solution: If you notice what happened in the early stages of the design, you may be able to rip out a few stitches and get the extra fabric out from the bottom of the hoop. Then back up in the design to restitch the stitches that you ripped out. If lots of stitches are holding the fabric in place, carefully trim the fabric so it is released from the bottom of the hoop. Finish stitching the design. The earlier you catch it, the easier it will be to repair.

But there will be times that the design will finish and you won't know what happened until you take the hoop out of the machine. If that happens, carefully cut around the fabric around the design on the back to release it from the hoop. If just a little piece is cut out, you may still be able to selvage the design and project. If it is a large chunk, you may need to be a little more creative in fixing it!

A garment is so easy to get caught! If the hem or sleeve has been eaten by the machine, consider hemming the garment shorter or add a fabric panel or ruffle. You can add many decorative elements to a garment that will hide the fact that it was caught in the hoop.

Many times with squares of fabric, a corner will unintentionally get caught. If your fabric block has a bite taken out of it, first measure it and see if the fabric is large enough that the eaten corner will be cut off. If the eaten part will be inside your measurements, consider straightening the edge and adding a fabric border to make the correct size you need. If the bite is too big, cut out the design and applique it onto a new block of fabric.

Prevention: The first thing you should always do when starting to stitch a design is check to see that you can see the hem, sleeves and fabric corners of your project. Fabric corners and garment hems and sleeves tend to hide underneath the hoop without your knowledge until the design is finished. Check each and every time, because it can happen no matter how many designs you have stitched in the past.

If you are stitching on a piece of fabric, cut the fabric larger than you need. This gives you a little room for mistakes and eaten corners. It is always easier to cut off a little extra than add on a piece.

Be sure that there is nothing caught between the underneath side of the hoop and the feed dogs as you start stitching. While the machine is stopped, slightly tip the hoop up to make sure there is not fabric lurking underneath. Pin the corners of your block toward the center of the block, so they will not slip underneath. Pin sleeves and hems to the top of the hoop, so you can see them and are sure they will not get caught. Just be sure your pins won't interfere with the needle stitching the design on top of the hoop.

Don't panic if this happens to you. I can tell you right now that it will happen and not just once! From time to time, I still discover a corner caught after a design is finished stitching. I just calmly cut and release the caught fabric and determine from there what my next step should be. Be creative with your ways to repair this problem and you will discover some new ideas!!

See some examples below:

The corner of this block was
caught underneath the hoop.

This shirt looks ok from the front,
but take a closer look...



Part of the sleeve was caught between the
hoop and feed dogs of the machine.



A huge chunk of the bottom of the shirt
was caught and had to be cut out to free
it from the back of the hoop.



Can you see the extra fabric stuck to the back
of the design? I had to trim around the design
to release the fabric from the hoop.



I straightened and shortened the hem and
sleeves and added a matching fabric ruffle.
It makes for a cute shirt and no one would
ever know the reason for the change!

Eliminating Puckers Around Designs

This is the third lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions!

We have all had it happen to designs we have stitched. After the design is finished, there are puckers or wrinkles in the fabric around the design. Sometime it is so bad that the fabric will be tucked in small areas underneath the stitches. Other times there will just be slight ripple here and there and not be that noticeable. What causes these puckers and how can you get rid of them?

Why are puckers in the fabric so common around embroidery designs? The simple answer is that's just the way it works. But maybe this longer answer will help you to understand why puckers so frequently happen. The needle is constantly going down into the fabric and coming back up. Think about it a second - how many times does the needle penetrate through the fabric when stitching a design? If the design has 20,000 stitches, the needle has to go down and come back up 20,000 times. Every time the needle penetrates the fabric, it pulls up the woven threads ever so slightly. By the end of your design, the fabric has been pulled ever so slightly 20,000 times. It is easy to see why puckers or wrinkles tend to develop.

Cause: Puckers or wrinkles around your design can be caused by several things. One of the most common causes is using the incorrect stabilizer for the design you are stitching. If you are using spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the stabilizer instead of hooping it, there may be a not enough adhesive sprayed to properly hold the fabric down as the machine is stitching. Another factor to consider is the density of the design for the fabric. Some fabrics have more "give" to them than others and work better for dense designs.

