Creative Machine Embroidery July - August 2018

It’s the year of the dog, according to the Chinese zodiac, and we’re all about celebrating our furry little friends. Our new exclusive Puppy Love embroidery collection is meant to do just that. Including six dog breeds, this collection is great for personalizing pet beds, food mats, treat bags, or items for you to flaunt your love of your pet! Try a shopping tote, picture frame or the slippers on the cover. I recently read that 44% of millennials consider their pet a “starter child.” Pet-friendly workplaces, pet insurance availability and homes or rentals in close proximity to dog parks are high on the priority list for these folks, who are even touting “pets over parenthood” as their new mantra. It’s probably in response to having children later in life…

lisa archer In the Hoop: Toothbrush Roll—page 18 picklepiedesigns.com ramona baird Light Display—page 48 asg.org/resources/conference “To say we have rivalry in our house is an understatement with nine adult children scattered across the country. There’s no way this mom is going to choose one team over another, but in a recent college auction, all my luxe cuddle throws and pillows with machine embroidered logos were the favorite bidding items.” colleen bell Cheering Section—page 60 theembroiderist.com kandi christian Porch Pretties—page 42 sewtimeless.com “My granddaughter is part of an equestrian team, so I made a logo for the farm team showing barrel racing.” pamela cox Heirloom Effects: Whitework Embroidery—page 30 nancy fiedler Quilt This: Density & Drape—page 22 soni grint Software Savvy: Design Anatomy—page 26 tricia patterson That’s…

SWAB & SAVE Clean your craft scissors with a cotton ball and a commercial degreaser, like Goo Gone. Claudia O., Facebook STRAW COMPANIONS Keep matching thread spools and bobbins together by placing a cut plastic straw through both center holes of the spool and bobbin. Teri C., email COLORFUL COVER Use a paint swatch to cover your machine throat plate when changing needles. Susan M., email TAPE TAP When trimmed jump threads cling to your fingers due to static, place a piece of masking tape on the rim of your wastebasket, leaving the majority of the sticky side exposed, and tap your finger to the sticky edge to pull off the thread scraps. Diane S., email FINAL TOUCH When making refrigerator magnets, key chains or other in-the-hoop projects, color the…

1. Make pressing easier with a Stylist Sprayer that can extend spray for a longer duration than any spray bottle, with an even distribution in a fine mist. Use to dampen fabric for pressing without getting big blotches of water. ($10, stylistsprayers.com) 2. If you’re a dog lover, you need the CME exclusive Puppy Love Collection. This collection features the faces of some of the most beloved dog breeds, including a Yorkie, Bulldog, German Shepherd, Pug, Poodle and Corgi. You can place the designs almost anywhere, or turn them into iron-on patches that you can give to friends as gifts. ($4.99/design, $24.99/collection, shopsewitall.com) 3. Finish serged edges with a Hookey serger seam hook. This nifty tool allows you to easily pull in serged thread tails by slipping under the seam…

Tension refers to the balance between the needle thread and the bobbin thread. For standard stitching, the tension should be balanced. When stitching a perfectly balanced seam, only the needle thread is visible on the fabric right side and only the bobbin thread is visible on the wrong side. When embroidering designs, a perfect stitch is actually unbalanced. On the design right side, only the needle thread is visible. When looking at the wrong side, the bobbin thread and also some of the needle thread along each embroidery-object perimeter is visible. In other words, hints of color should show on the design wrong side. If only the bobbin thread color is visible, the tension isn’t set correctly for embroidery. The needle thread must pull slightly to the wrong side so…

MATERIALS + Mesh cut-away stabilizer + Three 7"×9" fabric rectangles + 24" length of 7/8"-wide grosgrain ribbon + 4"×6" rectangle of fusible webbing + All-purpose thread + Permanent fusible seam tape PREPARE • Download the ITH Toothbrush Roll design from cmemag.com/freebies until Aug. 31, 2018. Find the design after the expiration at shopsewitall.com. • Load the design onto the machine. EMBROIDER • Fold one 7"×9" fabric rectangle in half to 4½ "×7" with wrong sides together. Press to crease the fold. Sandwich the fusible webbing inside the folded fabric, and press to fuse the webbing to the fabric wrong sides. • Hoop a piece of stabilizer. • Embroider step one to create a placement line on the stabilizer. • Center one 7"×9" fabric rectangle right side up over the hoop.…