July 2010 - Posts

• Paisley Neckline Embroidery

  Individual designs can be found on my Stock Design Page.  My designs are also available in packs, as described in this blog.  Those can be found here.  For designs and packs available in multiple sizes, choose the size you want in the drop down menu box.      On a recent visit to my mother, I bought a very nice but unadorned t-shirt. I thought embroidering along the front neckline would spice it up a bit. I have been doing machine embroidery for 11 years now, but very little of that was on clothing.  It was time to try somthing new.      After a little brainstorming, I decided that Contour Paisley Alphabet Accents would look very pretty on my shirt.  I rotated the 50mm paisleys into an upright position.  I created a template from the shirt itself.  Marks along the neckline helped me distribute the paisleys evenly, while vertical lines ("arrows") added to the paisleys helped me rotate the paisleys accurately. Here is a picture of the neckline design I created.      Before transferring the design to my embroidery machine, I deleted the portion of the template with the neckline markings.  I also deleted the arrows from the paisleys.  I stitched the outline of the shoulders and neck directly on the stabilizer and then hand basted the shirt to that outline.  The template also includes a fix-baste shaped to the shirt front, so I stitched that.  I am glad that I thought of angling the bottom corners, because it would have been difficult to stitch straight down the side and across the bottom.  There was just too much shirt to keep out of the way.  Finally, I stitched the paisleys.       Here is the shirt I stitched.  It is hard to tell from the picture that the threads are variegated, but you can see in person.  I was quite pleased with this embroidery experiment.      I bought two more t-shirts but found they had a different neckline from the first.  No problem, I just created a new template!  I took photos of each step for a lesson.  Click here to download the complete lesson.  It includes the two neckline template designs I digitized, the arrow design for positioning elements around a neckline, the instructions, and printable templates for all three embroidery designs.  The designs are available in all the formats that permit designs in the sizes I needed.  The templates fit in a hoop 200 x 360 millimeters or bigger.      You are welcome to use my neck templates if they fit the neckline of your shirt.  To determine this, print the templates.  Fold your shirt front in half lengthwise and lay it along the shoulder and neckline of the template.  If they match, you are all set.  If neither template works for you, the instructions will show you how to create your own.      You will need digitizing software to do this, of course.  You will need customizing software to add your paisley or other design elements to your neckline.  A stitch editor will let you delete the arrows and the part of the template that guides design placement.  You will also need a scanner for creating the artwork for your neckline template.      The shirt I used for the lesson is light blue with purple and dark blue paisleys.  The black one shown here is my favorite of the three and I bet you can guess why.  Yes, it's because the paisleys are variegated.  (You know me so well!) Posted Jul 23 2010, 04:15 PM by Carol with 17 comment(s) Filed under: Digitizing, Clothing, Contour Paisley Alphabet Accents, Templates

• Hanging Zipper Caddy

  Individual characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks) from my alphabets and individual designs can be found on my Stock Design Page.  My designs are also available in packs, as described in this blog.  Those can be found here.  For designs and packs available in multiple sizes, choose the size you want in the drop down menu box.      Last summer I made this hanging zipper caddy.  I had made some similar ones as gifts, and wanted a sample of the project for myself.  I "jumbled" my name with Pinstripes Vertical letters, just to see how it would look.  The letters are bigger than Fancy Jumbles so the result is bigger, too.  I will do this again whenever the name this size will fit on the project.      The caddy can hang anywhere from a hook.  It will also be handy for travel.  Place your itinerary and other travel documents in the caddy, and then hang a garment over it.  Only you will know where to look.      I made a zipper pouch for DB, framing her Contour Script initials with the Contour Paisley designs I had digitized recently.  I used upholstery fabric and two colors of thread.  I made a second pouch using denim and my favorite Superior Rainbow's thread, #813.  I thought the second pouch looked much better but gave the first one to DB, as well.        I have not yet stitched a design like this for myself, but made a similar one with a smaller size of paisleys.  I used Superior Rainbows #801 because I had coordinating fabric for the backing and inside the pockets.  I made this hanging zipper caddy so that I could write up instructions for the project, available here.  (New and improved instructions posted July 14, 2010.)      Please see my Guide to Contour Paisley Accents document.  The set includes four individual paisleys, two paisley bands that will fit 100 x 170 and 130 x 180 millimeter hoops, and six frame arrangements for 150 x 240 and 200 x 260 millimeter hoops.  I used Paisley_AB_big_frame_200x260 for the DB embroideries and Paisley_ABu_frame_200x260 for the hanging zipper caddy.  This set is available for sale with my alphabets.      I am still waiting to see your own creations using my alphabets and/or project instructions. The Computerist shared her wonderful lesson on resizing and uploading photos to Ann the Gran in her blog.  If you haven't seen it, please do take a look.  If you think your projects are not "good enough" to post, please don't give that another thought.  We won't even see the little goofs that probably drive you crazy, and we have too many goofs of our own to worry about yours! Posted Jul 01 2010, 04:45 PM by Carol with 4 comment(s) Filed under: gift idea, Fancy Jumbles alphabets, contour script, Contour Print, caddy, paisley