Friday, November 8, 2013

Fall Theme Machine Embroidery Blog Hop and a Giveaway



Welcome to my day for the Fall Theme Machine Embroidery Blog Hop, put together by SewCalGal,  I was thrilled and honored to be invited to join in the fun and fun it has been. Have you visited the other blogs? There are  so many beautiful projects.


Machine Embroidery is what brought me to quilting, I had this amazing machine that sewed out beautiful embroidery, but in the beginning I just didn't know what to do with this ever growing pile of blocks, then light bulb moment, add some sashing, a border and wow, I had a colorful and cute quilt!


This weeks Hop showcases designer Zandra Shaw from South Africa and her store Embroider Shoppe.  Thank goodness I had a good idea of what I'd like to do because she has so many wonderful designs and projects to choose from, but the timing was perfect for my usual holiday project so I stuck with the plan. I found Bernard & Bernice which are perfect.


Since the holidays find me deep into charity work, the thought of all of those little gifts needing to be wrapped can make me a little crazy, so I make these little stockings, it's a gift in a gift and everyone loves them. I've used them for co-workers and teachers, stuffed with candy, candles, gift cards and I even make a bunch for David's golf buddies with a sleeve of golf balls and tees. 


They're pretty easy, but here's directions if you'd like. I use felt for the stocking and fleece for the cuff, they don't fray so no worries. You'll also need a small piece of ribbon for the hanger.
First I draw out the quick pattern, I make them in different sizes so I have plenty on hand for whatever I'm putting in them. Cut out two layers for the stocking.


I don't hoop them, but use a hydro stabilizer which is much faster for me, you can do the same thing with any stabilizer and spray adhesive, just make sure you clean any over spray off of your hoops when you're done, last time I forgot and they looked like weird puppies with all of the dog hair that stuck to them. :)

For placement I use the little tabs on my hoop and a ruler to draw lines right on the stabilizer, I often mark my fabric with tiny dot for where I want the center of the design to be, the dot will be covered by the design, if it won't be covered, I just use a quilt marker which will air disappear.




Sew your design, pull off the stabilizer and with right sides together sew your stocking. Take your ribbon and sew it to the wrong side back of your stocking, make sure it's laying down, not up, I mess that up at least once each year.

For these stockings I cut my fleece 3" wide, you'll need to eye the size of your stocking and the placement of your design. I leave it in one long strip so I don't need to measure and since I'm mass producing these, I just trim it off when I'm done.  I do sew a tiny hem on one edge, just because I like the way it looks. 
Your stocking should still be inside out, pin the fleece to the top edge of the stocking with the RIGHT side of the fleece against the WRONG side of the stocking, that won't matter if you don't add the hem. 
Overhang the edge of the fleece about a quarter inch so you can sew it closed when you're done. 
After you've sewn the fleece all the way around the top of the stocking trim the end leaving another quarter inch, then sew those two ends together, watch out that you don't catch the ribbon, again guess how I know that :)

Turn your stocking right side out and pull the fleece and ribbon out and you've got cute, cute, cute. 

No pine tree around here, so I used a palm to show my creations.

I have to say these designs were a pleasure to sew, they had good stable understitching, the design itself provided good coverage without being thick, none of my fabric showed through, there were very few jump stitches and they were big enough to be easily clipped and my pet peeve, the outline stitches went exactly where they were supposed to, nothing was off. 

Zandra has generously provided Machine Embroidery designs for us to give away. All you need to do is take a look at the Embroider Shoppe, then come back here before midnight on Sunday and tell me what design or designs you'd like. I'll pick a winner and announce it on Monday Nov. 11th. The other bloggers also have giveaways, so if you missed anyone, you may want to go back and catch up. Here's the line up:

 Monday, Nov 4th
Tuesday, November 5th
Wednesday, November 6th
Thursday, November 7th
Friday, November 8th

Huge thanks to Zandra for sharing her talent and of course to SewCalGal for putting this all together. I hope you've had fun.

