Free Slideshow Program and Alphabet Xpress Tip #3, stitch view

There are several very nice slideshow programs on the Internet, but I thought that this one was the best.   Most of the freebies are minimal and require that you download their data down to your PC.  As I have noted several times, more and more of the software will be purchased/used/a... [More]

Embroider Shirt Cuffs for Christmas

Do you love the look of monograms on men's cuffs? This is a stylish touch that almost any man can appreciate. The trick is to create these small wonders in the correct size, without bulky corners and with proper placement. You can get confidence to embroider cuffs by practicing on cuffs fro... [More]

New Holiday Designs from African Folklore Embroidery

Exciting New Holiday Designs from African Folklore Embroidery We have several new designs just in time for the Holidays. Some of these include the new Hanukkah designs (this year Hanukkah starts December 1st.) Two special designs that celebrate this holiday include the Hanukah Menorah; it is custom... [More]

Keeping It Simple - A Cute Christmas Stocking

I'm not sure why but I really enjoy making Christmas stockings.  I have made traditional ones, funky ones, country ones and elegant ones depending on who they are for.   We always make a stocking for each new addition to our family.  Some years, with weddings and births, we h... [More]

Keeping it Simple - Easy Runners for Small places

A while back, our oldest daughter painted her dining area walls orange.  We all thought she was a little crazy but with her black furniture it actually looks very nice.  She has a small table on one side and has been looking for a runner for quite some time now.  She really didn't... [More]

Keeping It Simple - Specialty Pillowcases

Last week Emma and I were at the fabric store picking up some fabric for my aunt who is 94 and still sewing.  While we were looking Emma saw this horse fabric and went nuts over it.  "Meesy, we just have to make something with this!" she said.  Now, why this little girl is s... [More]

Speed Up Start Up of your PC; Intro to Alphabet Xpress

Most Help Desk people will remind you to do certain steps, depending on your computer, to help speed up your PC.  Vista does the Defrag and Check Disk in the background, so you can do those if you like, but it is not likely to make any difference in start-up speed. It is a fact that getting ri... [More]

Paisley Apron Embroidery

     Individual characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks) from my alphabets andindividual designs can be found on my Stock Design Page.  My designs are also available inpacks, as described in this blog.  Those can be found here.  For designs and packs ava... [More]

Keeping it Simple - Easy Tutu skirts and Black Cats

Our family has been invited to several Halloween gatherings this year.  The first is this weekend - a whole week before the 31st!  This is Friday and the girls costumes are not quite finished.  But the girls are very excited about dressing up for  these events.  One dec... [More]

Christmas Stocking Embroidery

Christmas season always brings requests for embroidering names on stockings. This may make you wish that you could crawl into a cave and hibernate with the bears until Spring! Yet stockings can be conquered and in doing so, you bring happiness and create heirlooms. For this reason, I have always tri... [More]

Keeping It Simple - The Big Tote It

You can never have too many bags.  We use bags for everything from storing tiny toys to carrying our groceries in "green" bags.  But last week my daughter decided she needed a huge bag. She teaches science two days a week at a local Christian school.  But since she shares th... [More]

Skype and Catalog Xpress Tip #9, add Alphabet Xpress

If you have not yet tried Skype, you are missing one of the finest features the Internet has to offer. Most people know that you can call users worldwide if they have the correct equipment for free.  But did you know that: You can send files Send Instant Messages (IM) Create a conference... [More]

Winners in Creativity for African Folklore Embroidery

And The Winner is………   Over twenty thousand people viewed the African Folklore Embroidery entries at the International Quilt Show in Long Beach.  As many of my readers know I travel around the country lecturing and teaching African Folklore Embroidery. I am always a... [More]

Keeping It Simple - Spiders, Ruffles and Ghosts, Oh My!

