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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
retired in August 2007. It is being provided by
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which serves as the new home for many members of “Sew What’s New.”
From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 02-28-2005, 06:33 PM (1 of 19)
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Hi: I'm new here so please forgive me if this has been discussed already. Great site and thanks in advance for the help, much appreciated. Equipment: Singer 15-91 machine. Looking to do embroidery work by hand (I guess it's called free motion embroidery?). 1. Need links to some how-to sites for beginners, need to know what tools to use. 2. I've been trying on small pieces of material with no backing. I'm having trouble getting the material tight enough for the stitching to catch (sometimes if the fabric is loose I can't start the embroidery work, stitch never locks). Using a hoop still doesn't draw the material tight enough so I'm holding it tight with my hands. Will a backing help me with this problem (I tried putting a piece of material under the fabric I'm trying to embroider but I still have to pull really tight by hand on the fabric for it to work). 3. Where can I get those little hoops from long ago? 
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User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: Sancin
Date: 03-01-2005, 03:29 AM (2 of 19)
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sewerzzz - where to start! I love free motion embroidery. I have purchased several books, the first being Robbie Fanning's Machine Quilting (1980) but struggled until I took an all day workshop at a conference - and I am NOT a class taker. I would suggest a basic quilting book has many of the techniques you want. Fanning's book is a little old and there are newer tools available. Nancy's Notion has a great little booklet called Carefree Machine Embroidery. You do need some sort of backing to the fabric you are embroidering and there are a lot of different ones available, from tear away, wash away and my favorite, iron away. I find my embroidery hoops in craft shops that carry hand embroidery threads and projects and several at WalMart (I was experimenting). It is important to get one with small enough depth to pass under your needle - unfortunately my grandmother and my old ones don't always. You need to make sure that the hoop places the fabric so that you are sewing down into the hoop - that the fabric is directly on the machine floor (different than hand embroidery). You can make the hoop tighter and easier on the fabric by wrapping the inner ring with some fabric until you can get the fabric inside to be as tight as you like. I find that the backing that you tear away makes the fabric fairly tight in the ring. Also don't use too large a hoop. Everyone is different but I find a 6" hoop is as large as I can handle on my machine easily. Whether you are going to use a presser foot (there are some specialty ones or use open toe) or simply needle with no foot (my favourite) you do need to ensure your feed dogs are down and that you have pulled the lower thread tightly and completely to the top before you start to sew and hold it tight while you make a few stitches in one place to lock the threads, then clip. Loose threads tend to get caught in the embroidery and are difficult to get out. There are also special embroidery needles but don't always use one - depends upon the thread I am using. I don't know of any free motion embroidery sites but I can't imagine that there aren't any. Have you tried the ALL ABOUT sites. You could try searching under fabric art or simply free motion embroidery. Follow links and pages to the 'how to' pages. It is often surprising where you find good instructions. Try www.Victorianaquilters/techniques.com Let me know how you make out! Good luck . PS I made myself a book of fabric experiments and used pigma pens to label the stitch type, length and tension. That little homemade book has saved me a lot of time! *~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: joannequilts
Date: 03-01-2005, 04:21 AM (3 of 19)
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http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7628/studio.html http://www.acornhillquilts.com/starquilting.htm http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_quilting_tips/article/0,,HGTV_3307_1391150,00.html |
User: joannequilts
Member since: 12-22-2000 Total posts: 3070 
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 03-01-2005, 10:06 AM (4 of 19)
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Thanks all! Hey Joannequilts: I see that Singer 15-91 in your picture! Is that a great machine or what? I finally took it from my mother's basement. It was my grandmother's machine from the 1940's and it was sitting in my mom's basement since 1977. Had my hubby rewire it after it went poof. This is the best machine I've used, real simple, no fancy stitches but it feeds the material so well, especially fleece. I have the instruction booklet and I followed the directions for embroidery/darning. I unscrewed that screw underneath the machine, set the stitch regulator to the line in the middle. That should have disengaged the feed dogs but they still seem to move a little when I try to embroider, but it doesn't feel like the material is moving unless I move it by hand. Can you embroider initials like the computer machines can do today with the Singer 15-91? Also, does your pedal get really hot, so hot it can't be touched? More questions (so sorry, I'm very excited!): What does a darning foot look like? Do you run the machine fast or slow when trying to embroider? This is really an art and I'm so interested in this stuff. It's easy to put some material on a hoop and stick it under a computerized machine, but to do the some of the work I've seen with a machine like the Singer is really an art to be appreciated. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: joannequilts
Date: 03-01-2005, 06:18 PM (5 of 19)
| Hi, sorry I don't have that machine. |
User: joannequilts
Member since: 12-22-2000 Total posts: 3070
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 03-01-2005, 08:52 PM (6 of 19)
Whoops, sorry, I thought that was you in one of the links. 
