Getting lost in freestanding lace
Why am I so fascinated by this? Because you can make gorgeous things that used to take months or years by hand and now we can make them in minutes!
This is a beautiful freestanding lace butterfly from Urban Threads. I’ve seen ads for Urban Threads and their funky, steampunk and gothic inspired designs. Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and went searching through their free standing lace designs and fell in love with the Evenfall Lace collection.
This was so fascinating to watch stitch out because free standing lace is just thread! I hooped a piece of clear, water soluble stabilizer (Super Solvy) and Aurifill 50 wt cotton thread and that’s it. Once the piece was stitched, I soaked it in water and all the solvy melted away leaving just the lacy thread butterfly.
Right now I can only dream of digitizing something like this. I’m so confused by digitizing and really have no desire to spend MORE time on my computer learning more software. At this point I just want to get more comfortable with embroidery and learn more about it so I’ve decided to challenge myself to stitch SOMETHING on my machine every day.
I’ve been inspired by many Craftsy classes like the Elegant Embroidered Quilt and In the Hoop Gifts. These classes show how beautiful embroidery designs can really punch up a simple quilt and how to make something completely in the hoop with no extra stitching on my machine. It’s just amazing what you can do with an embroidery machine and I really haven’t pushed myself to learn beyond the basics.
So I’m going to start stitching out something new every day. It might be super simple or it might be extremely complex. I know for a fact that learning this way works and in the end, I’ll be able to put all the thread, stabilizer, and fabric to good use. Yep, everyone in my family is going to get something embroidered for Christmas!
Off to embroider!
Leah Day
I can't wait to see what you come up with. I get stuck in the stereotype of denim dresses with Pooh at the hem, but that butterfly would look awesome at the back neckline of a trendy tank top.
LMAO! I so agree! It's refreshing to see such funky designs at Urban Threads and know there's a whole other world of funky designs to play with. I shudder to think of ever wearing a sweatshirt with Tigger on the front. Uggh!
Working with Solvy is really fun! I too wanted to embroider but don't have the right machine so I've been creating all kinds of pieces on my Janome. I will add them to my art quilts once I have enough. Are you using a hoop of some kind while your are stitching? I'm looking forward to what your next creations are!