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How to Achieve Perfect Design Placement
Perfect Design Placement by Pamela Cox Although there are rulers, plastic templates, charts suggesting where a design should be stitched on any given item, and even fancy laser lights with the sole purpose of aiding in perfect embroidery design placement… you already have all the necessary tools to ensure proper design placement right at your fingertips! Follow these easy steps to take the imagined difficulty out of the process: Know the size of the intended design: Find this information on either the color chart, in an editing software program, or by checking on the embroidery machine’s screen (if your model offers this feature). Use a calculator if need be, to…
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Valentine’s Day DIY Photo Frame Mat
DIY Photo Frame Mat It’s hard to find a Valentine’s Day gift that can be used all year long. Candy is great, but in this household it is gone almost as soon as it is opened! Love those flowers and I do wish they would last forever, but sadly they don’t. But picture this… a photo frame mat! A framed picture of a loved one does last forever, and machine embroidery makes it easy to customize a photo mat, making it all the more special. Instructions given are for personalizing an 8” x 10” mat displaying embroidery designs of choice, including an area for a 4″ x 6″ photo insert.…
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Free-Standing Lace vs. Lace Effect
Free-Standing Lace vs. Lace Effect 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! We all know what lace is, but do we understand “lace” in terms of machine embroidery? Many design collections include the word lace in their title, and this is especially true for embroidery intended for Bridal or even Heirloom designs. However, lace in a title can be describing a “lace effect”, which requires a fabric foundation, a strip of lace to be used as an accent or even an item made of…
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How to Autograph Your Quilt
By: Eric Drexler, Master of Free-Motion Did you know that today is National Handwriting Day? I don’t know about y’all, but I am personally NOT a fan of my handwriting (yikes!). But you know what, we should be proud of those messy, crooked letters! 🙂 On the blog today, we have Eric Drexler, Sulky Educator and Master of Free-Motion, talking about how he incorporates his own handwriting in his quilts! Here’s what he has to say… The first time I even thought about “signing” my quilt was at one of my first guild lectures. When the ultra-fun trunk show of beautiful Sulky® quilts, and some of my own, was over,…
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The Very Best Way To Ruin Your Machine Embroidery Project
When I first started doing machine embroidery it was with a machine that I had borrowed from my mom. I didn’t take any classes and I didn’t read the manual that came with the machine (sound familiar?). I just started pushing button and trying things out. Needless to say, almost everything I tried came out looking awful. So to give you a good laugh (and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes), here is my list of how to ruin your Machine Embroidery Project. Don’t change the needle. A dull needle that has already sewn several thousand stitches is one sure-fire way to ruin your project and cause you great…
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Stabilizer Selector Tool – What Stabilizer Do I Use? – Answered
The #1 Question: What Stabilizer Do I Use? – Answered! When I asked Patti Lee, Vice President of Consumer Relations for Sulky of America, what is the number one question that people ask you; without hesitation, she said, “What stabilizer do I use?” Every day, all day it seems, Patti is answering this question. As a result, we created the new….Sulky Stabilizer Selector Tool! What stabilizer do I use seems like a pretty straightforward question, but the truth is, it’s an incredibly complicated one! The answer depends on what type of fabric you are stitching on and the technique you are using (Applique, Hand Embroidery, Monogramming). Depending on the type…
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Sulky’s 30th Anniversary: The History of Sulky Solvy
Sulky’s 30th Anniversary: The History of Sulky Solvy To continue our celebration of Sulky’s 30th anniversary, we spoke with Fred and Joyce Drexler, the co-founders of Sulky of America, to learn how Solvy got its start here at Sulky… The History of Solvy® in the United States really began 34 years ago at the Bobbin Show in the World Congress Trade Center in Atlanta. This immense trade show showcased every imaginable type of equipment and product that Ready-To-Wear and Commercial Embroidery Manufacturers needed or wanted, to be able to manufacture clothing and do large-scale embroidery jobs. Attendees came from all over the world and walked miles of aisles to check…
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The Sulky Stabilizer Infographic!
Hello! I have been away at Quiltcon in Austin, Texas all last week and I am so sorry I couldn’t post. My computer decided to die while I was there. I have managed to recover the pictures from the show and will be sharing those and lots of fun moments in a post later this week. Today I want to finally share with you the Stabilizer infographic! I finally got it finished and I hope this will be a helpful. As you know, this isn’t everything there is to know about stabilizers, but I hope it will be a good basic guide to get you started. Feel free to print this,…
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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.…
