Ann The Gran Community

The Avid Embroiderer Presents: Needles, July 3, 2008

pat71896 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:33:00 GMT

Needles

General Information:

The lower the number, the smaller the needle regardless of the type.
Fine fabrics, satin, silk, linen, require the #60/8 Sharp or #65/9 Sharp. Either would be good choices. Those fabrics are snagged by a dull or overly large needle.
To pierce heavy fabric like denim, use #80/12 Sharp or #90/14 Sharp.
Knits and loosely woven fabrics need a ball point needle. The finer the jersey and pique knit use a smaller needle.
Cotton fabrics work well with sharp or universal needles.
Tapestry is also loosely woven so you will want to use a ball point needle. These will more easily go between the threads of the fabric instead of penetrating them.
Wedge point needles are made for plastics, vinyl and leather goods. Wedge point needles make a ‘slice’ rather than a hole. If your needle is causing the design to be "cut" out of your fabric, try a wedge point. Here’s a deal! Originally $4,999.00 and on sale for $39.99…
Cardstock demands a very fine, sharp needle and the smaller the better. It will also require a fine thread, at least a #50 or #60 thread.
Metallic needles are sharp and have a larger hole. This allows the metallic thread to feed easier and therefore, less thread breaks. Nothing that I know about will stop metallic thread breakage.
If you think your needle (not yet attached to the machine) might have an eye that is too small, you can take a 12” piece of the thread and put it through the hole. Hold the thread vertically and spin the needle, this demonstrates how easily the thread moves through the hole.

Embroidery needles have a slight amount of flexibility to them, allowing better movement. Sewing needles are generally more rigid.

If you have a dual machine that sews as well as embroiders, you would have been given two different bobbin cases. Other than thread and needle, the reality is that sewing and embroidery have very little in common in their process. Here is why:

A sewing machine uses the top and bottom threads equally to combine two fabrics together. You will use an equal amount of thread with the top and bottom. This diagram shows the process.

However, an embroidery machines uses the top thread to cover your fabric while the bottom thread holds the top thread snugly to the fabric. This method uses approximately 40% more top than bottom thread. This diagram is courtesy of Designs in Machine Embroidery), you already know that you will see top thread on the bottom of your design, as it should be.

dumpING the needle Let’s all put a dollar into a bank account for every time we wondered when to change the needle. The account will be in my name and I promise to tell you about all the fun I have spending it. Options: Listen to the ‘experts’ (not including yours truly).

When you start a new project
When you are doing delicate or detailed designs
When your machine starts to sound different
When you think of it
When you have done 70,000 or 150,000 stitches
When the needle is bent
Give up and take up a new hobby.

Drum Roll (as Cathy would say)! I don’t have a simple answer. I do, however, follow a few rules.

When I begin a new project, I think about the prior age/usage of the needle, I might change here.
When I am doing small words and want those “o’s” and “e’s” to have good definition, I probably will change here.
I do listen carefully to my machine. But noise in general does not mean the needle is in need of change. Any unusual sound requires an immediate stop of the machine. I might consider changing the needle here.
When I change the bobbin, I see lint in the bobbin case area; and I may think about changing the needle while I am cleaning up that area.
I do keep an eye on the number of stitches I have been creating. It reminds me it is time for a check up at my dealers. But I may change my needle just because of usage by count.
I always change a bent needle immediately.
I believe in strong stabilization, which dulls a needle. I change that needle.

A worn needle can be one cause of tension issues. Here are “Test Your Tension” files for the most common embroidery formats. I have placed the test file in my machine’s memory. If you don’t have a memory on your machine, keep this file handy and use it periodically. Here’s how:

Use contrasting threads for top thread, bobbin thread and fabric so that you can readily see where your thread is landing at the current tension setting.
If possible, use different brands of threads.
Observe your test. The appearance of the majority of your test indicates your general tension.
If adjustments are needed, make them in small increments, and repeat the test.
Naturally, the factory setting is the most accurate, but over time, wear and movement will make a reset inaccurate without a fully trained technician.
Keep the stitched out pattern for future reference.
Check often.

TensionTestDST.zip TensionTestEXP.zip TensionTestHUS.zip

TensionTestJEF.zip TensionTestPCS.zip TensionTestPES.zip

TensionTestXXX.zip

To print this blog: Print

Did you see the New Photos Section? It is called “Challenges and Advice” and it will be great for all those discussions and suggestions that ATG users are renowned for sharing!

