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LACE MAKING
l love making lace because it
involves my head and hands when it
comesto making lace dont thing there are rules but just
people
experimenting what works for them.Making lace is a learning
process
that each and everyone one of us most work through.Anyone
doing lace
or been in my lace classes will know l love disposable
bobbins and
love using them in lace making.If l had to wind my bobbins
l would
never get my lace done.I never have to touch my tension
with them
they work like a dream in my Brother machines.Alot of
bobbin thread on a big spool can sometimes be made very
fast when
winded which gives us many knots and can cause upper
thread breaks
and stopping and starting.This is frustrating when you
look at the
time one puts in for lace making.I love my spun polyester
bobbins Nebs they are knotless and l get no dust on
my rotary hook
which many know dust can shorten the life of your machine.
I love to use water soluble vilene for my lace making
but the
hooping of it is very important.
I hoop it taut so there are no wrinkles usually just
one layer.It is
made for high stitch counts it will not stretch in any
direction is
not a film so it disolves quickly in hot or cold water.
Water soluble vilene is as strong as a cutaway ideal
for my
customers to use for there lace making.
With my lace no one really looks at the bottom only
the top so
sometimes if it is a metallic l might match top and
bottom just for
looks.A very dence lace design l find needs 2 layers
of water
soluble vilene.
The main problem ladies make with lace l find is not
being sure if
it is freestanding or not.For anyone out there having
a giggle yes l
made the mistake too of not checking.Had stitched this
lovely cloth
all together which when washed l was left with a big
mess of threads
in my sink.Laugh about it now but was jumping up and
down at the
time.LOL
I know now to ask the lace designer wether it is free
standing or
not.Freestanding lace the stitching is woven with other
stitches and
good lace designs are digitized in a way that suuports
the overall
stitching and have an underlay of thread.
The direction of the stitching along with the interlocking
stitches
is so important in making freestanding lace.Other lace
designs not
free standing are to be sewn out to give a lacy effect
are stitched
out on fabric base such as voile,batiste or organza.Nowadays
l just
put my lace designs in the washing machine when finished.I
usually
add some fabric softner which makes my lace lovely and
soft.Choose
your lace designs carefully and remember to ask the
digitizer if it
is free standing.
Your
outer hoop holds the tension and the inner hoop holds
the
layers of fabric and stabilizer.We need to have proper
hoop
tension.Hoop and unhoop the fabric with stabilizer to
get good hoop
tension before you start your hooping process.Use the
smallest size
hoop to accomodate your design.If you have too much
fabric in your
hoop it will cause your design to bounce around and
also cause
puckering and gaps around design.Don't use use ironing
board to hoop
on as usually it is too soft and the foam on the ironing
board may
make your hooping slightly out.Use a flat table or flat
bench.Loosen
the adjustment screw all the way out.Lay stabilizer
and fabric
together.Use the right stabilizer for your fabric and
make sure the
stabilizer is larger than the embroidery frame when
hooping.
Stabilizer needs to be larger so there is no pulling
or moving of it
when the hoop moves about.Place inner frame in hoop
and push it in
with ONE push to stop fabric moving about.Now this is
where you
smooth out the fabric and stabilizer and press the hoops
into each
other,make sure there are no bubbles.Remove any wrinkles
or waves at
this stage.Don't tighten the screw then tug and tug
this causes
puckering.no standing up pushing your fingers in it
too.Gently
tighten screw.(pulling on the fabric once it is hooped
may cause you
puckering).Dont over tighten screw or you may break
it in half.Your
fabric needs to be taut but not out of shape by you
pulling at
it.
Alot of home embroidery designs are digitized for 4x4
standard
hoop area unless it states otherwise.Hoops do stretch
overtime so
always handy to have a spare.You may want to replace
the hoop and
keep the stretched one for heavier fabrics like denim
or fleece.I
always keep 2 sets of hoops in there sizers 1 for heavy
and 1 for
thin fabric.Streched hoops will cause shifting.The fabric
may get a
wave and you catch it up in the stitching.
Look at the grain of the fabric once you have hooped
,if it looks
stretched remember it will remain stretched once embroidery
is
done.If your grain looks offline start again you want
your fabric
to sit smooth on the stabilizer.It's important to understand
that
not every design can be used on every type of fabric,
even with the
proper stabilizer. Fabric that's stretched too tightly
when hooped
will relax when unhooped.A dense design with high stitch
count does
not work well on knits.Some designs are suitable for
more stable
fabric, but for a lightweight fabric or a loose unstable
weave, use
a design with fewer fill stitches.If you don't think
you are hooping
wrongly and still getting puckering it may also be very
tight
machine tensions.When your machine tension is too tight
you will
know because it will pull the stitches so tight and
your fabric will
always be puckering look at this on narrow stitches
or satin.
It is always hard to keep stabilizer taut in a larger
hoop you may
have adjust and use fabric glue stick or spray adhensive
or fusible
stabilizer to help stop shifting during machine embroidery.Will
always depend on what fabric you are embroidering on.As
you get more
skilled with hooping you knid of know if it will work
or not.
Make sure you have alot of space around your machine
and that no one
places something behind the embroidery frame.My DH is
famous for
placing something behind my machine causing my hoop
to get stuck
when stitching.Your machine needs plenty of room. The
fabric must
not be too heavy and pulling down on your hoop.Support
your heavy
fabric on a chair if you have to.Mens overalls can be
done easy on
our domestic embroidery machine as long as you support
the weight of
your fabric on a chair.look out for sleeves getting
caught or extra
fabric getting stitched.Yes always happens when the
phone rings or
the doorbell.LOL
if you are hooping to loosely you will find your fabric
has a wave
or a bump through it.Before you start lightly run your
hand ever
slightly over the top.Too much movement start again.
Remember that tearaways are for stable fabrics and cutaways
work
best for most unstable fabric or fabrics that stretch.If
project is
all hooped up and you notice the stabilizer is not supporting
the
design side another layer of tearaway under the project
will often
get you out of trouble.
Make yourself a non skid matting
frame for your hoop.It will stop any hoop burn and help
hold your fabric snugly or sheer stabilizer in the hoop
without any deformations or loose areas.You should be
able to get non skidding matting from your hardware
store.It is the stuff you put under mats to stop them
from moving under your feet. Always use the smallest
hoop that will comfortable accommodate your Design.Cut
the non skid matting in a square shape bigger than your
hoop.Frame it up and cut out the centre.You cut out
the design area from the non-skid matting.You can then
place the polymesh and matting together when you frame.Make
sure your polymesh was hooped taut like a drum.You may
need to fuse no show nylon mesh to the backside of the
cotton first perpendicular to the stretch of the fabric.Know
this sounds strange but it can trick the knit into acting
like a woven.Then frame another piece of no show nylon
mesh and do hoopless embroidery method perhaps also
adding a glue stick and using the iron inside the hoop
again.Again pin up the t-shirt to take the weight of
the hoop.It must be fused on smoothly with the little
iron.
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