Halloween is just around the corner and with so many costumes to make this year I decided two things: 1) They need to be fairly simple, and 2) I need to start earlier than I have in the past.  The two older girls each have a definite ideas of what they want to be.  But what ... [More]

Safety Information, Free Posters for your school and Catalog Xpress Tip #8, Printing Your Designs

We are all trying to be more ‘green' these days, but some things may remain in your home that you are uncertain about.  Green means more environmentally safe, but I use some items that I really cannot do without.   I want to know exactly what is in those products.  It m... [More]

Rise Above the Ordinary with Silk Flower Embroidery

It’s great to find a new embroidery effect, and it’s even better when it’s as easy as the silk flower technique. Jackie Woods of www.greatnotions.com introduced me to the concept, and I found it absolutely stunning.   Jackie u... [More]

Keeping It simple - Frosty the Minky Pink Snowman

One of our granddaughters loves Frosty the Snowman.  We sing the song daily - even when it is 100+ degrees here.  We read the book almost as often.  So I decided to create a Frosty sweatshirt for her even though winter isn't here yet.  When I asked her what color sweatshirt s... [More]

Spooktacular Halloween Projects

I really enjoyed locking myself into my sewing room and creating these Halloween projects.  I think the color combinations of Halloween must be very pleasing to me, so I tend to collect lots of designs and fabrics for that holiday.  It was easy to dip into my stash of designs and work up a... [More]

Back to School, TGIBTS

[View:/cs/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/avid-embroiderer.Back+2+School+2010/A-Haunted-Moon.zip]It may be true that in the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.  However, it is autumn that has a parental dance called, Thank Goodness... [More]

Hooping from the Inside Out

 Bag from www.embroiderthis.com Have you ever tried to embroider something and thought you would have to crawl inside it to hoop it?  Well, sometimes that is exactly what we have to do! Many items that have small openings are challlenging, but they can indeed be embroidered with a l... [More]

Keeping It Simple - Tags All in the Hoop

I went to have lunch with my granddaughter this week.  It was fun but one thing that amazed me was how many lunch boxes looked just alike.  And they were all jumbled together in huge tubs so it took the kids some time to find the one that belonged to them.  So, this week we made In-th... [More]
Embroidery for Mom (and FREE lettering!)

Embroidery for Mom (and FREE lettering!)



Mother's Day is a week away but that is plenty of time to stitch up this quick gift, especially since the design was just $2.50 and I will give you the MOM lettering for FREE! MOM text.zip (24.2KB)

Garden designs are now 75 percent off and I chose this design by Adorable Ideas. My daughter just had a baby boy, so I thought this would be the perfect gift for him to "give" her on her first Mother's Day.



I used the Embrilliance program to add lettering. If you haven't tried Embrilliance, it's is a user friendly, entry-level embroidery editing program. Right now, there is a special bundle: buy Embrilliance, get Thumbnailer!

I started by hooping water-soluble stabilizer (WSS), the kind that is like fabric with a sticky side. I stitched the design on blue hand-dyed felt and used glitter flex vinyl for the heart applique.

Some people like to stitch on surfaces like felt using a water-soluble topper. Much of the time, I prefer the dimension I get by not using a topping.



The design wasn't quite like a traditional applique. Usually, the stitch sequence starts with a placement stitch followed by a tack-down stitch. This design combined them, which meant that a straight stitch outline was followed by a zig zag to secure the applique fabric and provide some underlay to the subsequent stitches. (This is another great reason to get Embrilliance. You can see what the stitch sequence looks like before you start stitching.)

If you are new to the applique process, watch this video.



I stopped the machine after the straight stitched heart, then placed my glitter flex vinyl over the heart outline as you would with a traditional applique, and ran the first stitch sequence again until it got to the point of zig zagging the edges.



I tore and clipped the excess glitter flex vinyl and then re-ran the entire stitch sequence again so that the zig zag stitches would cover the edges.



I sealed the vinyl as recommended by the vendor and continued stitching.



Now, to find the perfect frame!

Debbie SewBlest

Comments (1) -

I love your color combination. Having colors that 'pop' make a difference, and you chose something other than the usual red for the heart.

Best wishes to you and yours, Pat, The Avid Embroiderer

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