What would you like the next Blog to be about? I have several subjects in mind:

HEIRLOOM/WING NEEDLE
PLACEMENT GUIDES
ENDLESS HOOPING
YOUR IDEA

Time to Get Comfortable - Making the Magic Bookshelf Your Own

beamishboy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:30:00 GMT

Digital Hugs

People are really starting to have some fun in our community. Many of you are taking advantage of some of the great features that make it possible to really share yourselves and the results of your creativity. A number of you have commented on the blogs and forums that this space is really starting to feel like a sewing bee, where people start out talking about their creative passions - embroidery, quilting, sewing, whatever - but where those conversations continue into discussions about pets, spouses, background, health, and who knows what else. Remarkably, all this takes place within a group of people who, generally speaking, have never even shaken hands or hugged.

Share & Share Alike

In your daily life, when you meet someone you think you're going like, one of your first instincts is to find common ground with that person. You do that by asking questions about that person and sharing information about yourself. I hope you'll agree with me that, in general, those who share more get more in return. An online community like ours is not that much different. Those getting the most from the community are those who are sharing the most. When community members look at someone who has taken a little effort to share herself either through her posts or through her profile, we feel a comfort level with that person, and we really feel like we have begun to know her. That kind of person then becomes easier for us to approach, and we feel more inclined to help her or respond to her (apologies to the gents reading -- for the sake of simplicity and good grammar, I'm using feminine pronoun throughout this post).

World of Possibilities

With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea in this post to go over the many ways that you, a member of our community, can better personalize your experience in the community, and in so doing, open yourself up further to a world of possibilities. You're not always going to feel like posting something (although we love it when you do!), so the best way for many of you to do this is through your profile. Your profile is your face to our community. To view your profile, all you need to do is go to any of our Community pages (forums, blogs, galleries) and log in with your username and password. You will then see in the top right corner of the screen your username and an 'Edit Profile' link. Clicking on 'Edit Profile' will bring up the screen below (except that it will be your username, not mine!).

Your Signature

This is the main screen where you can start to customize your profile. In other words, this is where you can start to give your profile some personality! Each tab in the list across the top (About, Avatar, Email, Site Options, Favorites) contains ways in which you can change the way you appear to and interact with the community. Let's start with the first tab that you're already on - Signature and Bio. The Signature is a line of text that will appear on all of your postings in our forums. For example, if you have a motto like "The road to success is always under construction", you can write that in the Signature field and it will appear automatically for all your past and future posts in the forums, and you won't have to type if everytime!

Your Bio

You can use the Bio field to give some information about yourself that you would like other members of the community to know. Many people do not like to share information that is too personal, so you can keep it vague if you like. Of course, if you prefer not to keep it vague, another way to protect yourself is to use a username that is not your real name, so that even if you share personal details, site visitors will not be able to associate that information with your real name. For that matter, you can even have some fun and concoct a completely false persona for yourself - nobody will know any differently!

About You

The next tab is the About tab. If you'd like other users to be able to find you by location,occupation or interests, you can use the fields on this page to provide more information about yourself. There is also a space for your web site or blog, so that visitors to your profile page will be able to find out even more about you if you're already out there on the Internet. If you have a gallery where you've posted your projects (or if you'd like to make one), you can also provide the link to that so that people will be able to see what you've done.

Your Face in Our Community

On the Avatar tab, you can add or modify the picture that displays next to your username throughout the site. It's been great to see all of our community members getting creative with their avatars. For instructions on uploading an avatar, click here.

Keeping Track of News

On the Email tab, you can decide whether or not you want to receive automated e-mails from our system. Please note that this does not cover AnnTheGran promotional e-mails - those are sent from a mailing list and you can unsubscribe from those by clicking the 'Manage Subscription' link at the bottom of any of the e-mails you receive. The "Email Notification" referred to on this screen are ones that you can use to keep track of discussions that interest you. For example, let's say you come across a thread (a thread is an internet word for a themed discussion - perhaps the techies stole it from the sewing world!) on discarding used needles that you are interested in, and you want to know anytime something new is posted.

