A couple of weeks ago, I showed you how to add text to embroidery designs using Embrilliance in this
blog. As I continued working on the bunting project, the importance of test stitching, testing a design by stitching it out, once again showed its value.
I will show you how the bunting is stitched, what I learned by testing the design, and how I fixed problems before stitching all of the pieces.
If you have read any of my blogs you know that I am a big fan of freestanding applique. By stitching an applique design on fabric-type water-soluble stabilizer, you can make it a stand-alone design and the bunting design was perfect.
Stabilizer is hooped and the first color stop is a placement stitch. Stitch it right on the stabilizer. Remove the hoop and place a piece of felt over the placement stitches. Return the hoop to the machine and run the second color stop which tacks down the felt. The next color stop is the placement stitching for the center applique.
Place the applique fabric over the placement lines and run the next color stop to tack it down.
Trim the applique fabric close to the stitching. Return the hoop to the machine and stitch the satin stitching. The center letter would stitch next, followed by the outer satin stitching (after trimming the outer edge to the first tack-down stitching.
This is a procedure I have used many times in the past, but the test stitch showed several things that I needed to change:
1. The outer satin stitching pulled away from the felt.
This was due to three things. First, fabric-type water-soluble stabilizer does have some give to it and can stretch during use which can take applique out of alignment. The felt I was using was a woven blend and it was not substantial enough for freestanding applique; it raveled and pulled away from stitching. Because the satin stitching did not have a secure surface, the final piece did not lay flat either, it rolled.
The fix: Use two layers for a more substantial base upon which to embroider, change to a premium felt, and add a backing to the base piece.
2. The top applique fabric was rather thin and did not lie flat either.
The top applique also rolled a bit.
The fix: Fuse a layer of lightweight interfacing to the back of the applique fabric before stitching it down.
I also opted to add a layer of medium-weight tear-away stabilizer behind the center applique before stitching the letters.
It helped support the heavy stitching of the lettering. Afterwards, I trimmed excess close to the stitching.
On right, I added another layer of felt to the back of the hoop before stitching the final outside satin stitching. Just run the first tackdown stitch sequence again to secure the front and back felt layers together.
Trim felt close to the tackdown stitches on both the front and back.
Run the final satin stitching outline to finish the edges. On left, the test sample; on right, the new and improved version. Although it is not easy to see, the changes made a tremendous difference on the feel of the final piece. It had body to it, the edge satin stitching was completely attached to the felt and was uniform throughout, and the center applique fabric had a smooth and even appearance.
Check back and I will show you how I put the all the pieces together!
Debbie SewBlest