http://www.designsbysick.com/articles Embroidery Articles and Embroidery Blog Mon, 14 May 2012 17:20:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en by Doree I have a great idea for rinsing & drying FSL (free standing lace). I went to the Dollar store and bought 2 splatter screens ($1 each) and baggie clips ($1) total of $3. When rinsing the FSL put it between the screens and then clip them in. You can soak or rinse under running water. Let dry in the screens and they stay flat, too. Hope you like this tip! This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/free-standing-lace-screens/ by Mary B. Don't throw away teeny scraps of material.  You can use them to cut and paste pictures onto stabilizer and make all sorts of coasters.  When you have an arrangement you like, simply spray adhesive on the back of each fabric scrap and make your picture.  Then treat it as an applique, inserting a piece of heavy weight color fast felt on the back, trimming the edges before the  satin stitch edge is applied. Caution: Be sure to adhere your fabric pieces securely with spray adhesive.  Otherwise, you may be tempted to hold a loose piece in place.  Your machine will sense t... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/stipple-coasters/ by Karen When choosing fabric to embroider be sure to cut the fabric so the lengthwise grain runs horizontal in the hoop.   This can really reduce the puckering that can occur.  I make embroidered greeting cards using quilting cottons and since I discovered this it has made a huge difference in the look of the cards.... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/how-do-you-hoop/ by Mary B. I'm always afraid I'll go off and leave my iron on, especially when I'm interrupted in the middle of something. My solution is to plug both the iron and a radio into a multiple outlet strip.  The radio is always tuned to my favorite classical music station, so it plays every time I turn on the strip. It'... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/did-i-leave-the-iron-on/ by Missy I have been reading a lot lately about machine tension and bobbin tension trouble . I  have been embroidering since 1992 and one of the first tips I was told was when you were changing the color of thread being used - to snip it at the top of the machine up before it goes into the first slot and then... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/stop-those-tension-headaches/ by Karen I have a tip for you.   When choosing fabric to embroider be sure to cut the fabric so the lengthwise grain runs horizontal in the hoop. This can really reduce the puckering that can occur.  I make embroidered greeting cards using quilting cottons and since I discovered this it has made a huge difference in the look of the cards.... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/horizontal-hoop-happiness/ by Brenda I have taken several pictures of two items that I purchased at a garage sale or thrift store and I am using them for my quilting tools holders. The dark brown one is a poker chips & playing card turnstile unit.  To close up the finger slot on the bottom of each chip slot, I placed one chip. This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/i-need-that/ by Granny Elen I have lots of large cones with no way to secure the threads when I am not using them.  I found that the little ring on pop/water/ice tea bottles is the perfect size for my cones. I take the ring off and use a nail clippers to clip the little pieces of plastic as... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/with-this-ring/ by Mary The (ugh) carpet in my sewing room collects bits of thread, so I decided to use an old idea and put them to good use. I save the threads and sandwich them between two layers of WSS. Then I embroider the sandwich with the round stippling pattern, add a piece of colorfast felt to the bottom and a satin stitch around the edge. After you soak away the WSS, you're left with a colorful coaster. The stippling holds the threads tightly in place. This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/putting-old-thread-scraps-to-good-use/ by Jane One tip I learned that I found helpful was using Electric Shave  Cream to clean your embroidery hoops from adhesive spray residue.  They clean up with not too much rubbing and even smell good.... This is a copy. See the original article here]]> http://www.designsbysick.com/articles/your-hoops-smell-wonderful/