Starts & Stops

The first thing you'll need to do is to make sure that you have enabled emails (click 'Yes' in the Email options tab shown above). You only have to do this once, and then our system will remember the setting when you see a thread you want to follow. When you are in the thread itself (see example picture below), just click on the 'Email Subscription Disabled' button and it will change to 'Email Subscription Enabled'. From then on, you will receive an e-mail anytime someone posts to that thread. The one thing you'll want to make sure is that, when you start receiving these e-mails and you want to join the discussion and post a reply or comment, don't reply by e-mail. This will merely send an e-mail to our automated system (to which you'll get an automated reply) and won't post your comment. To post your reply or comment, go to the forum itself (there will be a link in the e-mail you receive) and click on 'Reply'. If you ever feel like your e-mail inbox is getting flooded and you want it to stop receiving notifications from that discussion, you just need to go to the thread in question and change 'Email Subscription Enabled' back to 'Email Subscription Disabled'.

Making It Look the Way You Want It to Look

Now let's move on to the Site Options tab (see below). For those whose eyes are not quite what they used to be, or never were very good to start with, you'll be pleased to know that it's easy to increase the size of the fonts when you're reading forum posts and blog entries. You can also change the way that posts are sorted when you are browsing the Community. I personally prefer to have the most recent posts on top so that I can quickly know what's new when I open a thread, so I sort my posts in Descending order in my profile. A regular user wouldn't need to use many of the other features on Site Options tab, but certainly putting up your local time zone can help so that your posts display the correct time stamp when you put them up. Feel free to play around with any of the settings - we're pretty sure that you won't be able to break anything!

Time to Get Social...

The final tab, Favorites, shows people and posts that you have made favorites. In other words, if you've viewed a particular post you liked and clicked on the Favorites button in that post, a link to that post will appear in your Favorites tab in your profile so that you can easily go back to it later, long after it has been buried on the general Forums page. The same goes with people. If you regularly follow a particular user's posts, just click on that user's username and you'll see her profile. You will see a list of that community member's most recent posts and you'll also see this menu next to that person's profile. If you choose to add that person as a friend, you will then be able to find her easily by just going to the Favorites tab in your profile and clicking on her username.

Pleased to Meet You

Finally, when you're all done, and you want to see what you look like to the rest of our Community, just click on your username in the top right corner of the page and you'll see your public profile. You are now comfortably seated in your online space, and you have officially and properly introduced yourself to our community. A world of possibilities awaits.

Does size matter? Well, that all depends.

AnnTheGran — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:34:00 GMT

Size matters if you have a design that’s 5 inches wide and your largest hoop is 4 inches wide. Size matters if you want to make a border along the edge of a tablecloth. Size matters if you want to combine two or three designs, each the size of your largest hoop, into one big design.

First the cardinal rule for hooping. Always use the smallest hoop possible. In other words, if you’re stitching a 2” by 3” design, use your 4” by 4” hoop rather than the largest one you have. The less play in the hoop the better it is for the stability of the stitch-out. In addition, why use a huge piece of stabilizer when you can use a smaller one?

Now, that said, if my largest hoop is 5” by 7” and I want to stitch a design that’s 6” by 9 inches, what should I do? Well, of course, I could always reduce the size of the design using Catalog XPress or any other software program what will re-calculate the stitches. But I’ve found that machine embroiderers like designs larger, rather than smaller. My solution is to cut the design into two pieces, save them as two separate designs and sew them out in sequence, re-hooping between the first and the second. Okay, you’re going to need some kind of embroidery design editing software to do this, and you have to choose a design that has an obvious place to split it like the one on the top left side of the page. I’ve drawn a bright pink line to show the place I’ve chosen to split the design.

First import the design into your software, showing your hoop.
Next, slide the design over to the side so that only the first portion of the design rests in the hoop.(1)
Now, zoom in closely and, using your cutting tool (2), carefully draw along the edge of where you want to split the design.
Pull the two pieces apart. (3)
Okay now, pay attention. If you goof up this part you’re going to have to start over.

