Part of the reason I started this website was to blog about my adventures in sewing and share my creations. I've decided to go down my list of things I can do and share with you the process....
As I sit here writing this, a blanket is under my needle, getting a name put on it. I've had an embroidery machine for about 10 years, but every time I use it, I am still mesmerized. My Janome MemoryCraft 9900 is actually my second embroidery machine, and it recently got paid off, but I'm already eyeballing the next one!
Applique and embroidery use a similar concept/process and are really pretty simple to do - download the file (my favorite place to find them is etsy!), upload it to the machine, size it up, and hit go! Then.....MAGIC! Sometimes I do have to fight with it to get it in the perfect place, or if the material is a little thick, but overall, it's pretty straightforward. It's fun to play with the fonts and put different parts of designs together to make a customer's image come to life. Designs can be as big or as small as you like, as intricate or a simple, and can use all sorts of fun colors! They can take anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours to complete. Yes, 2 hours.
One big difference between applique and embroidery is that applique sews extra fabric to the background (think those really awesome college sorority letter shirts or a cute little polka dot bear on a baby blanket) whereas embroidery just uses thread. A recent endeavor I've picked up is combining the two to make birthday shirts!
It's a pretty handy trick for last-minute gifts or as a way to customize my or my daughter's clothes with our monogram! What's your favorite thing to have embroidered?
Final product from the videos above....it finished as I was typing this and uploading pictures :)
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