| Free-standing, or stand-alone, embroidery designs are designs that
have dense underlay stitches to provide support for the embroidery when
the stabilizer foundation is removed. Some of our FSL designs do not have
dense underlay stitches, and in those cases we recommend to embroider them
on organza.
We include specific recommendations for stitching out every particular
design on the page of that design. This page has some general instructions
on using our FSL designs. |
| Most Importantly: ALWAYS make a test stitch-out of the design.
This helps you to select the threads, needles, stabilizers and settings
of your machine correctly. |
| Stabilizers: We embroider all of our FSL designs on Vilene.
Vilene D0102 is a non woven dissolvable stabilizer which is imported into
the US and is sold in large rolls and is sometimes repackaged under different
names. Some of the names under which water-soluble Vilene is sold are Wash-Away
and Aqua Magic.
Madeira's Avalon Plus has the same nonwoven texture and is also good
for the purpose.
We do not recommend to use film-like water soluble stabilizers, such
as Solvy, Badge Master and Madeira' Avalon, for making FSL.
We buy Vilene at http://www.pgsspecialties.com/html/stabilizer.html;
you can use the same store or check to see if water-soluble Vilene is available
locally.
The only drawback we found to Vilene is that it leaves lint, so we clean
the bobbin case with a soft brush after every project. |
| Threads: Free-standing lace (FSL) designs can be embroidered
using rayon, polyester or cotton embroidery threads, depending on your
preference. We recommend to use 40-weight rayon or polyester, and 60-weight
cotton theads. If you use embroidery cotton thread, we recommend to clean
the machine after embroidering every part, because cotton threads, even
specially made for embroidery machines, leave a lot of lint.
To get 2-sided embroidery you should use the same thread for the needle
thread and bobbin thread. |
| Needles: We use size 75/11 embroidery needles. The needles should
be sharp, so try to change them after every project. |
| Hooping: We usually use 2 layers of water-soluble Vilene
with our FSL designs. It's very important to hoop the stabilizer VERY tightly,
like a drum skin. If your hoop does not hold the stabilizer well (this
often happens because the stabilizer is very thin), we recommend to wrap
muslin strips around the long sides of your hoop's upper frame, like you
can see in the picture below. |
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| Impotant Note: It's very important to use as small a hoop as
possible. E.g. if your design is for a small hoop, use the small hoop,
not the large one; if your design is for a large hoop, use large, not mega.
The smaller the hoop, the more stable it is.
DO NOT try to embroider several FSL designs in one hoop. Water-soluble
stabilizers have a tendency to stretch and in a larger hoop it will stretch
more than in a smaller one. This can lead to misplaced stitches and the
design might fall apart after the stabilizer is dissolved. It's always
better to embroider one part at a time. |
| Thread Tension: Freestanding lace designs look best when the
needle and bobbin threads meet halfway. Stitch a sample, and adjust the
tension if needed. Consult your machine's manual and/or dealer on how to
do this. |
Embroidering Lace Ornaments
For this example, we used a design from the Angel
Ornament Set.
|
| Step One: There are 2 colors in the design. Choose 2 spools
of thread of any color, one light and one dark. Wind a bobbin thread from
each spool. You'll have 2 spools for the needle and 2 bobbins with corresponding
threads. Hoop 2 layers of water soluble stabilizer (vilene). |
| Step Two: Thread your machine with the lighter threads (the
SAME thread should be used for the needle and bobbin if you want a 2-sided
embroidery). Start embroidering. When the machine stops for a change of
thread, change both the upper and the bobbin threads. |
|
| Step Three: Cut the design out. Neatly trim the excess stabilizer.
Do not throw away the leftovers of the stabilizer, you can use them for
afterwash treatment of FSL bowls (see Step-by-Step Guide to Washing
Free-Standing Lace Items). |
| Step Four: Place in a bowl with warm water to wash away the
remaining stabilizer. Vilene dissolves very quickly. A minute is sufficient
time, you do not need to squeeze or rub the design. |
| Step Five: Lay the design flat, spread it and leave to air dry. |
| Step Six: Press with steam. We added hot-fixed crystals to decorate
the ornaments. |
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The ornaments are ready. Enjoy!
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| You can try our free sample. The snowman has only one color in it,
so prepare a spool and a bobbin with the same thread to get two-sided embroidery.
Sometimes, you can get interesting results if you use two contrasting colors
for the needle and bobbin threads. |
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Click to download a zip file containing the corresponding format:
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Another free design has 3 colors and you'll need three spools with
blue, white and red threads and, correspondingly, 3 bobbins with blue,
white and red threads.
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Click to download a zip file containing the corresponding format:
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The following designs from our Catalog are done in the same way.
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| Here is another free design.Once embroidered, it can be turned into
many different and handsome ornaments. It is free standing, but is based
on an applique method. All instructions come along with the embroidery
file. |
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Click to download a zip file containing the corresponding format and
instructions.
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Happy embroidering!
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