The Avid Embroiderer Presents - 95% of my blogs originate from my mistakes. My Freebie is fun

The green writings are always tips or tricks I have learned. You might consider copying and pasting them into a document so you can search for keywords to find and refresh your memory for your project. 

Last week I needed to create an order from my Etsy site. It was for Bride and Groom Spa wraps. 

They are really great, dense, and of excellent quality. Since I don't do them often, the first one I did got ruined at my machine. Paying for another wrap with an $18.00 shipping fee was enough to get me to think about what I should do to prevent distortion again. 

The first thing I knew the fabric was too heavy for normal methods of keeping it steady. I don't hoop the fabric because one side is velour and the other is terrycloth. Additionally, if I used binder clips, it could leave an impression on the garment. So, this is how I secured my project. 
  1. For the bulk portion, I used accordion-style folds secured with safety pins. I ended up with 4 folds which I secured with a larger rubber band. 
  2. For the elastic area, I taped an 18" ruler just below the gathers. Those draw areas need to be contained too. 
  3. I placed a box the same size as the work area of my machine. Those pinned folds were very heavy, but the elevated box kept it steady. I did keep an eye on it but there was little or no movement.
  4. I pinned the embroidery area to my stabilizer. I considered using a cut-away stabilizer, but then I had a better idea. . . 
My project was Navy blue and I had a left-over piece of cotton in just the right color. That is the easiest stabilizer I ever used. The cotton held tight, didn't add weight to the garment, and best of all, it essentially disappeared into the project. I did trim around the stabilizer, but it was quick and painless! 

Of course, I will still use my Badgemaster, water-soluble, tearaway, and other stabilizers, but I have a new weapon in my arsenal and my thinking is to use on fabrics that will be on someone's body, a blanket, pillowcase, and many other items! 

Here is the configuration for the fabric stabilizer. First I hooped the stabilizer, then pinned the backside of the wrap to create a single hoop and project.

 
 

When flipped over, be sure to pin the fabric to the stabilizer. You can also hand stitch a basting line for holding. I did not use a machine baste because it might leave an impression on the velour.

I trimmed the stabilizer, and you may notice, this is how stabilizer is trimmed in professional items.


The proof is in the pudding, here is the finished product, lovely work even if it had a few issues along the way.'


For this time's Freebie, I am looking forward to 2022, but not doing 'belly dancing. . .' 


 



Thank you for joining me, I know how busy you are! Remember - Joy that isn't shared dies young. Ann Sexton. 
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A terrific freebie and a wonderful cost saver

A terrific freebie and a wonderful cost saver

I would read more if I could find the time. Since I have found “Books Should Be Free” I felt I could listen when I was embroidering or relaxing in the evenings.

This site has public domain audio in MP3 which is iTunes playable. You can take them with you or listen from your PC. Of course, iTunes is a free program from Apple. You can do a lot with iTunes, such as listen to free Podcasts, Movies and Books. Of course, there are also rentals and purchases of some of those items as well.

Speaking of saving money, if you have a membership any place in this world, you know that memberships do have their rewards. If you are a member of a discount club, you can go there to get 2 items and spend $100. (You probably know who that is - - I won't mention names, but the initials are Costco.) If you are a member of a fraternal order, you can enjoy the friendship of like-minded people.

Benefits for AnnTheGran site members are abundant, and significantly more are available for members of Ann's Club.  I am going to recap some of them because long time members can forget all the perks too.

The site membership is free and only takes a few moments. The site has clear and concise policies concerning your information. The policy states that your information will not be sold or rented to other groups. Read it if you feel that other sites have not been honorable with your information.

Becoming a site member allows one to join in interesting discussions and contribute thoughts as well as photos.

Registration is simple, quick, and easy. You may opt to receive the newsletter lets you know about sales, new items, and blogs to name just a few of the benefits. Naturally, you can opt out of the newsletter at any time.

And, despite registering, you still can be online, without signing in, thereby still being ‘anonymous' if you choose.  

The membership in Ann's Club is 14 cents per day for 2 years, or 28 cents a day for 90 days.

Exclusive benefits for members of Ann's Club: (I am estimating what I save on these)

 

My savings for the past year

1 Adhesive med tear away

19.00

1 Adhesive WSS

20.00

1 Textured Nylon Cut

15.00

Peggy’s Stitch Eraser

5.00

Composition Software

30.00

Bonance (alpha)

12.25

Carnation (alpha)

10.00

Murphy (alpha)

10.00

Total Savings (one year)

121.25

Annual Membership Fee

59.99

Net Savings

61.26

(Does not including free designs, discounted designs, Phrase Pack, Digitizing Services)

Then I conducted a test. I selected 3 different stabilizers from AnnTheGran, totally at random. I went on the Net to find similar stabilizers, again selecting site at random. My results were quite interesting.  For one thing, everyone packages differently. So, I determined the actual cost per square yard and these are my results:

Stabilizer Type/per square yard:

AnnTheGran

Others

Medium Tear away

1.741

  2.666

Medium Tear away Adhesive

4.909

10.472

Water Soluble

3.709

10.472

I found two sites that do have annual fees, one is $80 and the other is $65 (including 30% off stabilizers and some supplies). Both sites give you all the 'free embroidery designs' you want. Be sure what you are getting for your money, I would encourage you to check out The Avid Embroiderer's Blog (me) which touches on quality of designs.  

If you are not a Club Member yet, give it a try.

Comments (3) -

thecomputerist 5/22/2010 8:10:18 PM

ilovsci - Sorry you had a bad experience.  Hope you are feeling better soon.


Everyone - It seems  you love to get these freebies, so I plan to offer more of them.


One thing that I do is check them out, and use them for a period of time before I recommend them.  I don't want you to have a bad experience.  With all the diffierent configurations available, it seems like someone may have trouble.  If so, let me know and I will try to find answers for you.


In the meantime, I am looking for a way to make my "Favorites" a little more usable.  I am trying a couple of programs, and will have some info soon.  I must have 1,000 favorites. . . .


If you have a program that helps you keep your favorites from becoming the monster that ate Brooklyn, let me know and I will try it out.


Pat


Please could you remove me from annthegran. I was interested in machine embroidery designs but my machine is old and I cannot download designs for it.  I just have to use the designs on the discs I got with it.  Many thanks. Dorothy Ashby   dgashby@slingshot.co.nz


I am new with embroidery machine and have had a few problems . I would like to know of others who are using Singer Futurea 250.


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