All Those Stitches

Happy St. Patrick's Day ! May the luck of the Irish be with you. Watch for the wee Leprechauns--they are crafty little dudes!

Most sewing machines today have loads of built-in decorative stitches. I haven't seen a lot being done with them. Some of the fabrics used for garment making don't lend themselves to decorative stitches.

Natural fibers are a perfect choice for using those stitch patterns. They fit in perfectly with heirloom sewing. Julia makes adorable children's wear. She does a lot of hand embroidery on the clothing. I was looking at the photos on her website, and remembered some samples I made for my machine embroidery group, to illustrate using the built-in stitches on sewing machines. This technique may be something that would work well with children's wear.

These are a few decorative stitches, florals and geometrics. Two samples have borders. They are "open" type designs. For instance, the flowers are not filled with stitches. I stitched the designs in black. Here's the fun part--I colored in the designs with fabric markers.

There are a lot of possibilities using fabric markers--the colors are unlimited. I have a lot of markers. Tsukineko makes a wonderful fabric marker. I also use Fabric Mate, purchased at JoAnn's and it works well.

The process is so easy. Stitch a design. Color with fabric markers. Heat-set.

The color of thread used to sew out the designs could vary also, giving a different look. I used black because I liked the contrast.

This idea would look nice down the front of a blouse, around the hem of a skirt or sleeve, hemline, or on home dec items.

I must go now and search for a Leprechaun. Maybe he can cast a spell on the problematic coat pocket! He could also work his magic on Blogger. It has it's own mind. I put something in place, and it mysteriously moves. Paragraphs, for instance.