Raw edge, freemotion machine applique tutorial

Hello, While I'm mulling over sofa coverings I've created the tutorial on free motion machine applique that some of you asked for. This is the way I made the Milkchurn Cottage picture.

This is my old wheat bag cover. Rather yukky. I'm going to make a new one from this vintage embroidered tray cloth...

and scraps of cotton fabrics left over from other projects.
I never throw anything away.

I'm going to applique the words 'feeling better' onto the linen. I've arranged the fabric letters where I want them on the linen. If you want to you can stick them down first using bondaweb or spray fabric glue, I didn't bother. (the fabric pinned on the right hand side of the picture is just holding the other letters in place.)

When you put your fabric in the embroidery hoop, put it in upside down or the opposite way to hand embroidery. This will ensure the fabric lays flat on the sewing machine. Pull the fabric as tight as you can using your sewing machine screwdriver to tighten the screw. The fabric should be as tight as a drum.
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Thread.- Use what ever thread you want, you can buy special bobbin (to use on the bottom) thread for machine embroidery, usually in black or white, you get about twice as much on the reel as normal thread so it is more economical. You'll be surprised how much thread you'll use.

Next alter your machine. Drop the feed dog teeth in the base plate. My machine has a little wheel under the free arm.

Here you can see the teeth dropped and I have attached an enclosed darning foot. You can have a go with an ordinary foot but you will have difficulty seeing where you are going. You can also remove the foot altogether just leaving the needle, but I wouldn't recommend this as you may easily include your fingers in your applique. (not good)

This is another darning/embroidery foot, this one is open toed. The reason I have two is because sometimes when embroidering over something hairy or wispy (ie wool tops, used in felting) the toe of this foot can catch in the wispy bits.

Next I loosen the upper thread tension a little.
Normal on mine is #4, I have reduced the tension down to #2.

The top dial is the presser foot pressure. I find as long as your fabric can be moved around freely when the your presser foot is lowered you don't need to alter this.

Next I turn my stitch length down to 0 as I will be controlling my stitch length by how far I move my fabric and how fast or slow I make the machine go.
It won't matter if you forget to alter this.

Now to start.

Slip your embroidery hoop under the machines foot, which should be raised as in normal sewing. Note which way up the embroidery hoop is in the photo. Your fabric should be flat against the base plate of your machine.

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Position your needle where you want to start and lower your presser foot.

Now without moving the fabric start sewing, get your needle going up and down quite quickly.

Now you can use both hands to move your embroidery hoop around.

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(If you've never done this before, have a practice on some scrap fabric without any applique on it. Better still, practice on something stiff like pelmet vilene, you won't need the hoop. Practice making circles by moving your hoop around and around. (by now your tongue should be out and you should be circling your upper torso in time to your embroidery hoop! lol)

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You can see in the photo I often use my stitch ripper to hold down tiny bits of fabric, saving my fat fingers!

As you can see here it doesn't have to neat and tidy, in fact it looks better if it's not.

Stitch around each shape a couple of times to make sure everything is stitched down.

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A little tip here- smaller stitches help prevent too much fraying.
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(Move your hoop slowly and stitch quickly = short stitches.)

(Move your hoop quickly and stitch slowly = longer stitches.)

Each time I finished a letter I just lift my presser foot and move over to the next letter without cutting the thread. Don't forget to lower your presser foot again. This saves time, thread and fiddling about trying to get the hoop out and back under again.

When you've finished, you can trim all of these cross over threads. Don't forget the ones on the back of your work too as they can pull and pucker your work.

Ta-Daa !

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Go on have a go. It really is easier than it looks. Have a play around.

The back.

The front.

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Just need to pop it in the wash to remove the pencil guide lines.

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I tried to make it as simple as possible, any questions, feel free to email me.

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Go on embroider a heart on to something for your valentine.

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fiona@marmaladerose.co.uk