I played around with my Brother PE500 Embroidery machine on Mother’s Day. I purchased a few plain scoop neck t-shirts at Wal-Mart recently with the intention of embellishing them with embroidery.
My machine allows for a 4″x4″ design. The actual hoop is almost 5×7. I have learned a few things from a Brother Machine Embroidery Group on Facebook in the last year. The most important thing I learned was to “float” a piece of medium weight tear-away stabilizer UNDER the hoop. That’s right; UNDER the hoop…just slide it in after the hoop is in position on the top of the machine bed. I don’t really understand why, but this seems to work well. It is always a challenge to get things hooped properly. I had the most interesting challenges using various products.
I have done a few t-shirts in the past and thought that I had mastered the hooping and stabilization process. There is however a big learning curve in this hobby. I saw Nancy Zieman (Sewing with Nancy) use a product on one of her videos, so I thought “why not”. I purchased the SULKY “sticky back” stabilizer that you “hoop”, then score, to remove the protective paper. The intent of this stabilizer is so that you don’t have to hoop the shirt. I like this idea; because it is hard on my hands to hoop. Because I was working with a knit, I added stabilizer to the back of all the shirts I stitched. I ironed on Floriani No Show Mesh stabilizer. LOVE the Floriani. Now, about that SULKY….Well, I can say; it works; sorta. It was very sticky. It held the shirt in position. But oh my goodness – it GUMMED up my needle causing my thread to break countless times. So; alcohol wipes were my friend when I did the T-shirt in the first photo (purple).
Sulky sticky back with shirt floating
You will notice that I use a combination of Red Clover Clips and safety pins to keep the shirt fabric “out of the way” while stitching. I also floated a piece of water soluable stabilizer (WSS) on the top so the stitches would not “sink”. WSS is usually used on items with nap; like towels; fleece. I have decent luck when adding to the t-shirts on a dense design. Below is a close up of the finished shirt; still a little pulling of stitches and not a very dense design. Centers of the flowers are not as nice as I had hoped.
Free design from Brother
In the next photo; I hooped the shirt in the usual manner. I added Floriani iron on tear away stabilizer behind the Floriani No Show Mesh. I also floated a tear away medium UNDER the hoop.
2nd shirt – Brother design
Other than a little pulling of the stitches; this did ok. Well enough in fact, that I would try shirt # 3…. Same method as # 2, except I added a clear IRON OFF stabilizer on top by Floriani. It was designed for things like velvet that can’t get wet. At some point…I had to remove it.
About the time the bluebird and the machine started to fight with each other….the sound of the machine changed, and instantly a mess under the machine with top thread wrapped around the bobbin….jam…emergency stop!! Out comes my exacto knife, the only thing small enough to squeeze between the hoop and the bed of the machine where the whole project is now held HOSTAGE by that birds nest.
In the process of freeing the hoop, I made a tiny little hole in the shirt. After 20 minutes of disassembly of the bobbin case; clean out, insertion of a new bobbin and another jam, I determined it was time to put in a NEW needle. Glad my hubby was upstairs working on his train repair table, reminding me of the “NEW NEEDLE” concept. Genius man. In the process of the jam up; that needle got bent. Did the jam bend the needle or did the needle hit a thick section, bend and cause the jam?
Oh; that hole, well, I fixed it. I left the project hooped; took it to the ironing table; added some more stabilizer to the back with my applique iron from Clover (that little triangle kind); and restarted the machine. The rest of the project stitched out perfectly. After all was said and done, I went back to that blue bird and stitched him again. The hole that is now covered in a thousand little stitches. And there is enough stabilizer on the back of the shirt, it’s not going anywhere. Glad that when I washed it the Floriani mesh gets very soft.
Shirt # 3
Of course; when I un-hooped after stitching, I realized the darn thing was slightly “tilted” in the shirt. Again; after washing, it is not terribly noticable. I can say this…..I’m glad I am not trying to earn a living at that machine. Maybe I would be better, but I do find a level of frustration that takes it from FUN to downright ANNOYING. Note to self….limit — one embroidery project in a day!
I did need to make a quilt label for my Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt (#1) that I will be taking with me this week on my trip. I waited until Monday to do it, and because I was using Quilters Cotton, it went smoothly. I cut a piece of fabric 8″ x 40″ and stabilized about 1/2 the width. I had 3 hoopings on this label. My biggest challenge is line up text, as I can only get a limited number at the smallest font on the line; and can not enter multiple lines on the machine at one time. I am pleased overall how it turned out.
quilt label
Now I just need to get busy and stitch it on the back of the quilt. I did put fusible behind it, so I will press it down to keep it from shifting while I hand stitch. Oh; must remember to bury those thread tails from the top of the quilt!!
I am really glad that I signed up for a Floriani class next month!! Embroidery machines are fun, but there is so much more to learn. Sometimes I wonder if it is me or the machine? In any event, I have one more little embroidery project to do today. Wish me luck!!
Busy busy week before my trip! Happy stitching!
Stitching Grandma 