Right click on the part of the design that’s out of the hoop and select “Cut.” (Or Ctrl>x)
Save this design as “design_name-1.” (4)
Now either Undo (Ctrl>z) or right click and Paste (Ctrl>v). You’ll now have both pieces back on your screen.
Slide the pieces back together, using your arrow keys, if possible, to insure that the pieces stay in the same plane.
Choose an open path running stitch in a color that is not in the design (5) and draw carefully along the edge of the first design that meets the edge of the second design. Take in as much of the first design as you can. A preview of this step won’t show in a small thumbnail, but you’ll see it in the next step.
Delete the first design (the one you’ve already saved), slide the second part, along with the running stitch you just drew, into the hoop.
Correct the sewing order so that the running stitch will stitch first. The first segment must be a different color from the next part of your design because you’ll need the machine to stop after the line is stitched, but you can make it a color that will match part of the design. (6)
Save this design as “design_name-2.”
Print both design pieces. (7-8) I like to print from Catalog XPress because it will put cross-hairs in the centers of the designs.
Cut out the designs and put them together with tape. You’re going to use this as a template for centering the design when you sew. (9)

Stitching it all together
You've done the hard work. Now it's time to stitch your design. PLEASE sew a sample first. We don't want to be ruining any brand new silk blouses.

Hoop your garment, tote, or whatever. I'm sewing this on a fairly small t-shirt so I've hooped stabilizer, sprayed it with temporary embroidery adhesive and placed the shirt, centering the first part of the design in the hoop. (10)
Carefully attach the hoop to your embroidery arm and center the needle exactly over the center of the first design. (11) Close is good enough. We're just making sure that the design fits in the hoop here.
Remove the template and start stitching.
When part 1 is finished, remove it from your hoop and hoop another piece of stabilizer. For this part you must use either a sticky stabilizer or temporary embroider adhesive. In order to line up the designs you won't be able to actually hoop the garment.
Put the hoop on the machine and sew just that alignment line. (12)
Remove the hoop from the machine and place it on a flat surface.
From the back, fold back the part of the design you've already stitched and carefully place it on the hoop, snugged up against the alignment line. (13)
Very carefully smooth down the rest of the garment, being careful to not pull it away from the line you've stitched on the stabilizer.
Return the hoop to your machine and stitch the second part of the design. (14) Your garment is already properly aligned, so you don't have any measuring to do. Just start stitching.
When you're finished, well, here it is! (15)

A few quickie tips
Because I was stitching this for a child I used soft nylon stabilizer and cotton thread in the bobbin. Ordinarily I would have used an adhesive backed stabilizer, but this was a knit and the adhesive backed stabilizers are tear aways. Had I wanted to use an adhesive backed stabilizer I would have hooped cut away stabilizer underneath. That way, when I tore the adhesive backed stabilizer away, the cut away would remain to stabilize the knit fabric.

Again, because this was a little shirt, I turned it inside out before placing it in the hoop. I wrestled with hooping little t-shirts for several years before I realized that if I just turned the shirt inside out it would be a lot easier, and much easier to keep the excess shirt from getting caught in the stitching.

Which brings me to . . . You have to baby-sit garments with spare parts hanging around. The minute you leave the room your machine will see that you're not there and grab a sleeve or collar or hem and catch in up in the stitching. If that happens often the only way to get the hoop off the embroidery arm is to release the foot and cut it out of the garment. You don't have to stare at it, but stay nearby.

I see that we finally have the new and improved cordless Peggy's Stitch Eraser in stock. I may have to spring for this one. I keep mine in a drawer with the cord going out the back of the drawer to the plug. Cordless is a good thing!

I'm hoping everyone's summers have gotten off to a good start. We'll have 3 of the grandchildren with us for a few days. We haven't seen them since Christmas and my hugs are achingly empty.

Click here for a printable PDF file for this project.

That's all for now! TTYL,
Ann

The Avid Embroiderer Presents: Things I Wish I Knew When I Began Machine Embroiderery, June 20, 2008

pat71896 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:20:00 GMT

I have been embroidering for just over 7 years. I was generally self-taught and I started without a clue about machine embroidery (ME) at all. Over that period of time, I have been learning by trial and error (make that trial and frustration). During the past year, I have been fortunate to meet a good instructor whose group that meets regularly in my area. I have been able to learn correct methods of embroidery; and, have had to unlearn some bad habits.

These are my thoughts on things I wish I had known when I started. I am sure you will recognize some and have a few of your own. Please share your thoughts too and we will smile at the naiveté we once had.

