In my first attempts at embroidering a blank garment for a small child, I must admit I struggled. I often made the design too large for the small figure and it always landed in the wrong place. Oh, it looked great when the garment was flat but when worn, it was an entirely different story. The design usually hit closer to the belly button than up near the neckline. And a good portion of a left chest embroidery pretty much always wound up in the armpit.  Once the Children’s Perfect Placement Kit was available, I was saved. I just rely on that handy tool to get the embroidery in the right scale and location for young ones.

At the other end of the scale, embroidering for plus size figures gave me the same trouble.  So what’s my problem? Familiarity. I know what works on a garment that fits a person about my size, give or take a few sizes up or down the scale. But adding a left chest logo to say a man’s XXXL shirt, is not something I do every day.  So finding the right location is difficult. I was relieved when the Embroiderer’s Big Helper was released.  Everyone deserves to look their best when wearing embroidered garments and it’s up to embroiderers to make sure they do. After all, it’s the stitchers who set the look. The common man (those poor souls who don’t stitch) don’t know any better. They need to be led, steered in the right direction when it comes to embroidered garb. After all, they are a walking advertisement for your skills. So help them look their best – use the Embroiderer’s Big Helper when stitching on plus size shirts.

Let me show you how easy it to use.

Fuse Sulky’s Soft N Sheer Plus to the wrong side of the design area. Use enough to fill the hoop – you can trim the excess after stitching.

Place the shirt on a flat work surface. Align the Helper’s straight edge with the center of the placket and position the curved cutout at the neckline.  Align a target sticker to the corresponding size notch.

Remove the Helper and stitch the design.

Remove the shirt from the hoop. Turn the garment inside out and place it on a terrycloth towel on a pressing surface.  Press the stabilizer. Once it’s heated, gently lift it away from the shirt and trim away the excess leaving about ½” stabilizer around the design.  Press again to fuse it back to the garment.

Present the shirt to the lucky recipient!

Now that I am a grandmother, I can look back and see what I did right, wrong and strange with my children.  We have all had good and bad to deal with.  I see my children parenting my grandchildren and am impressed that they do as well as they do.  I am very impressed as to how they deal with everything given the things that happens these days!

The one thing that I know for sure, if I had the chance again, I would make it Mother's Day All Year for my Mother.  I want the world to know that she was perfect as she was, warts and all (well, she did not have warts, but you get the idea).  She single handedly endured, persevered and created a stable life for my brother and me.

You may also know that I am a big fan of the AlphabetXpress that AnnTheGran offers.  I wanted to do something new and different and I think I found it!

Those colors are OK, but seeing something done correctly in coordinating colors is a eye-opener for me!

** As I have noted before, I wish I were a good colorist, but until I am, I RELY on packages like these .  AND, also The Incredible Threadable Boxes from Madeira - a highly trusted thread and color expert.

I can only think of a zillion ideas for this type of work.  Totes, wall hangings, new born babies, children, Bible verses, and so much more.  BTW, without Alphabet Xpress, you will need a MUCH MORE EXPRENSIVE software!

Alphabet Xpress, Madeira and me, an unbeatable combination - IMHO,