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User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: Sancin
Date: 03-02-2005, 03:23 AM (7 of 19)
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Forgot to tell you when free motioning to ensure your presser foot is down whether you have a foot on it or not. I did a Google search of "free motion embroidery" and there are a ton of cites, several of which are tutorial. Check it out. You need to actually go to some of the sites as some of them are offering classes in their shops. Again, good luck Sancin 
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 03-04-2005, 11:31 PM (8 of 19)
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Great, thanks! I also found some sites listed under "thread painting". There's really some amazing work out there. I just don't know if I can do what I'm seeing as examples with a simple lock stitch machine or are these people using a zig zag machine, or machines with different types of stitches. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: joannequilts
Date: 03-05-2005, 04:03 AM (9 of 19)
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This book on thread painting uses only two stitches if not mistaken. http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1574328611/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-1245988-4010312#reader-link |
User: joannequilts
Member since: 12-22-2000 Total posts: 3070
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From: Stitchwitch
Date: 03-07-2005, 06:46 AM (10 of 19)
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Sewerzzzzz - You already know that use should use a backing and sometimes a hoop. But if you don't want to use a hoop, use a darning foot or a spring needle. This prevents what is called "flagging", that is when your fabric is pulled up by the needle and prevents stitches from locking. No, your foot pedal shoudl NOT become so hot you can't touch it. When doing free motion embroidery you should run your machine at a fairly fast speed, and move your fabric/hoop with constant even motions. This will result in smooth even stitches. If you jerk your hoop around you will probably end up breaking your needle. Also, the hoop should be moved in a side to side or up and down motions. Don't steer it like you would the steering wheel of a car. Finally, you can do alot with just a straight stitch, but for nicely filled in stitches (as in monogramming) you will want a zig zag stitch. It is also much more beneficial if you have a machine that the feed dogs DROP, or at the very least have a plate that covers them. I don't know if your machine has either. If you are really serious about free motion embroidery perhaps you should consider getting a little more updated machine. FME takes alot of practise to perfect, and if you are fighting your machine you will only become frustrated. Get your machine in it's best working order (and that includes fixing the hot foot pedal problem). Keep it for piecing quilts etc......but at least take a look at some of the newer models or used trade-ins at a dealers. There are hundreds of different machines that will suit your needs with drop feed dogs, and a zig zag stitch. Blessed be...
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User: Stitchwitch
Member since: 04-22-2004 Total posts: 10 
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 03-07-2005, 06:15 PM (11 of 19)
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Stitchwitch: Thanks a million for the great advice. I'm doing pretty well with the old Singer but you sure are right about looking into purchasing another machine. I'd like to experiment and see what I can do with other types of stitches and I'm limited by this machine. I just finished embroidering some dolphins onto a hat and they came out great. I wish I had a digital cam to take some pictures so you could review my work. I'm learning how to move the fabric around to get a different effect, like in circles or up/down or side to side. I haven't had any needles break, and have only experienced the dreaded bird's nest a few times but I'm learning how to avoid that. I know the model after my machine (the Singer 221) was an improvement because you could drop the feed dogs and they also improved on the bird's nest problem. I recall reading something about the 15-91 having some issues with that and they improved on that problem in the 221 series. Would you know why the pedal is getting so hot when I do this work? The same thing happens when I sew on my mom's Singer which she bought in the 1960's. Her machine can do different types of stitches but it just never worked right, the tension and the way the bobbin gets wound cause the thread to skip stitches or break if I'm working with fleece, knits, or similar fabrics even though it's been adjusted numerous times. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: MariLynnTX
Date: 03-22-2005, 01:48 PM (12 of 19)
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There are free lessons right on SWN by MariLynn Johnson (me). I also wrote a book on it, with descriptions of all different kinds of basic techniques, many patterns and designs, with complete instructions. Go to http://www.sew-whats-new.com.index/fme/shtml There is my picture and bio, and a list of the columns. Just click on something on the list and feel free to read or print out whatever you want. They are not as complete as the instructions in the book, nor do they have as many illustrations of the items or techniques, but they are fairly helpful, I think. I have just completed revising my book, adding more designs. E-mail me any time if you have questions. MariLynntx Life is a song...we give it harmony or dissonance.
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User: MariLynnTX
Member since: 08-13-2001 Total posts: 256 |
From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 03-30-2005, 08:52 PM (13 of 19)
| Tried the link to the website, doesn't work. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: HeyJudee
Date: 03-31-2005, 07:46 PM (14 of 19)
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Here is the link to the Free Motion Embroidery Archives @ Sew-What's-New.com http://www.sew-whats-new.com/fme/index.shtml Hope this one works. 
TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366 
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From: MariLynnTX
Date: 04-20-2005, 08:04 PM (15 of 19)
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Go to Behind the Seams (see home page) and you will find my picture, Just click on it and it takes you to where my columns are archived. There is my picture and bio and a list of the columns. Just click on whatever you want to read or print. I have just updated my book some and it is available from me. I've always sold it on the internet and it covers a lot of subjects, all freemotion-related. I had a terrible accident about 6 years ago; was in a wheelchair for 9 months and couldn't even get to my computer! MariLynntx
Life is a song...we give it harmony or dissonance.
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User: MariLynnTX
Member since: 08-13-2001 Total posts: 256 |
From: sewingnonie
Date: 04-26-2005, 03:07 PM (16 of 19)
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MariLynn,your new book came yesterday,and I recommend this book to anybody interested in fme. Love it,just love it. Thanks a million MariLynn. Nonie |
User: sewingnonie
Member since: 09-23-2004 Total posts: 175 |
From: MariLynnTX
Date: 04-26-2005, 03:14 PM (17 of 19)
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Thank you, Nonie, I hope you have a lot of fun with it! I'm glad, too, that you liked the dinosaurs. MariLynntx
Life is a song...we give it harmony or dissonance.
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User: MariLynnTX
Member since: 08-13-2001 Total posts: 256 |
From: Hogmami
Date: 04-29-2005, 08:43 PM (18 of 19)
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MariLynn, I send you a check 10 days ago. Did you receive it yet? Can't wait to get your book. Carolyn Carolyn
Michigan |
User: Hogmami
Member since: 09-30-2004 Total posts: 800 
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From: arleeb
Date: 02-19-2006, 11:09 PM (19 of 19)
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If you're interested, i started a Yahoo group for free motion embroidery enthusiasts, novice and experienced. It's a subject i'm passionate about. I also have tutorials on my website.
http://arleebarr.squarespace.com/designjournal
http://fabricartjournals.blogspot.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/arlee/sets/298038/ |
User: arleeb
Member since: 02-19-2006 Total posts: 1 
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