I’m not sure I’d use an embroidery machine….

….well, have I eaten my words! Although I have used embroidery machines for many years, I have never owned one until a couple of months ago and to say I am obsessed is an understatement!

I’ll be honest, embroidering designs onto garments and bags, etc, doesn’t really float my boat, don’t get me wrong, I like how they look, but it was never enough to tip me over to buying a machine. I have advised our lovely customers on in the hoop and knew that embroidery machines could do applique work, but had never looked into either of them properly, however, once I did, I knew I needed an embroidery machine so I started saving and am now the proud owner of a Brother V3.

In the hoop designs are complete projects or blocks that you make in the embroidery hoop. I recently finished this large table runner for a friend for Christmas.

I had so much fun creating this, it’s a design I purchased from Sweet Pea Embroidery, the design is three gonks but I repeated them as it to go on a very long table. Each Gnome and half of a tree is a block that is made on the embroidery machine, by adding and stitching layers.

Confused? I was at first, but it is very simple, each stage is built into the embroidery design and the machine stops sewing at each stage, just like a colour change. For this design, hoop up just stabiliser, pop the hoop in the machine and lay your wadding on top of the hoop, start the machine and a running stitch is sewn to secure the wadding to the stabiliser, remove the hoop and trim the excess wadding. Next is the background fabric, lay on top of the wadding and start the machine, the next stage of the design is sewn, remove the hoop and trim away the excess fabric.

The design carries on like this for each part of the design, the clear instructions guide you through each stage of sewing fabric in place, trimming the excess fabric then the satin stitches are sewn to finish the applique and embroidery stitches in between to add detail to arms, feet, and beard until the block is finished.

These two blocks didn’t make the finished article, if I had my time over again I wouldn’t have used a stripy fabric for the tree pots as lining them up was tricky! Once I’d trimmed the block, I sewed them together on my trusty Janome 6700p and added the border, backing and binding to finish.

I don’t have time before Christmas to make one of these for myself which is what I purchased the design for originally, but I may do a non-Christmas version. I have also made coasters, bunting and stitched out a Peacock using all metallic thread which the machine handled really well.

I’ve got lots more projects planned including quilt blocks, quilting and would like to try 3D lacework. I will never be without an embroidery machine now and wish I had bought one years ago!

~ Written by Anna.