I like quick.
I like quick-to-stitch designs and quick-to-sew projects. The fleece neck roll cover is quick in both regards. I used the larger size of Contour Cut-Outs and the design still only took 20 minutes to stitch. The cover took about the same amount of time to make, once the embroidery was done. It would have taken even less time, but I stopped to take photographs for the lesson available here. A fabric that ravels would require a little more time for seam finishing.
Did I surprise you by not using variegated thread? I instead chose the copper color thread because I thought it would look very nice on the cream colored fleece. The fleece was not very plush so it needed the high contrast thread for a striking look.
I recently bought some Badgemaster soluble stabilizer and decided to try it for this project. It worked fine. I trimmed the stabilizer close to the stitching. The remainder will wash out in the laundry.
You will need:
1. Contour Cut-Outs Alphabets
2. 60” wide fleece: 1/3 yard.
3. Pattern tracing material: 11” x 25” piece.
4. 14” x 6” diameter neck bolster pillow form.
5. Thread.
6. Embroidery thread.
7. Soluble or Cutaway Stabilizer
Have fun with this project. It is so quick that you'll want to make neck roll covers for everyone on your gift list. Stock up on the bolster pillow forms during 50% sales and your gifts will be complete.
About cabrownbag
Family Status: Married with 3 children, living west of Chicago, Illinois.
Earliest Sewing Experience: Learned machine sewing in seventh grade, many years ago. Previously made troll doll clothes by hand.
Teaching Experience: Three years at Suddenly You're Sewing, pilot school of the American Home Sewing Association, 1997 through 1999, followed by one year at Kathy's Sewing & Design Studio, plus additional free-lance teaching at several quilting and sewing machine stores.
Highlight: Yearlong Bag-of-the-Month Club, for which I created all patterns and instructions.
Current Sewing Interests: Designing totes, caddies, book covers, eyeglass cases, toys, pencil pouches.
Embroidery Interests: I originally wanted an embroidery machine because Digitizing programs existed! I eventually earned enough money to buy the Husqvarna Viking Designer I and Professional Embroidery System 5 in 1999, and the upgrade to Professional Plus in 2001. I upgraded again to 3D Embroidery and 4D Embroidery when they came along. I love Digitizing as much as I thought I would, and especially enjoy creating designs to complement my various totes and caddies (e.g.: pencils for pencil pouch, design from scanned fabric for tote bag, eyeglasses design for eyeglass case).
Graphics Software Used: Microsoft Paint, CorelDraw (because I can enlarge designs, maintaining a thin outline), PaintDotNet.
Sources for Images: I use my own designs, scanned fabric, scanned eyeglasses, lettering from CorelDraw, even holding items up to the computer's monitor and "tracing" around them. My graphics tablet has made this process easier.
Publications in: Club Ed newsletter, Husqvarna Viking ZigZag Magazine, The Creative Machine Newsletter, Designs in Machine Embroidery, and American Sewing Guild Notions.