Solution: If your design is already stitched and you have puckers or wrinkles, there are some ways to eliminate or at least get rid of a few of them. The first thing to do is carefully press the design from the wrong side. This will often make the design look much better and take care of many wrinkles. Spray starch to the fabric wrong side and see if it will eliminate some of the wrinkles. Starch stiffens the fabric which helps to iron out the puckers. Another option is to put batting behind the design and stipple or quilt around the designs edges. This will give the project texture as well as make the ripples disappear.

Prevention: Use the right combination of stabilizers with the fabrics and designs you are stitching. Follow the guidelines for cut away and tear away stabilizers. Knits, fabrics with stretch and large density designs (30,000+) need cut away stabilizer and possibly aqua film as a topping to prevent puckers and wrinkles. Cottons, denim and lighter weight designs (30,000 or below) can use tear away stabilizer and depending on the fabric, usually won’t require aqua film. If you are hooping the stabilizer and using spray adhesive to adhere the fabric to the stabilizer in the hoop, be sure you have sprayed enough to adequately hold the fabric. Denser designs may need a little more than lighter weight designs.

If the fabric is lightweight, starch it or iron fusible interfacing to the back before stitching. Do the same if the fabric is a cotton/poly blend. The poly does not allow the fabric to stretch and give as it is stitched, therefore allowing it to absorb the puckers. Cotton and flannel have more "give" in the fibers than a polyester blend. You also might want to choose lightweight designs to stitch on poly blends and leave the denser designs for cotton or flannel. If I am stitching a dense design, I have found that starching the fabric or adding fusible interfacing to the back is a great help in eliminating the puckers that tend to appear around the design. Give it a try and you will be amazed at the results!

The fabric around this design is starting to pucker as it is being stitched.
The stabilizer needs more spray adhesive to hold the fabric
to it for stitching the embroidery design.

The fabric is smooth and flat in the hoop as the machine
is stitching this design. It has been stuck down very well to the
stabilizer to hold it for the duration of the design.



This is a design stitched on a poly/cotton blend broadcloth.
You can see the puckers in the fabric around the design.
The poly in the fabric does not allow very much "give".

This is the same design stitched on the same poly/cotton broadcloth,
but So Sheer fusible interfacing was fused on before stitching the design.
The interfacing adds more stability to the fabric to prevent
some of the puckers. There are still a few waves in the fabric,
but not near to the degree as the previous photo.

This is the same design, but it is stitched on 100% cotton fabric
without interfacing on the back. Once it is pressed, the fabric
and design lay smooth and flat. The cotton fabric has absorbed
the puckers in the fabric, making it an easier fabric
to stitch on than a poly/cotton blend.

505 Spray Adhesive Stains

This is the second lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions!

505 Spray Adhesive Stains

505 is a wonderful spray adhesive to use when sticking my fabric to my stabilizer when I am stitching machine embroidery designs. But occasionally some of the adhesive gets sprayed on the fabric. Sometime it is caused by some residue left over from spraying too much on the stabilizer in the hoop. A dark circle appears on your fabric, marking where the 505 has been. The dark circle stain dries and it appears as though it is there to stay.

Cause: Too much spray adhesive or spray adhesive has been sprayed on the fabric instead of the stabilizer. For lightweight designs, only a small amount of spray adhesive is needed. The fabric does not need to stay stuck down as long as a denser design.

Solution: Use 90% rubbing alcohol (not the drinking kind :)) to get 505 out of your fabric or project. The 90% is important; not all stores stock that percentage. The lower percentage bottles will not be as effective as the 90%. Look for this in the pharmacy departments of most stores. If you still cannot get the stain out with the alcohol, try using Ecover Citrus Cleaner & Degreaser. It's an oil based cleaner that can be found in many stores or online.

Prevention: Always spray 505 on the stabilizer, never the fabric. Avoid spraying too much 505 on the hooped stabilizer before sticking the fabric on top of it.

You can see slightly darker areas on this pink baby blanket from
leftover 505 spray adhesive transferred to the fabric.

Right above the gingerbread men, there is a dark spot
of 505 where it was sprayed on the fabric instead of the stabilizer.