LEGEND:

A) TOPIC/CATEGORY

1) My original thinking

a) The reality of beautiful machine embroidery

A) INVESTMENT:

1) My machine was the investment

a) Just like any artistic craft, the initial, major investment will be central to the craft.

b) Multiple appropriate tools will be required for truly professional and artistically beautiful results.

c) A cigar is just a cigar, but the right pair of scissors is worth its weight in gold. Keep them in the family vault, behind yellow police tape.

d) Some of those tools will be priced higher than I want to pay. I must consider the specific benefits, my time and frustration into the equation.

e) A ‘deal’ is only a ‘deal’ if the quality remains high.

2) I am computer savvy (taught software for 5 years) I can make a program to organize my designs

a) After all the hours I put into this, I still don’t have a picture, size and other important information for my designs.

b) Good and simple software for ME was hard for me to find. Catalog Express is ME specific and insightfully user friendly. Everything I need to have is at my fingertips. (I would never recommend any item I deemed to be second class.)

B) MATERIALS:

1) I have thread, needles and stabilizers already

a) Specialized materials are necessary to achieve desired results.

b) Not only did those old materials not measure up, they would damage my equipment and cause me frustration.

c) New and more inventive materials are being developed constantly.

2) Joe’s Thread and Used Tires has a great deal

a) A quality thread in ‘best seller’ colors is a true bargain.

b) Quality thread often comes in exceptional storage containers helping us stay/get organized. [Photo below courtesy of Madeira]

(ATG carries the Thread Treasure Chest in White or Teak)

c) I personally purchase here at ATG because quality is of utmost importance to me.

C) Learning Curve:

1) I can learn from a few lessons and the book provided by the manufacturer

a) The book only shows the technical aspects of the machine.

b) Lessons were actually inadequate from my dealer.

(1) I would be learning with every project.

(2) I ask questions and answer some others as well.

(3) I discuss and listen to experiences from users worldwide.

(4) There is always some new technique to learn.

(5) I keep notes on my computer (and use “favorites” at ATG-mark by clicking on "Favorites" in upper right corner of post, retrieve through your profile) on forum discussions, sites, lessons learned and possible resources, etc.

2) I can figure this stuff out, I have been sewing since I was 12, I will just work through any issue. I got "A's" in Home Economics.

a) Computers and their associated items have traditionally become obsolete in a brief period of time, and ME has the very same time frame.

b) Innovations are coming available all the time.

c) Keeping up to date will be an unending journey.

d) Learning keeps us young.

D) Alphabets versus Fonts:

1) They sounded the same, so I bought Alphabets only

a) Monogramming is only a single facet of ME.

b) Placing words or phrases requires a ‘keyboard’ style of fonts. Alphabet Xpress is very easy and versatile in this function.

c) Monogram and words need to be in a large variety of styles and sizes.

d) Professionally designed monograms come in so many motifs such as floral, bridal, sports to name just a few. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

E) Machine Embroidery’s Place in my life:

1) I sure hope I get enough usage of this machine because it was so expensive!

a) ME is an addiction which I am delighted to have.

b) ME has a uplifting and honorable place in my life.

c) ME is a joy. I cannot draw a straight line, but I can create a lovely keepsake for each of my grandchildren.

2) This is going to take over my life and I will become a recluse-

a) I am so thrilled to have found so many new friends with which I have so much in common.

b) There are so many thoughtful and caring people who make my life even more fulfilled.

c) There are wonderful people in the ME community who make me laugh, cry and make me jump up and down with pure joy.

I suppose that few if any of us researched, prior to purchase, what ME really requires. In the earlier days, where would we have found information anyway? I think many of us saw a machine sewing away, got excited and the purchase was a forgone conclusion. Computers have turned the world of embroidery delightfully upside down.

Excitement is what this craft is all about, catch it!!

Next time, Needles Make Things Happen.

When you need really BIG letters

db1921 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:39:00 GMT

Hello, all ME blog readers. I got to know many of you at this year’s Community Circle in Orlando. If you were there and don't remember me, there's a picture of me on our About Us page. I also post from time to time in the forums under my username db1921 and I created the coffee cup wrap project on which many of you have commented.

I had such a great time in Orlando, discussing all the different software programs, machine features and embroidery samples. It had been quite awhile since I had come out from behind the scenes of product development and marketing to visit with other ME addicts. Since then I have been reading your posts and decided it is time to join the fun. I’ll be honest, there is a whole list of blogs that I read from time to time but I have never actually blogged.

