Embroidering towels - looking for hints

I did some work on black towels - happily I only did one as practice before I discovered that the towel's black day ran ... one very muddy-looking embroidery! In other words, YES, pre-wash them :)

Hoop marks come out with no problem. (How would you do machine embroidery without hooping??) Use stabilizer both under AND over the towel - otherwise the terry fibres show through, get in the way, etc. Wash-away stabilizer is easiest, but not mandatory.

Don't forget to do a trial run or two - with any new fabric, new design, etc.

- Herb

Hi, I do not hoop my towels when I embroider them. I use a basting stitch and some 505 spray to keep them in place. You can even use some tulle on top to keep the loops from poking through and this doesn't wash out. I only pre-wash towels if they are colors. Use good quality and they will not shrink on you. JMHO, Nana

Can you tell me what and how you mean "...use a basting stitch".

Thanks.

Marianne T.

Thanks for your help.

I tried the basting stitch and spray and it worked really well.

Karen.

What type of machine do you have? On the Bernina site there are basting files that you can insert as part of your design. Basically it sews a square around the inside of the hoop. It would sew out before the embroidery design. You would have to convert to your format to transfer into your machine. If I can be of any more help just let me know. Nana

-- Sugar & Spice Quilts by Linda E

I have a Brother 2003D.

Go to

and look at the downloads area. Since you use brother these are in PES already. Download them and send them to your machine before you do the design. It makes a big difference. I hope this helps. Nana

Thanks. I'll try it. I have only had my machine for a few months and am new to machine embroidery, and I love the hints and tricks everyone shares here.

Marianne

Thanks "nana2b". I just downloaded the 100 X 100 in the PES format. I think I can figure this out and create other sizes in PES with PE Design. Thanks so much for your help.

Do you know if any of the Bernina free designs are in PES format or are they in ART format?

Thanks.

Marianne

Some of the Bernina designs are in PES for use in the Deco Machines. Good luck.

Here is how I do it...

1) Get spray on starch 2) Starch it good, dry it with hot iron 3) Do above again 4) Hoop the towel, be careful not to stretch the towel too much, but it must be tight 5) Put 2 layers of wash away solvey on top (the clear stuff, not the tear away) 6) lower the tension of the machine, do some test runs to verify the bobbin thread is not being pulled through the top and that most of the top thread is being pulled through (note the tension level for future).

With the starch and the solvey the towel will be stiff as paper before you start. It took 8 trys and errors to get that method right.

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Here is how I embroider towels.

1. Hoop the solvy stabilizer
2. Light spray it with 505 spray to make it a little sticky.
3. Position the towel on the stabliler and set the machine to stitch out a basting frame.
4. Lay Aquafilm or tulle on top and start to embroider the design.

No hoop burn and the loops don't poke through the stitching. JMHO I never hoop anything I am embroidering, just the stabilizer. Must quicker and easy to get the position right.

Nana

it is like an embroidery design, except it bastes around the parameter of the frame to hold the design in place. If you check out newsgroup alt.binaries.crafts.pictures I can post it there for you.

5 foot 2

Hi 5, I think I will make you my personal secretary. I couldn't have said it better myself. Hugs, Nana

I'm just a fast learner :-) I myself was a frustrated newbie not so long ago.

5 foot 2

If you have Embird open the design in Editor and from the top panel choose "Insert" and in the drop down menu you will find " basting stitches". This is what I use.

Edna