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Posts Tagged ‘Feed Dogs’

Can you do quilting with a Baby Lock Ellegante embroidery machine?

December 23rd, 2012 2 comments


Do you mean free motion quilting? I have an Ellegante, too. You drop the feed dogs, put on the darning foot, have your machine set on straight stitch, then start quilting. It involves eye-hand coordination. The faster you run the machine, the faster you have to move the fabric. Soon you’ll be making nice, even stitches, but it does take practice. Mark your quilt with stencils or follow the designs in the fabric. You have complete control of the fabric "sandwich" in this way. I use temp adhesive spray to hold layers together.
You also can use the walking foot for SID or echo quilting. I teach from the Better Homes and Gardens "Teach Yourself to Quilt" book. There are many books available on the subject
There are many emb. quilting designs available for quilting "in the hoop". I never hoop the quilt; I use Aqua Magic Plus (TM)-(there are other brands, too) and stick my quilt to it. You hoop the AM+, then use a pin to score the paper and then tear the paper off exposing the sticky surface. I then use the hoop’s plastic placement grid to center the block then sew it out. It’s water soluable and merely washes off the back when you’re done quilting. You can quilt in "sections". See the book "Divide and Conquer" by Smith & Milligan.
You have an awesome machine and I hope you have support nearby. My nearby dealer retired and closed her store. Now I’d have to drive over 2 hours for instruction. Support your local dealer!

i need a sewing machine that can be used for freehand embroidery?

December 17th, 2012 2 comments

is there a specific type i should buy, or special needles. Any further info greatly aprecited, thanks.

Embroidery needles are often useful. All you need to do free motion embroidery is have a machine that allows you to drop or cover the feed dogs — the rest is up to you. Having a machine that allows you to do a stitch at a time and stop with needle up or needle down can also be useful, so you may wish to pay special attention to electronic machines (as opposed to mechanical):
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

Best book on FME that I know of is Robbie and Tony Fanning’s Complete Book of Machine Embroidery, now out of print (but commonly available at libraries). While you’re at it, see if they can get you a copy of "Singer Instructions for Art Embroidery" — reprints are fine — the originals were done on treadle sewing machines.

How do I do embroidery with a sewing machine? Is it possible?

November 11th, 2012 7 comments

I have a ton of excess denim from making a purse out of my friends never woren jeans she got rid of. Now I decided to make a bracelet with embroidery… how do I do it with a sewing machine? Also, have any other ideas on what to do with the scraps?

Sure, you can do free-motion embroidery with any machine. You need to drop the feed dogs or cover them in order to do it, but that’s easily accomplished. Best beginning book I know of is Robbie and Tony Fanning’s Complete Book of Machine Embroidery — you’ll probably have to get it from your library, as I believe it’s now out of print. Want to knock your socks off? Check to see if your library has a copy of Singer Instructions for Art Embroidery — everything in the book was done on a straight stitch treadle machine, and it’s gorgeous.

Here’s a professional free-motion embroiderer at work:
http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/tvt032.asp

A step by step guide on how to do sewing machine embroidery?

October 26th, 2012 2 comments

So for D&T textiles i need to give a step by step guide on sewing machine embroidery. Only half the class have used the sewing machines so i dont know. Could somebody please help. Thank you.
Our teacher said sewing machine embroidery:)

This is a sewing machine and not an embroidery machine?

Do these machines have built-in decorative designs (sometimes called embroidery)?

Are you expected to do free-motion stitching (embroidery)?

All three methods require the use of stabilizer.

The embroidery machine comes with hoops and the stabilizer and fabric are hooped together with the stabilizer on the bottom.

To emulate with a sewing machine, you need to baste the stabilizer to the back of the fabric and the sewing machine will then stitch the selected design. There is usually an open toe presser foot for this process.

For free-motion where you are the designer, baste as for the decorative stitching, disengage the feed dogs (or cover them with an index card and tape it securely to the bed of the sewing machine) and use a darning or free motion presser foot. Presser foot down and then you move the fabric to make the design. You can draw the design first with chalk or air soluble fabric marker, or draw on tissue and fasten over the fabric and trace with stitching.

Stabilizer for machine embroidery comes in tear away and cut away. Cut away is trimmed close to the stitching and left in. Tear away can be gently torn from the stitching.

Use a needle for embroidery.

Does singer sewing machine(model:Inspiration)has a darning presser foot&option to lower feed dogs? ?

December 28th, 2011 2 comments

I want2do free motion embroidery using a embroidery hoop,so tht i can make my own designs.Pls advise as i want2buy a machine.

The 4220 does have droppable feed dogs, I’m not sure about others also bearing the "inspiration" tag. Check the features for the exact model you’re interested in. Generic low shank or snap on darning feet are easily available.

Doesn’t really matter, though, as you can set the stitch length to 0 on any sewing machine and cover the feed dogs with something like an old credit card that you’ve punched a hole through for the needle, then taped down around all edges. Sometime when you’re at the library, look for "Singer Instructions for Art Embroidery and Lace Work", first published in 1911, and republished a number of times since — the work was all done on a treadle machine, with non-droppable feed dogs. http://thesewbox.blogspot.com/2009/01/singer-instructions-for-art-embroidery.html