I love Cathy’s new sewing room and Judy’s roll holder is now on the top of my wish list. But, unless Better Homes and Gardens picks mine for their next makeover you WILL NOT be seeing pictures of it any time soon. Is anyone else one of those who moves from craft to craft at lightning speed and somehow always leaves a path of destruction behind?

My favorite thing to do is see “what else” I can do with it. I do this with everything from my grandmother’s old sugar scoop to my photo software. But this time let’s share what else we can do with Alphabet Xpress.

Here’s a quick way to make big lettering for alphabet quilts personalized stationary, towels or whatever else you can come up with. Click below to view a video tutorial with instructions for creating great large letters in Alphabet Xpress (if you have Windows Media Player, click here for a larger version that plays on your computer). Then download the Alphabet Xpress trial and try it for yourself. Just remember to create your widest letter first as that may dictate what you can do in your largest hoop. My alphabet quilt is in the works. When I get it done I will post it. If anyone else gets one done first I want to see it.

Annthegran’s Jumbo Alphabet is great too. I have used these to frame the letters for a baby’s nursery and create framed décor for above the fireplace. I even made the word JOY, cut it out and glued it onto a set of old stacked boxes at Christmas last year. But the holiday items are packed away on the top shelf in the back of the storage room so I'll have to post those later if anyone wants to see.

Oh, by the way, that old sugar scoop works great in the ice bucket.

What's in a name (tag)?

AnnTheGran — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:58:00 GMT

A while ago I nudged y'all a little about forming local "Community Circles" so you could get together once in a while to have lunch, chat, make projects and generally help each other out. Believe me, it was NOT my doing, but the "How many live in Central Florida?" thread has grown to 209 posts, 13 pages! Again, not my doing (I'm telling you this because I don't want you to think that I've planned and organized this thing, which I haven't. I'm simply a machine embroiderer in Central Florida who has been posting on the thread.) but a luncheon has been planned for next month and we're expecting more than 20, including a couple of hubbies.

In discussing this coming, much anticipated event, in addition to deciding where to have lunch and with whom to carpool, the main topic of conversation has been about name tags. A unique thing about ME-ers is that we want to embroider everything we can get our hands on. You'll find that at most, if not all, embroidery retreats, seminars and get-togethers many of the participants will wear very original embroidered name tags.

11 years ago a group of 43 Brother, Baby Lock and Deco embroiderers (All these machines use the same file format and similar software.) met up in Paducah, Kentucky, for what I believe is the first machine embroidery retreat ever. (I'm 3rd from the left on the bottom row. Monica, with whom we had lunch in Toronto is 4th from the left in the top row. June Mellinger from Brother is in there somewhere and the lone man is one of the Brother programmers from Japan.) You'll see my old, faded name tag at the top left. The machine in the center is a button with the shank cut off and glued on. The little pair of scissors hanging from a ribbon is something I picked up at some sewing store somewhere I have no idea when. As you can see, I have by now accumulated a gazillion, give or take, name tags by now. When I need one I usually just pluck one off the rack and put it on. For our upcoming luncheon, however, I'll be making a brand spanking new one.

Now, when you've attended several retreats and seminars you find yourself sticking your room key and a couple of $$ in back of your name tag so you don't have to carry a purse. Some embroiderers have come up with really spiffy name tags with pockets sewn in, with or without zippers, to carry other stuff you might want to have with you. My favorite was given to my by Sue Lord during a Yankee Swap at a retreat somewhere. When you lift her collar you find the pocket. I put my name tag in her hands with double sided tape. She's SO cute!

Okay, before I go on I'll explain what a Yankee Swap is for those of you who don't know. Some of you might do the same at parties and holidays, but call it by another name. Everyone brings a gift and everyone picks a number out of a hat. All the gifts, unwrapped, are placed on a table and the first person chooses the one she wants. The next person has the choice of picking something else or taking the gift from the person in front of her (who then has to pick something else, but now she's "safe"). This goes on until all the gifts are distributed. At embroidery retreats all of the gifts are hand-made embroidered items. All of them are really nice and some are spectacular. I've won, in addition to the name tag from Sue, an embroidered clock for my sewing room and a quillow.

My second favorite name tag was the one given out at a retreat in Houston. The gals who organized the retreat made the name tags for everyone! It has one pocket in the front and 2 in the back. I think that just looking at the front and back of the tag you can see how it's made.

