I think I am quite sad to be completing the work on the Royal Heirloom collection. It has been quite exciting seeing the designs coming into shape in my embroidery software and then I have been completely fascinated watching them stitching out, testing out various colour schemes. In this final set of designs for 12″ by 8″ hoops I have included a few designs which can be combined. Let me show you the possibilities and how outline alignment stitches can help.
Developing heirloom designs for larger hoops
This week I finished digitising and testing out the 12 designs in Royal Heirloom 4 for mega hoops that are 360mm by 150mm. As well as creating designs which can be used individually I like to make sure that the majority of the designs will combine easily for larger areas, like the train of a wedding dress or the front skirt of a Christening down. I have introduced a few new elements in this set of designs too.
Gilded Treasures collection – re-blog from 2017
I would like to share this blog from last year as these designs are the collection of the month during August, which means they are only $35.
Over the last few weeks I have been working on the new Christmas collection for 2017. This collection was inspired by some wrapping paper! As there are already several collections at Graceful Embroidery in the usual seasonal colour schemes, I have decided to use a very different group of colours, jades, olive greens, greys and rich spicy colours like russet, maples and cinnamon along with copper and silver metallic thread. The development of these designs, takes advantage of the wonderful digitising tools available in Wilcom e4, the latest version of the commercial software that I have been using. The designs have a slight “grunge” feel to them like Amore Grunge, Fleur de Grunge and Morning grunge, characterised by tiny elements and open leaves. Continue reading
Posted in Discussing machine embroidery
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Scalloped edged machine embroidery
My heirloom collections have all had particular themes, like eyelets, special stitches like those created with wing needles and candle wicking. For my latest collection I have focused on creating delicate narrow ribbons of lace motif fills, that not only imitate lace lace insertion, but can also be easily adapted to shadow work, so the Royal Heirloom collection is very versatile. It is fascinating to create these designs always with heirloom projects, like Christening gowns in mind.
Preparing fabric for an heirloom project
Careful planning is required for an heirloom project and most times it will be necessary to test out how design combinations will look. May I encourage you to try anything that comes to mind, especially if it almost sounds too challenging. Very often what we think is not possible in machine embroidery, can in fact be done with some careful consideration along with use of the right designs, fabric, thread and stabilisers. After discovering a while back that the designs in the Regency Whispers collection stitch out perfectly on English cotton net, I am now willing to try a few more experiments and encourage you to do the same.
Creating another heirloom collection
When Prince Louis was born I was asked whether I would create another heirloom collection, as I did for Prince George (Le Bebe Royale) and Princess Charlotte (Une Petite Princesse). I adore designing heirloom embroidery so I needed little more encouragement. Every heirloom collection I have created focuses on at least one new element of heirloom embroidery.
Embroidering an elegant bride
It is easy to just pick colours at random, stitch them out and then be unhappy with the result, just as it is commonplace to add too many colours to an embroidery design and spoil its beauty. I have been stitching out samples of my new bridal design which comes as a simple crazy quilt block, and have been discovering the dramatic differences the right colours make.
Benefits of Owning an Entire Collection of Designs by Pamela Cox
One might think that if part of a design collection is purchased, considering the “theme” of the collection is the same, that a single set will suffice. And, I must say, from some digitizers, that axiom is true because their collections are all designed for a single type of usage, such as quilt blocks or linen corners.
Posted in Discussing machine embroidery
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how to embroider all over fabric
When I enter a fabric store I always head for the silk and the embroidered fabrics. Usually I am disappointed about the lack of choices, so I have always loved the idea of creating my own embroidered fabric, as is allows me to make my own very unique fabric. It is very easy to do and works much like a jigsaw puzzle….
What to do with an imperfect embroidery stitch out
I have to admit that it is a frequent occurrence for me not to be completely happy with my stitch outs, so I have to ask if it possible to have a perfectly stitched out embroidery design. The larger the design and the more colour changes increase the possibility of this happening, and non more so than embroidering out my new Antique sewing machine. The reason for some of these mistakes and errors are not always obvious, like selecting the wrong thread colour. One of the common errors in embroidery can be a misalignment of outlines. Those nasty little gaps need to be filled but how?