Check out these machine embroidery tutorials!
Tired of embroidering crooked designs in the wrong places? Not sure how to align embroidery designs on your blank? I’ve embroidered my share of doozies over the years! Thankfully, trial, error, and experience have taught me how to center machine embroidery designs without frustration. While some high-end embroidery machines have lasers and cameras to assist…
Embroidery machines are commonly described in terms of their hoop sizes, which help users understand the approximate design size limits of each machine. However, the concept of hoop sizing can be confusing to beginner embroiderers! Why? First, the actual measurements of the hoop itself differ from its named “hoop size,” which also differs from the…
I first purchased an embroidery machine thinking I’d only use it to monogram kids’ clothes and make baby gifts. It wasn’t too long, though, before I realized how many other uses for an embroidery machine there are! Their versatility still astounds me all these years later. Unsure about what embroidery machines are and what they…
Glow-in-the-dark thread is perfect when you want to embroider or sew something that’s going to be in the dark! For example, Halloween outfits, party outfits, pajamas, Christmas ornaments, sportswear, and even nighttime workout clothes. You can use glow-in-the-dark thread when doing decorative stitching or quilting with a sewing machine. Or, you can load it into…
Water-soluble stabilizer is one of the niftiest inventions for machine and hand embroidery. Also called wash-away stabilizer, this product can function as a backing or topper for your embroidery projects. Not only does it help provide a clean stitch out on tricky fabrics, but it also leaves no trace on the back once removed. If…
You’ve just finished stitching your beautiful embroidery project, so now what? Just like with sewing, a good pressing, of course! Ironing embroidery sets the design and gives it a more professional appearance. And, in the case of machine embroidery, a quick pressing can even fix very minor embroidery mistakes. For instance, if tearing away stabilizer…
If you’re new to machine embroidery or the Cricut universe, understanding the similarities and differences between these two machines can be challenging. Unless you have experience with both machines, you likely have many questions! Thus, I want to explain in detail what a Cricut does and how this relates to embroidery. I love my Cricut…
I avoided using metallic embroidery thread as a beginner because I had heard so many horror stories from other machine embroiderers. But over time, the lure of being able to add a gorgeous sparkle to my embroidery designs encouraged me to give them a try. The outcome was awesome! The going wasn’t easy at first,…
Oh, those pesky threads that show up between parts of an embroidery design! These embroidery jump stitches as they’re commonly called can be the bane of a beginning embroiderer’s existence. I remember when I first got my embroidery machine and was trying to figure out how to remove jump stitches between letters of a word…
If you’ve decided not to hoop fabric based on the fabric or your preference, one way to secure your project outside the hoop is by using a basting box. Using an embroidery basting stitch was something I initially shied away from when first learning how to machine embroider. I disliked the extra work of later…
Monograms are one of my favorite things to embroider! Want a personalized gift? Add a monogram! Want to keep a child from losing a lunchbox at school? Embroider a monogram! Monogrammed and embroidered items are also “in” right now. So, how do you make a customized monogram embroidery design to use? One way is using…
If you’re new to embroidery and looking for software to edit embroidery designs, you’ve probably heard of SewWhat-Pro. It’s been around for quite some time and has made a name for itself as an entry-level embroidery editing software. It’s affordably priced and rivals its competitors in functionality. Choosing embroidery software can be VERY confusing to…
One problem with embroidering on fabric with lots of fluff (more technically known as nap, pile, or loft) is the stitching can sink into the fluff of the fabric and get lost. While changing the design’s stitch density or size or even the thread weight used when stitching can help with visibility, one of the…
Learning how to use an embroidery machine can be daunting for beginners! The manual included with my first embroidery machine left a lot to be desired. It taught me how to use the machine features rather than how to succeed at learning to machine embroider. Many of my first projects were failures because I didn’t…
While I’m a fan of hooping fabrics to be machine embroidered whenever possible, there are several circumstances when it’s just not feasible. For instance, thick fabrics and bulky towels are simply too thick for an embroidery hoop. Furthermore, fabrics that are too delicate to be hooped without damage, items smaller than the hoop’s size, and…
If you’re new to embroidery, one of the fun things you can do with an embroidery machine is applique. For beginners, appliqueing can seem like a confusing task with all the steps required. However, once you understand how appliques are created and stitched, you’ll discover how easy, fast, and fun they can be to create. …
There are so many machine embroidery threads available that you may not know where to start as a beginner! I, too, had many questions when I first started embroidering. For instance, what is the best embroidery machine thread? What thread goes in the bobbin? What material and weight of thread do I use? There were…
How do you choose the best machine embroidery needle for your project? By considering the fabric weave and density, stabilizer type, and even thread selection, you can choose a needle that will help you stitch gorgeous embroidery designs. So, why is the right needle important? Because it’s just as important as choosing the right embroidery…
Learning how to hoop fabric correctly when machine embroidering is one of the most important aspects of ensuring professional results. Unfortunately, it’s one of the things that embroidery machine user manuals don’t do justice! And, it’s something that many new embroidery enthusiasts don’t master until they’ve messed up several projects thanks to improper hooping. Hooping…
Choosing an appropriate machine embroidery stabilizer is one of the most confusing aspects of machine embroidery. When I first got started embroidering, I thought I could just put tear-away stabilizer on the back of all projects and have things turn out perfectly. While this admittedly worked for more than it probably should have, I soon…
Before using your new embroidery machine, you’ll need to purchase basic machine embroidery supplies such as stabilizer, embroidery thread, and embroidery needles. However, beginners might not know where to start when determining the rest of the must-have machine embroidery supplies–I know I was a little confused at first! So, for newbies, let’s talk about what…