I’ve had the Topaz 50 now for about five years. I don’t recall being excited about the embroidery component back then, but do remember giving it a quick test run to be certain that it worked “properly” – whatever I thought that meant at the time.
multiple designs used for this design
Having wised up since then, I’ve made a giant leap into the exploration of embroidery and I LOVE IT! I’ve definitely been missing out. It’s feels like I’ve made the Husqvarna Viking machine purchase all over again.
the yellow peeking through is the bobbin thread
I started with this hammer design. It’s a built in design for which I changed the color scheme – just ONE of the MANY variations that can be used to make an embroidery design “your own” .
-
various decorative stitches used to sew this on
Some things I learned right away…the hard way. Thread tension is muy importante. If the tension if off, it not only creates a problem with the embroidery design but with certain aspects of the machine and often times thread breakage is inevitable.
love, love this heart design
Stabilizer is another important factor. The embroidery design, fabric and thread selections are all necessary considerations when selecting a stabilizer. While there are many varieties of stabilizers to choose from I think any experience with interfacings would give one a leg up on this one.
-
loose top thread tension, caused nesting in bobbin area, couldn’t finish the word “Hammer”
Thread selection is another important aspect of embroidery, especially when there is depth to a design, which is usually created with thread. Between the thread brands that I’ve recently purchased and those inherited from Virginia’s stash, I find that Coats & Clark is my favorite thus far.
-
poor thread selection contributed to this incomplete rose design
- Design Placement is yet another important (that word just keeps coming up) consideration. I had some issues in this area but was able to figure them out with a little (extra) thought and planning.
-
51,299 stitches in this design
Finally (for this time at least) the fabric must be hooped correctly. Incorrect hooping will severely alter an embroidery design and cause unsightly puckering…just a couple disadvantages of hooping fabric/stabilizer incorrectly.
combination of bad hooping, bad stabilizer and bad design placement…just bad
Before I knew it, I had a collection of “design trials” all of which appear on the tee below. That too was a fun process. Some designs were embroidered directly onto the tee while others were cut out and applied. I’m certain these adventures will continue…
Until next time….which, hopefully will be sooner than last time…PEACE and BLESSINGS.
