Embroidery Enthusiast

Whenever I say "embroidery" most people think of the intricate pieces done by hand by little old ladies done way back when. But, embroidery covers a lot of different styles, and is still done today, even by the younger crowd.

I am 32 years old. I have been doing some sort of embroidery since I was about 11. I started with cross stitch. The craft where you make a bunch of tiny Xs, lines, and knots with floss and it eventually makes a picture. I say eventually because large projects can sometimes take over a year to complete. You can work for hours and maybe have half a page done with 20 more to go. I still have pieces I haven't finished from 7+ years ago. Woops. I definitely haven't been working on it that long though, it just becomes tedious with requiring so much time and seeming like it never gets finished.

If all I'm doing is sticking floss through holes to make Xs, what do I need scissors for? The floss comes on long skeins. It is impossible to use the whole thing at once. So, it has to be cut down. The common length being about 16 inches. I use my arm to measure. If it's too long, it will get tangled and twisted a lot. If it's too short, you end up wasting floss because you have to leave a little at the beginning and end to tuck it in to stay put, otherwise everything comes undone. Scissors are also needed to cut the fabric down to size. You can get yardage of the cloth needed, but if you only need a 4x4 inch square, you don't want to have all that extra getting in the way.

The other type of embroidery I do is on my machine. Otherwise known as…machine embroidery. I know, who would have guessed, such a clever name. I have heard so many times that all I do is press a button and the machine does all the work for me. This is not the case at all. A lot goes into deciding material, thread colors, what stabilizer to use, any customization, and so much time.

Some projects can take an hour to stitch out, and for most of it, you're stuck sitting in front of the machine waiting. What is done during that time? You make sure the machine doesn't blow up. Ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like. So many things can go wrong in a split second that can ruin an entire project. If you're stitching on clothing, the material can bunch up and pucker, or a part of it can slide under the hoop and stitch to the backside. Thread can get bundled up and cause a jam, requiring taking the machine apart to fix. Thread can run out. Then you have to rethread, and back up because the machine doesn't detect it immediately and will stitch a few more times before stopping. The worst thing that happens is a needle goes through a finger if you try to move something out of the way. Machines go about 400+ stitches per minute, that's pretty fast.

But again, where do scissors come into play? Unlike cross stitching where really any pair of scissors will work, machine embroidery requires a little bit more thought. One project can require like five pairs of scissors sometimes. I use a pair of tiny, sharp pointed ones to cut threads, or jump stitches. This is why the same color is used in multiple areas that aren't connected. Some machines automatically cut these, but those are higher end and more expensive. If I am doing an applique, duck billed scissors are great for getting close around the edge of the fabric. There is a final stitch, a satin stitch, that goes around it and you don't want any frays sticking out of it. But, if you cut too close, then the fabric will pull away from the material. It really is an art to get it perfect.

You can also make what's called in the hoop projects. These are where a project is completed start to finish on the machine. It's not adding an image onto something, it's creating something completely new. These type of things can include keychains, finger puppets, masks, lotion holders, bags, pencil toppers, headbands, cord wraps, Christmas stockings, dolls, and so much more. Almost anything you can do on a sewing machine can be designed to do on an embroidery machine. Scissors are very much required to cut these items out. Depending on the material, determines the type of scissors you need. There is fabric, vinyl, and felt just to name a few.

The hand embroidery that pops into everyone's mind is something I can't do. It takes a lot of patience and knowledge to figure it out and make it look nice. There are hundreds of different stitch types that have to be done precisely to look right, to get the right texture of say a tree versus the grass. Gotta have scissors to cut the thread and material used.

Creating something from nothing is a lot of fun. I've been doing it in one way or another for over 20 years now. I'm hoping I can pass on my love for crafts onto my children.

If I were to place in the Create Your Happiness challenge, I would love to upgrade my embroidery machine. I currently use a Brother PE770 and can only go up to 5x7 inch. I want to go as high as I can of course, but even getting to a 6x10 would be a huge improvement. Being able to replace some of my older pairs of scissors would be a plus as well.