What should be ON your name tag? Well, your name, of course, and also your screen name, because many of the people you'll be meeting know you by that name. I think that where you're from should also be there so you can quickly identify people who live near you. Anything else you put on your name tag is gravy. I'm not going to show you my name tag for our Orlando luncheon, first because I haven't made it yet (still have 5 weeks to work on it) and second because I don't want to give it away. But I can show you my first draft of just the embroidery.

Daddy's Girls
Some of your comments on my Fathers' Day post really squeezed my heart. Yes, my father was quite a "dandy.' On the evening that my daughter was born, my father's first granddaughter after 3 grandsons, he must have been already in bed when my mother called him from the hospital with the news. He got up, got dressed in full regalia, shirt, tie, jacket, hat, walking stick and walked into the hospital and onto the maternity floor. He rapped on the glass of the nursery and told the nurse that he had come to call on a young lady. Now this was back in the days when they knocked you out when you had a baby and woke you when it was over to tell you whether you had a girl or a boy. I was still asleep when my father was there, but the nurses couldn't stop talking about that "gentleman who came visiting last night."

Clearing up some Catalog XPress misconceptions
Another thing that's being hotly discussed in the Central Florida thread is organizing designs. I posted something of a rant there a couple of days ago because everyone was telling how they organize their designs but no one was mentioning my baby, Catalog XPress, the first embroidery software program I ever designed and which is, as Mary Poppins would say, "practically perfect." I'm going to copy part of that "rant" here:

My embroidery designs are sorted on my had drive into several folders, Original Designs, Purchased (commercial) Designs, Downloaded Designs and, of course, all the Free Designs from my web site. Within the Commercial designs folder are folders for each of the companies from which I've purchased designs, Dakota, Amazing Designs, Embroidery Library, Brother, OESD, etc. So you can see that I'm fairly well organized. BUT when I want to find something I look for it in Catalog XPress, the program I designed for us. You see, for example, I have designs of cats in several Amazing Designs sets, several OESD sets and at least 2 Brother sets. But all of the cats are in Catalog XPress in the Cats folder. When I want to stitch a cat, instead of having to look through all of those folders, I look in only 1 place. If I have a design with a cat and a dog it will be in both the Cats and Dogs category. If the cat and dog are wearing hats the design will be in the Cats section, the Dogs section and in the hats section. If the hats are red, white and blue the design will also be in the Patriotic section. And, to carry this even further, if the cat and dog wearing red, white and blue hats are riding in a car the design will also be in the transportation category, in the Cars sub-category. You could, of course, do this on your computer by putting copies of the design in folders with those names, but then you'd have multiple copies of the design. With Catalog XPress I have only the one original design.

You say that all your designs are on flash drives or CDs and Catalog XPress doesn't know where they are? Yes, Catalog XPress has the memory of an elephant. Or at least the memory of a much younger woman than I am. When you click on a design that says "Not Found" look at the address bar at the top of the screen and Catalog XPress will tell you exactly where to find the design. You complain that all you can see are wimpy little cartoon pictures of the designs (on the other hand, in Windows Explorer you don't have any pictures at all). Again, not so. Right click on the design in the preview window and choose 3D view. Now the design appears in all its stitch-filled glory. Picture not big enough? Grab the edges and pull it bigger. Sorting is the main function of Catalog XPress, but not the only one. The programmers who helped me develop Catalog XPress thought of lots of things that didn't even occur to me or that I didn't think were even possible.

Well, I think I've talked long enough now. Y'all turn off your computers and sew something! TTFN

Ann

Fathers and Dads and Daddies and Grandpas and Poppies, oh my!

AnnTheGran — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:06:00 GMT

This one's for you, Daddy
When I was small we didn't have a lot of money. Sometimes I don't think we had any. As time went on my parents incomes improved. But they didn't really change their lifestyle very much. Oh, the year I left for college they did carpet my bedroom (which had become my sister's room) and installed central air conditioning. But basically they lived the same simple kind of life they always had. They were saving for their retirement. In 1980 my father fulfilled his dream by moving to a golf club community in Wildwood, Florida. The children and I followed soon after, which is how I ended up in Orlando. Eighteen months later I held my father's hand as he breathed his last breath. All that saving and planning and he barely had a chance to enjoy it.

