During this pandemic we are all spending a lot more time at home. Therefore, I decided to buy an embroidery machine and add to my sewing skills. I learned hand embroidery from my mom when I was about 6 years old and always have appreciated the results of machine embroidery. An online search resulted in finding a Janome 350E machine for a reasonable price and a great deal on a software package. My next step was to consult with my sister, who does a lot of beautiful projects with her embroidery machine. It turns out I had selected the very machine that she has, her advice and expertise have been invaluable as I start this new adventure.
I used lettering and design that were already programed in my machine at purchase and a medium with stabilizing fabric on the back with a clear water soluble stabilizer on the top. There are some issues with the tension that I addressed by decreasing the top thread tension on the next project. As you can see I have a lot to learn and I will share with you my trial and error on this journey.
I love to make baby items and during the pandemic I have made a mountain of things. On this project I used the Artistic Digitizing Software to design this combination of graphics. I used a brighter red on the burp cloth because I like it better for a baby. I think the red I used on the bib is a little dark. I am using a rayon thread with many color choices. I found cotton flannel to be a great fabric to work with as a beginner and I used the same medium weight stabilizer as I did on the first project. I will share my experience sewing the bibs and burp cloths in a future post.
Speaking of the software, I immediately have started trying to create an embroidery file from a JPEG of a family logo. This is quite a challenge and I am in draft #5. I will share this experience with you, once I have a good product.
I decided to try another feature of my new machine and made these two monograms on scrapes of fabric. I have cut them down to this size after I took them out of the embroidery hoop. I think this size would be great on a bathrobe as an upper pocket. Monogram towels will make a great gift idea to pursue in the future. I used the medium stabilizer and a top water-soluble stabilizer. The tension is perfect for this fabric. This is the best technique and result I have had with my new machine so far.
All for now…happy sewing and knitting…Deb
Debbie's Blog 
These are brilliant – I think my first attempt at machine embroidery I didn’t quite appreciate why there was such a need of stabiliser and I had a very grumpy machine and glorious mess to deal with! Look forward to see how it goes with the digitising software and your creations – this is something I still need to explore a bit more.
LikeLiked by 1 person