Later Gators,
Dana 

30 comments:

  1. I love these.....so cute and a great idea. Wish I had the capability for this one. I think your tut is great too!

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  2. I love #220 Crazy Applique and also #207 James the Bear. I would have a hard time deciding between the two.... but I do have lots of polyfil.....

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  3. ut. Such a good idea instead of wrapping paper. It can be used again and again as a decoration and as a reminder of a sweet gift. I keep on finding more and more designs I like (have you seen the house garland?]but I think I am going to stick with the coin purses.

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  4. I guess that saying all of her designs would not count! LOL!

    Love her 3d flowers especially the pointsettia this time of year

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  5. So cute. Definitely going to make great Christmas gifts. Thanks for the excellent tutorial for making stockings, as well as all the tips for machine embroidery. I definitely want to make some of these for gifts this year.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  6. For Christmas the Mouse Ornaments are a favorite, but I really, really like the Russian Floral Quilt designs.

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  7. I find it interesting that ME brought you to quilting, I am a quilter and I am interested in learning about ME embroidered quilts, so I look forward to following your blog and reading your old posts. I would love to try Zandra's quilted handbag. Thanks for a great tutorial

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  8. Those are so sweet. That outline stitch is always my pet peeve too!

    The designs have been fabulous. I really like the 3D flowers, but the purse pincushion was also darling.

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  9. Love the little bears. Your stockings are really cute!

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  10. Every time I see another embroidery project created I too want to recreate it. What a cute way to tell someone you're special with the Retro Birds.

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  11. Oh THOSE are SEW cute!! great idea...
    seems like James the bear is winning and 3D flowers on what people like :)

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  12. Thanks for the great tutorial! I'm a newbie at ME, so I can use all the information I can get.
    I fell in love with the Tea, Coffee and Cake designs on Zandra's site. They'd look adorable on a wall hanging.
    Thank you for doing this giveaway!

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  13. Your stockings are adorable! Thanks for the great tutorial!

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  14. I love the ladies lingerie set. Your stockings turned out very nicely.

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  15. Those little bear stockings are so cute! I may have to try that. Her 3D flowers are so pretty. But my heart is always drawn to the coin purses.

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  16. Love this tutorial and the bears are lovely

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  17. These are adorable. Love the design and the stockings.

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  18. Your bear stockings are adorable. What a great idea.

    I've chosen a few different designs as favorite this week because I have so many from their site that I want. Then today after seeing how adorable the Retro Birds are, I definitely have those moved to the top of my list of favorites. I love birds already but really love the retro birds.

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  19. What a great idea! Thanks for the great tutorial. I love the bears, scissor pockets, and the retro birds. I keep seeing new designs I like though.

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  20. Your stockings are soooo cute.


    I would have to say my favorite design is #406- St. Joseph Lily I am allergic to most flowers but these I could have.

    syvisser@gmail(dot)com

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  21. love the stockings! so cute!!!
    how did I not know that embroidery brought you to quilting?!!
    either way you are super talented!!!

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  22. These polar bear designs are adorable. What a generous person you are to be making these stockings (with special embroidery) and giving them away! SCG had some pictures of the 3D poinsettias and I'm thinking about how cool those would be made up.

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  23. The polar bears are so cute. I love the retro birds. Thank you!

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  24. What fun your stockings are. And thanks for the great tutorial. I never think of marking the stabilizer, but that's a clever idea!
    My favorite embroidery project is the Cupcake Fiesta.

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  25. sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!

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  26. Love the design. It is great and looks like it would whip up fast for Xmas. Thanks so much for sharing

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  27. Such cute stockings! I love Dapple the cute wiener dog in the shop! So cute!

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  28. Those are the cutest stockings...thank you for the tutorial. I love the polar bears on them...wonderful idea.

    Smiles,
    Kelly

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  29. Snowflakes and snowpeople are some of my favorite collectibles. These that you worked up are so cute.

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  30. Look how adorable these are. :) My inexpensive Singer isn't going to last forever, and when it goes out - I'm getting a machine that embroiders, that is For Sure.

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