I think of my father almost every day, but especially on March 5, which was his birthday, and on Fathers' Day. It's probably a Southern thing for grown women to still call their fathers "Daddy" and I did that terrible day and I will always think of my father as Daddy. I was thinking of him as I worked on the Fathers' Day project here. He never did get to meet his great grandchildren. He would have gotten such a kick out of them!

A year after my father died I met Bill, and a year after that Bill and I were married. What a prince of a man to marry a woman with two teenagers! Bill became the father my children needed and is the only grandfather their children have ever known. I think about him on Fathers' Day, too, and this project is for him.

Grandpa's All Stars
This isn't a difficult project, but you do need some embroidery software, some graphics software, printable fabric and a printer. I used Alphabet XPress, PE-design, Photoshop, Bubble Jet Set, satin fabric, a Canon printer and KK 2000 temporary embroidery adhesive. You can use any kind of printable fabric, available at many craft and fabric stores. I just happened to have prepared fabric with Bubble Jet Set a long time ago and really needed to begin using it.

Create your lettering
I used Alphabet XPress with the alphabets Athlete and String Bean (string Bean is included with Alphabet XPress). First I created "ALL STARS" and saved the file. Then I created "Grandpa's," imported the ALL STARS file, lined them up the way I wanted them and saved that file.

Assemble the design
You need some stars and I know just where to find them! Go to the Celestial Page on the Free Designs section. Download the 4th design in the 6th row. When you unzip the file you'll find a bunch of stars. Choose the one that's a satin stitch outline.

Open the saved lettering in your embroidery digitizing or editing software. Import or merge the star and duplicate as many times as you need for the All Stars in your family. You may have to reduce the size to fit them all in. If so, be sure to use the method that corrects the stitch count. Arrange the stars in a way that is pleasing to your eye.

When all the stars are arranged, draw a running stitch just inside the border of each star. If you're smarter than I was you'll do this for the first star you import or merge and then duplicate and arrange both parts. I was about half way through before I realized that I could, or should , have done it this way to save some time. Use a color that you can see. Those will be the placement lines for the appliqués. Of course you don't want to stitch the alignment lines on top of the satin stitch and you don't want to stitch them in block, or whatever contrasting color you used so that you could see what you were doing when you drew them. So the next step is to rearrange the design parts, putting the placement lines before the satin stitches and changing the color to match.

I've used garnet and gold, the colors of my alma mater, Florida State University (Go, Noles!). Of course you'll use whatever colors you like, even orange and blue if you really must.

Create your stars
After you've saved the design, save it again with a different name (so you don't shoot yourself in the foot and overwrite the design you've just created). Now delete every part of the design except the running stitch placement lines. Change the color of the lines to black. Print this design. It will be your template to create the stars and your pattern to cut them out.

I'm afraid you're going to have to be on your own as far as creating the pictures. Your graphics software and your ability to use it will vary. This is the way I did it in Photoshop and the same way you would do it in PaintShop Pro, Photoshop Elements or Corel PhotoPaint. I scanned the printout 1:1 so that the stars would be the correct size. Then I used the magic wand tool to select the inside of the first star.You'll know it's selected when you see the "running ants" around the perimeter.I dropped a photo on it and resized the photo until I could see most of the face. Then I pasted the photo down and erased the part that wasn't inside the star. I did this by reversing the mask (selected area) and deleting. I repeated this for each star. I had to be careful that when I resized the photos no parts of them were overlapping other photos. When I was finished, I printed the page on the fabric I had prepared.

Time to stitch!
Now comes the really easy part. First iron the fabric onto some light weight fusible stabilizer of interfacing. This is just to give it some body so it will be easy to cut and so that the edges won't fray. Now cut out your stars, spray the backs with temporary embroidery adhesive and put them aside. Hoop the t-shirt or whatever you're going to put the design on. Some dads don't or won't wear t-shirts so you might want to make a pillow or wall hanging instead. Turn on your machine and load the design. When you come to the place where you've just stitched the placement lines, stop and put your fabric stars in place. The temporary embroidery adhesive will hold them down. If you have to remove the hoop, be sure to take it off and put it back on very carefully so you don't knock the design out of alignment. Now finish stitching. That's about it. I'll bet you can come up with several variations on this theme, Mom's School Bus with the children's faces in the windows, Grandma's garden with the faces in flower centers, etc. If you do, I'd love to see pictures.

Now, turn off your computers and sew something! Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads and granddads in your families! TTYL

Ann