Project instructions: Machine embroidery free standing lace

Hi guys! Another tutorial for you today, this time for free standing lace! Also known as FSL, this technique uses a special kind of stabilizer to create a design that leaves a beautiful lace behind!

Things you will need are: your embroidery hoop (smallest that'll fit the design is best), water soluble stabilizer (I prefer the Vilene sort like this one for lace), rayon machine embroidery thread and a bobbin wound in the same thread for each colour in the design. Not pictured, a small piece of ribbon.

Hoop up your stabilizer. You'll notice my piece is way too big and I've hooped it to the side, you'll see why in a later step.

Take the hoop to the machine and stitch it out. I've moved the design to the far left but it will load in the centre of the hoop.

This is why I hooped and stitched the design this way, I've just cut off the piece with the design and I can use the other piece again. If you're using a roll of stabilizer, this is a great way to get the most efficient use out of it.

Trim off the excess stabilizer.

I'm going to use a bowl of water for the next step for the sake of photography. My cat inspected it for me. It was deemed suitable.

Soak your design either in a bowl or under running water. The temperature of the water will depend on the stabilizer you use, but generally the cooler the better as you get less distortion than if you used warm/hot water.

If your design curls up a bit after soaking, don't panic! Sometimes the type of thread, needle, stabilizer and design just don't play nice together.

Grab a piece of paper towel and lay the design out flat, then fold the paper towel over the design so it is sandwiched flat in between. I like to place this sandwich under something heavy so it dries flat.

If after letting the design dry it's not sitting perfectly flat (like mine), give it a light iron. Use a medium setting with a light cloth or paper towel over the top.

If you want to hang the ornament, thread the piece of ribbon through the loop. That's it, you're done!

To see the available designs for free standing lace in my Etsy store, please click/tap here: BelsEmbroidery Etsy store

Project instructions: Machine embroidery in the hoop door hangers

Hey guys! I have another tutorial for you, this time for in the hoop door hangers! Great for kids gifts or as holiday decor.

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First, you will need your embroidery hoop, a piece of tearaway stabilizer, and two pieces of fabric the size of your hoop, one for the front and one for the back. I've used plain white for both sides but you could use a plain for the front and a print for the back, for example. Optionally, you might also like to use temporary adhesive spray.

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 Grab your stabilizer and hoop it up. DO NOT hoop your fabric! Just the stabilizer.

Smooth the front piece of fabric onto the top of your hoop. If you prefer, you can use a quick spray of temporary adhesive to hold the fabric down. I find that by using a piece that fits inside the hoop, the stabilizer is grippy enough to hold it.

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Load the design up in the machine. The first thing to stitch is a dieline for the outside edge.

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Next thing to stitch will be the design in the centre.

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Remove the design from the machine and flip it over. Smooth the back piece of fabric so it overhangs the dieline. You can use a quick spray of adhesive to hold it down if you like. Take it back to the machine.

 Another dieline will stitch out over the first. Remove the hoop from the machine.

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Take your applique scissors and cut the excess fabric off as close as you can to the stitching. Don't panic if you accidentally snip the stitches.

Do the same for the front. Take the hoop back to the machine. At this point it's a good idea to wind a bobbin with the same thread you'll be using for the satin stitch border so the back looks just as neat and pretty as the front.

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The machine will stitch a zig zag around the edges. If you've got overhanging fabric at this point (like I do at the bottom edge and around the top of the loop), try to snip that off. You might notice your tearaway is starting to get perforated at this point, that's normal! Just be a little gentle with your hoop. Back to the machine!

 Last step is a satin stitch border. This should cover all the stitches and fabric edges. The hanger is really starting to separate from the tearaway now, which makes the next step really easy.

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Remove the hanger from the hoop and tear away the excess stabilizer. You're done! You might have some fuzzies sticking out from the stitching (if you use a good quality stabilizer like this one you won't get as much as I did, I had to use an old piece as I'd run out), you can (carefully!) cut these away or grab some tweezers and pull them out.

To see the available designs for in the hoop door hangers in my Etsy store, please click/tap here: BelsEmbroidery Etsy store

Project instructions: Machine embroidery in the hoop key fob/keyring

Hey guys! I have a tutorial for you today, for machine embroidered key fobs! They're a fun and easy little project that will take no time at all.

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First things first, the things you will need are your embroidery hoop, a piece of vinyl/leather/faux leather, and a piece of cutaway or tearaway stabilizer. I've used cutaway but some people prefer tearaway. For this project, either will work. You will also need applique scissors or thread snips, regular scissors, a keyring, a hot glue gun, and some pegs or a heavy object.

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Hoop up your vinyl and your stabilizer.

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Load the design up on your machine, and stitch it out.

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Unhoop the fabric. Grab a pair of scissors and loosely cut off the excess.

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If you're like me and have a machine that does not read trimming codes, take a pair of thread snips and cut off the jump threads. Make sure that at least one photo is blurry!

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Take your scissors and carefully cut around the design, keeping a millimeter or two extra outside the outer stitch line.

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Next, grab a keyring and push half of the design through it so the keyring sits in the centre, like so. 

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Turn the design over and cover the back in glue (NOT THE MIDDLE STRIP! Just the 'ímage' parts of the design). I would recommend using a hot glue gun but mine wasn't working at time of writing so I've just used white glue.

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Fold the design over so it lines up (don't worry if it's not perfect, you can always trim off the extra). Grab some clips/pegs and clamp it down, or place it under a heavy object so it holds together while the glue dries. Don't forget to wipe off the glue you managed to drip onto your cutting mat before it dries.

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Aaaaaand you're done! Enjoy your finished key fob or have fun giving it away as a gift!

To see the available designs for in the hoop key fobs in my Etsy store, please click/tap here: BelsEmbroidery Etsy store