How to Create Embroidery Work Using a Sewing Machine
Creating embroidery work with your sewing machine can seem like an impossibility. However, all crafters know that where there is a crafting will, there is a way. By duplicating and repeating the same decorative stitch in a designated area, you can create an embroidery-inspired pattern with your sewing machine. Although embroidery is known for its high stitch count and beautiful thread work, with a few design tips, you can convert your sewing machine into an embroidery workshop.
Instructions
-
Creating Your Embroidery Pattern
-
1
Sketch an embroidery pattern or design. It is important to know the types of decorative stitches your sewing machine is capable of making. View your sewing machine's stitch selector and stitch-length control. Read your sewing machine manual for stitch type and note thread length and tension adjustments per stitch. It is best to start with a decorative stitch such as a zigzag or rick-rack stitch.
-
2
Sew all the decorative stitches your sewing machine has available on fabric scrap. It is important to select a fabric scrap similar to your project fabric. Sew three rows of each decorative stitch. Change the tension and thread. This will allow you to see what will happen to the fabric such as puckering or stretching in different conditions. For example, a tight zigzag stitch will have a different fabric effect than a tripunto straight stitch.
-
-
3
Measure the area on your selected garment where your mock embroidery will be set. Trace your embroidery design on tracing paper and cut out. Lay your design on the garment and make any necessary sizing adjustments.
-
4
Select a decorative embroidery thread such as rayon. It is important to read any sewing needle recommendation for each thread type. Change your sewing needle according to your thread in order to avoid needle damage or skipped stitches.
-
5
Mark your traced design with tailor's chalk on your fabric scrap. Refer to your fabric scrap stitch test. Formulate the stitch in a repeat-design pattern. For example, if your design is a flower, use the same stitch within each flower petal. Select the decorative stitch and correct tension on your sewing machine.
Sewing Machine: Creating the Embroidery Stitch
-
6
Select a stitch-starting point for your pattern. This point will remain consistent as the starting point for each stitched row. For example, if your embroidery design is a leaf pattern, start at the top point of the leaf and work vertically towards the stem. You can also opt to sew your stitch horizontally. The key is to keep your stitch uniform to create the illusion of a tight embroidery stitch.
-
7
Slow your machine's speed and feed your fabric gently into your sewing machine. It is best to remove the fabric from the sewing machine after each row. Snip loose threads and proceed with the next stitched row. Once you become proficient at sewing the decorative stitches in a tight manner, you can rotate the fabric in your sewing machine after the first complete row and sew in an up-and-down manner. For example, if your leaf pattern's starting point is vertically at the leaf's center, rotate the leaf at the bottom of the row and sew vertically in the opposite direction.
-
8
Continue repeating the stitch and length. You can opt to change thread colors after stitching a minimum of five rows. It is important to start each new row as close as possible to the initial stitched row. It is best to treat the project in parts to avoid skipped stitches or uneven rows. Finish the first part of your embroidery design and move on to each section until your embroidery design is complete.
-
1
