Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Christmas Horn and Pines


Here is another of Sonia Showalter's embroidery designs. All may be found here. This one was embroidered on a microfiber waffle weave dishtowel, with a fabric panel attached to provide a nice flat area to embroider the design. If you want to do this, just cut a strip of fabric the width of your towel x the heighth of your design, allowing for about 2 extra inches so that the design doesn't sit on the edge of the panel. This also gives you some extra to turn under a hem. My towel was a 15" wide. The horn design was about 4" tall, so I cut my panel 16" x 6". Press under half an inch all the way around the fabric rectangle, and then stitch it to the towel. One nice thing about microfiber is that it tends to cling to the cotton fabric, so you hardly have to use any pins to keep the fabric in place while you are sewing it down. I used a decorative stitch, but a straight stitch would work just as well. 

The horn is stitched with Madeira 1792 as Sonia recommended. I tried to capture a closeup that would show the sheen of the thread. It really resembles metallic. The pinecones have great texture as well. This is the first time I have used a fabric panel on my towels. It really provides a fabulous surface to embroider on. Every tiny detail of the embroidery stands out. Normally, I use topping on the microfiber, but there is no need for topping when you have the cotton panel. Think of all the possiblities when you combine great designs with your favorite cotton prints! Here are a few more closeups.(click on photos for larger view) Thanks for stopping by!








 









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