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Why You Will Fall in Love with Machine Cross Stitch!
Why you’ll fall in love with Machine Cross Stitch (like we did!) We still can’t get over how amazing Machine Cross Stitch embroidery designs are! We recently added two new designers to the Sulky Embroidery Club (where you can find hundreds of unique downloadable designs!). These designers are Marcia Manning of Lickity Stitch Designs and Ursula Michael. We adore Marcia’s whimsical Christmas tree designs, her adorable Monster Alphabet, and her most recent camping and Christmas designs are too funny. And wait til you see Ursula’s fun word play designs! There are tons of designs to choose from and we could rave about them for days, so why don’t we just…
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Introducing Machine Cross Stitch to the Sulky Embroidery Club!
Introducing: Machine Cross Stitch to the Sulky Embroidery Club Machine cross stitch gives you the unique look of counted cross stitch with the ease and versatility of machine embroidery. We have added over 100 machine cross stitch designs to the Sulky Embroidery Club from two of the most popular cross stitch designers: Marcia Manning of Lickity Stitch Designs and Ursula Michael with her famous Word Play Designs. If you like the look of Cross Stitch designs, especially Word Play, but do not have the patience or desire to hand stitch them, then you will love these Machine Cross Stitch Designs from Ursula Michael. Here are some of her Word…
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Machine Embroidery Series: Metallic Thread
Specialty Threads: Metallic Thread This series is written by guest blogger, Pamela Cox. Pamela is an expert embroiderer, designer, digitizer and all around wonderful girl! We are so happy to have her contributing to the Sulky Blog! If you have been following the Sulky Blog about “Thread”, hopefully you agree that one of the most important elements needed for stitching exquisite machine embroidery is to have a variety of Sulky Threads on hand to select from! There is really not a single “perfect thread”, but rather “perfect choices” for different applications. For example, 60 wt. PolyLite™ is best for lettering, while Sulky 40 wt. Rayon reflects the luster of…
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Machine Embroidery Series: Rayon vs. Polyester
Rayon versus Polyester Thread Rayon versus polyester: which thread to use for machine embroidery? Crayons, oil paints, water-colors, and even chalk are ways in which an artist expresses creativity. Almost all of us began our machine embroidery love affair by stitching designs in a 40 wt. Rayon or Polyester Thread. Embroidery supplies and techniques tend to be very personal, and we may have, at one time or another, engaged in a somewhat excitable conversation in defending our choice. Hopefully, after understanding a bit more about both Rayon and Polyester Thread you will agree that not only is there a place for both threads in machine embroidery, but that it is…
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In Honor of Veteran’s Day
My 9 and 10 year old girls have learned a lot about the history of our country this year. It has been fun to talk to them about the Revolutionary War and the birth of our country. My older daughter, Korey, is particularly fascinated by our country’s history and it has been fun to hear her perspective on it all. Remembering our country’s history has caused me to gain a greater appreciation for our Veterans. I am proud to live in a country where I am free to express myself, free to worship how I see fit and free to create. These are simple luxuries that are not awarded to…
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My Favorite Halloween Placemat Tutorial
Have you noticed a theme in my Halloween Decor? I love spiders! I think they are fascinating; the way they make their webs, how they move around so much, even the designs on their bodies. It’s probably because “Charlotte’s Web” and “Be NiceTo Spiders” were my favorite books growing up. Halloween gives me a chance to put cute, spider-y things all over the house! (Let’s be honest, spider decor all year round is just creepy). A few years ago I bought cute spider web placemats for my breakfast table but the center of the table was naked! It needed a little something, so I made this wonderful placemat for the…
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Mother’s Day Embroidery Club Round-up
Mother’s day is just around the corner and the Sulky Embroidery Club has some great designs to jump start your creativity. Here are a few ways I came up with to use these great designs: Tote bag – Who doesn’t like a nice tote bag! You can put the design on a regular store-bought bag and then put a great gift inside as well. Maybe a gift certificate to her favorite store or nail salon. A Card – Did you know that you can embroider on paper? When we see embroidery designs we automatically think they need to go on fabric but many of these designs would look great on the front…
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How to Use Sulky Puffy Foam
Hey guys! It’s Valentine’s week and we are full of love and hearts in my house. I was browsing the Sulky Embroidery Club and found this cool heart. The description says it is digitized for Sulky Puffy Foam™. I own some Puffy Foam (OK, I own a lot of it), but I have never used it! I don’t know why, I just haven’t so today, I decided to try it. Here is how it works. Once you purchase a design and download it from the Sulky Embroidery Club, you get a PDF with the step-by-step directions. Since I embroidered this onto fleece, I used Sulky Soft ‘n Sheer™ as the…
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The Stabilizer Basics – How do I get started?
When I first started doing machine embroidery I did it all wrong. I used the wrong stabilizer, I used the wrong size hoop, I used the wrong needle! The only thing I did right was use Sulky Rayon Thread. I ruined a great deal of fabric and spent a lot of time spinning my wheels. I didn’t want to call and ask my friends who did embroidery everytime I wanted to put a silly letter on something (letters were all I did for the first year or so!). Does this sound like you? You have the machine, you may have even taken a class on how to use that machine,…
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The Stabilizer Series – More Questions Answered
I mentioned that you guys sent in a ton of great questions, right? Well here is the second installment of the Q and A. I have learned so much from finding the answers to these questions! I have also learned that there is not one right way. The things that I suggest in these answers may not be your go-to way to solve an embroidery problem. If you would do it differently, please let us know by putting it in the comments below. The best way to learn is when we all share what works for us. I used a sticky stabilizer once and it was too hard to get off.…
