Tag: sewing

This month we’re featuring a few projects for the precious little ones in your life, starting with a cute embroidered baby bib. The Brother Free Design for this Month is an adorable bear design. It’s sized just right for most baby bibs. Read through this tutorial and you’ll learn about font editing features found in many Brother sewing machine models. You’ll also find tips for improving your embroidery skills throughout the instructions. While your Brother embroidery machine may not look exactly like the images shown here, I suggest you compare names of the keys on the screen to those found in your own machine to learn more about these features and put them into practice. Exploring embroidery font features makes this project perfect for sewing beginners and beyond. Are you ready? Let’s go sew!

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 Materials and Supplies:

• Brother sewing and embroidery machine. Note: Machine featured in this project is the Brother NV 180. You can use any machine with 4-inch hoop capability.
• Brother Embroidery Threads and Bobbin Thread for embroidering.
• SA5929 Brother Cut-Away stabilizer cut to fit hoop size.
• Temporary adhesive spray specifically for machine embroidery.
• Plain low nap baby bib, sized large enough for featured design.
• Brother Free Design for March. See Figure #1a for original thread color and stitch information. See Figure #1b for modified colors.

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Basic steps for creating embroidered baby bib:

• Prepare bib for embroidery and hoop with stabilizer.
• Create design using edit mode of sewing machine for changing size and configuration of lettering.
• Embroider design and remove stabilizer.

1. Transfer design to machine. Create a combination design with bear and lettering as follows:

Select design, touch Set and then touch the Move key. Use arrow keys to move design to bottom of hoop and touch OK. See Figure #2a and Figure #2b.

Touch Add and select a block style font from the font menu. See Figure #3a and Figure #3b. Tip: Block style fonts work better than fonts with thin columns on this low nap fabric.

Program lettering using small font size, using arrows on machine to navigate through the lettering screens to select both upper and lower case letters. Add a space between the two words, and an exclamation point at the end. Tip: Be sure to select S for small, right after selecting the first letter. See Figure #4a, Figure #4b, Figure #4c, and Figure #4d.

Tip: I like to start with smaller, rather than larger lettering and then use the sizing feature to increase the lettering size to fit the hoop area. This is especially helpful when using the Array feature, as larger lettering will sometimes prevent you from using various array functions. Here is my formula: Start small, add the array, and then change sizing last.

Set your lettering, touch move key, and use arrow keys to move lettering above the bear head. Touch OK. See Figure #5.

Touch font edit key. Touch array key. Curve lettering over bear head. Touch OK, then OK again to return to embroider edit screen. See Figure #6a, Figure #6b, and Figure #6c.

Tip: There are many more options for editing embroidery fonts. Watch for more in future tutorials!

Touch size key and increase lettering until the machine stops at the maximum size. Touch OK. See Figure #7.

2. End editing. Center combination on the screen, then touch Embroidery. See Figure #8a and Figure #8b.

3. Hoop cut-away stabilizer and lightly spray with adhesive, following manufacturer’s directions on the can. Note: It is very important to avoid over spraying. Tip: To keep adhesive from getting on the hoop, I like to cut a window in a piece of scrap paper and tape it over the hoop to protect the edges. Spray over paper, then remove and discard. See Figure #9.

4. Center bib in hoop, securing it to the tacky surface. Place water-soluble over the bib to help tame the nap and keep the design from sinking in. Tip: Lightly dampen the outer edges of the stabilizer to make it tacky and it will adhere to your fabric. Embroidery design on bib. See Figure #10.

5. Remove from hoop and trim stabilizer, leaving a margin of ½ to 1-inch of stabilizer around the design. Tip: Bonding from temporary spray adhesive will usually disappear within 2 to 5 days. To dissipate earlier than that, iron the sprayed fabric with a warm dry iron. This type of adhesive does not wash out. You’ll want to make sure spray adhesive is gone before thoroughly washing out water-soluble as recommended on the package.

You are finished with embroidering your baby bib! Enjoy!

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 Options and ideas:

• Feel free to sew your own multi-layer bib. Embroider on the top piece then add a lining to hide stitches on the wrong side.

CLICK HERE FOR PDF!

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.
The original article can be seen here: http://blog.brothersews.com/projects/sew-a-fabric-easter-basket/

With Spring just around the corner, I thought I’d share how to sew a fabric Easter basket. These homemade Easter baskets aren’t just for Easter though – they make great gifts for all different occasions, holidays, and themes! I sew these DIY fabric baskets for everything from baby showers to teachers’ gifts and more. Add machine embroidery for a nice custom touch. Use these homemade fabric baskets for custom storage bins as well! Get the tutorial below on how to sew your very own fabric Easter basket.

Supplies:

• Brother NV180D
• Brother NV800E was used for the embroidery
• 1 yd. cotton fabric exterior
• 1 yd. cotton fabric liner
• 1-2 yds. fusible fleece
• General sewing/cutting supplies

Cutting:
Exterior: 2 pieces that measure 17” (wide) x  13” long
Liner:  2 pieces that measure 17 x 13”
Fusible Fleece: 4 pieces that measure 17 x 13”
Strap: 1 piece 17 x 6”
Fusible Fleece: 17 x 6”

For the 2 piece (Blue Checkered)
Exterior: Top section: 17 x 3 x  ¾”
Exterior: Bottom section:  17 x 10 ¼”
The rest of the pieces measure the same as above.

Fuse the fusible fleece to the wrong side of all pieces.

Use a grid ruler and mark off a 3” square at the bottom corners for both exterior and liner and cut.

Place exterior and liner pieces right sides together. Stitch the sides and bottoms with a 1/2” seam allowance.

For the corners: With right sides together, connect the seam so it’s centered to the other side and clip or pin.

Stitch together and repeat for all corners. (1/2” seam allowance).

The bottom should look like this when complete.

Now let’s sew the handle.

Fuse the fleece to the wrong side.

Fold the sides into the center and press.

Fold in half so the edges are together and press.

Top stitch down both sides (about 1/8” from the edge).

Find the center front and center back  of the basket and mark. Place the handle right sides together with the basket over those marks and sew (1/4” seam allowance).

Flip the basket so right sides are out including the handle.

Place the basket into the liner so the right sides are together. Attach seams to seams and pin or clip all the way around.

Sew ½” seam allowance all the way around the edge leaving a 3” opening just an inch off one of the handles. This will be the opening to flip right sides outs.

Flip right sides out through the opening.

Press the basket. Top stitch with a 3.0 stitch length and just off the edge (1/8” or so) around the top edge of the basket, closing the opening as well.

Now fill your homemade Easter basket with all sorts of goodies. I sew these fabric baskets for gifts, but they’re also great to use as homemade storage bins. You can add some machine embroidery to customize them. For the blue checkered basket, I embroidered the name on the top section. I also embroidered a sash to tie around the floral basket. Make these for all different occasions: I love sewing them for party favors, Mother’s Day gifts, and more. Use your imagination and take your homemade gift baskets to the next level of fun!

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.
The original article can be seen here: http://blog.brothersews.com/projects/sew-a-fabric-easter-basket/