I have always enjoyed doing free motion quilting and embroidery. Since my days on the road as an educator for Singer I use to demonstrate the art of embroidery using straight stitch and zig-zag.Â
P
eople were always fasinated with how you could 
draw using the simple sewing machine. Today we have machines and computers that program in embroidery stitches but free motion is a skill that can add so much to your sewing project.
Watch this video from Terry White to see how creative free motion can be. Terry offers a complete series of lessons on how to do free motion embroidery.Â
The octihoop does make the free motion job easier by offering a controlled surface with handles you can grip and move to create lovely embroidery. I also really like the printable Stick and Rinse by Sewing and Embroidery solutions. Take your drawing and scan it and print it out. Place a piece of Stitch and Rinse over the paper design and print again. Place the  printed sheet of Stitch and Rinse on top of your fabric as a guide to free motion stitching. Here is the video to watch on how this is done.
To give you a fun challenge I am offering 4 animal free motion designs free for one week! Some of the  drawings are as large as 14″ . Simply save prints to a memory USB stick and take the artwork to Staples with sheets of your Stick and rinse cut 14″ by 14. Have the designs copied to the Stitck and Rinse since they do not fit in the inkjet inker unless you resize the design. When ready to embroidery, peel one side and stick to your fabric to use as a pattern.  It will wash away when you are done.
The Octihoop is prepared with Stick and Rinse so the stabilzers just rinse away from the quilt after you are done. I did all 4 animals on a white prequilted double faced fabric for a baby quilt and used a black and white fabric to bind it. Offer ends Oct 23nd 2010. The designs will then be offered in our Gallery for a nominal fee.
If you have a Singer XL6000 or XL5000 you need to remember the machine works with a thread meter system. To free motion, lengthen the stitch length to the longest length. This will over ride the metering system and allow you to free motion embroider.
You may need a free motion embroidery foot to complete your project. Jenny’s Sewing Studio has a wide range of embroidery feet to fit many models. Here is a link.
I hope you will enjoy the great craft of free motion embroidery.
Jenny’s Sewing Studio
Salisbury, MD
410-543-1212
