I am doing something a little different with this post. Yesterday I was working on a cap order and I filmed part of my day in real time. The video link is at the bottom of this page.. My goal with this article is to share what it is like to work in a production atmosphere. When I first began doing embroidery, it was just a hobby. I loved the process of sitting and watching the designs run. It was a relaxing way to forget about my stressful corporate job. As I did it more and more, I gradually wondered if it might someday be a new way to work. So I embarked on learning everything I could and investing in the best equipment for my budget.

Embroidery is catching and what I mean by that is once people know you have a machine, they will usually ask you to make something for them.  Sometimes it will be friends and family and other times it will be customers or strangers.  I did a lot of gifts for people when I first started learning. I still do give things that I am trying out or to drum up business for new clients. A great way to promote is to add something extra in an order so people can see what you are capable of. 

I also am a person that learns more by watching than by reading. I want to know the very worst so I can make my decisions. So I thought showing a "Real View" into my studio while I was working might help someone else.  This is a shot of my "craft room". It is vastly different than my studio from several years ago. You can check that post out here. Now my space is real and it gets messy but I am doing something I love in it.  I like looking at other blogs from people showing everything being color coordinated or extremely neat in their spaces. Then I look at mine and realize it is almost impossible to keep a working Textile environment spotless.  

Also, this shows that when you are actually taking and fulfilling orders, you are going to have boxes and plastic lying around as you work. If this shot bothers you, working with textiles might not be for you.  One of the most important things I have learned while doing embroidery for profit is that it is physical work.  In my life I have had both kinds of jobs. I have worked in the service industry where I stood for the whole day and I have also had a desk job.  In both worlds there are pros and cons.  The embroidery industry has both.  I do spend some of my day at my computer digitizing designs. Then I spend part of my day moving around, bending over and standing. The biggest difference for me is at the end of all of it, I have a tangible product that I can hold in my hand.  If you are someone that needs to "see" proof of your efforts, then this might be good for your soul.  My desk job was hard for me because it always started over each day with the same functions and I could never actually touch what I helped produce.   You might feel differently and decide your career now works for you and embroidery needs to stay a hobby.

The final thing I wanted to show you is that this is "work".  There is planning, time and money involved in this. It can also get monotonous and overwhelming doing large orders if you let it.  If you are a person that likes to take small bites out of a project and you can divvy your time out or multitask, then you might love doing embroidery for profit.  See what I said there? For Profit. When your customers say they think your rates are high or they can get it done somewhere else cheaper, take a step back and think before you drop that price.  Watch my video below and see that I am doing an order for 100 caps. I am using one head or one machine. I have my assembly line set up as optimally as I can. The only way I could increase my production is to either add a second hoop to immediately replace  each cap as it is sewn. Or I could add a second machine. I ran this batch for two working days and I was tired at the end of each work period. I felt it in my back, arms and legs.  The design has just under 5000 stitches and I averaged five caps per hour. This post isn't to scare you away from embroidery on caps or other items as a business. I did this blog and video to hopefully help someone out there make that decision to start doing embroidery as a new business or to ultimately decide it is not for them. I see a lot of commercial machines for sale in the trade magazines. Some are because businesses are moving up to a new machine but others are because people spent their money on them but found out as a business it was not for them. When I was searching, I had a hard time getting honest answers and opinions from people in the industry and it shouldn't be that way. There is always enough business to go around if you look for it.

So here are my caps, beautifully finished and wrapped securely in plastic.  I still get happy thinking that when these go out, someone will be walking around this planet wearing my design.  Isn't that amazing?  To find your spark or that "thing" that gets you excited every day is our true purpose. It doesn't mean that it still won't be "work", but that is OK. If it feeds you and keeps you coming back, do it until it is time to move on to the next "thing". Remember to check out my video below. It is not fancy and in fact may be quite boring to you but it is honest.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

My latest Embroidery Design is a lot of fun to stitch out. I really like projects that are fast and that use up smaller pieces of materials or remnants.  If you have fat quarters that you want to use up from seasonal times of year, this would be a great service project or stocking stuffer. 

The entire design completes in one hooping. It also includes a ladies design with flowers and a men's design with more geometrical stitching.

You can either use cotton fabric and batting or fleece as long as it is not too thick.  I also used multicolored or "Variegated" thread.  It really makes the finished cases unique and simplifies the design so you don't have to change the thread out.

 The Slim Eyeglass case finishes to 2 x 6 inches and uses a 5x7 Hoop

The Regular Case Finishes to 3 x 6 inches and uses a 6x10 Hoop

Here are both the Men's and Ladies's designs completed with Fleece fabric. Don't forget the kids also! They wear glasses and sunglasses. The Slim design would work great for those. If you have some leftover pieces of fabric, batting or fleece in your stash, these sew up quickly. You will just need your hoop, some wash away stabilizer and painters or masking tape.

When you download the size of your choice, also included is a full color design sheet showing all of the stops and an extra set of color instructions with step by step pictures that show fabric sizes and completion of the case. There is a neat little "trick" in the instructions that allows this to be sewn in ONE Hooping. Now that I have your interest, hop over to my store for the 5x7 design or the 6x10 design

I have been enjoying digitizing and testing these designs out. So much in fact that I need to make a trip to my local nursing home to drop off several of these cases. There is probably a need in your area also. Holidays are fast approaching. There is a quick You tube video showing the process for making these Eyeglass cases below.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

Here we go into the end of summer.  Are you a little sad to see it coming to a close or are you really excited for Fall?  I am still enjoying the beautiful sunshine and all of the outdoor activities I can and I hope you are also.  To keep you in the lazy days state of mind, we are running a sale on several of our summer season designs.  Jump over to our Sale page and check them out.  You still have time to stitch some awesome creations on bags, kitchen items, pillows or just about anything.  I bet there is still at least one summer party left in your future to show off your handiwork! This sale will run through the end of August to give you time to grab them up.  Don't forget to download our free designs too!  I hope you have had a great summer, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!  

I have really been enjoying my summer and I hope you have too.  I took a quick trip over to Savannah, Georgia and Tybee Island a few days ago. If you like history, beautiful old homes and mossy trees you won't be disappointed with that area.  Of course, I am always inspired by everything around me and the Tropical theme is prevalent along the coast.  So here is my latest design. I call it "Dizzy" Flamingo because of the stitch pattern in the bird. If you look at it too long you might get a little swoozy!  It really is pretty and the light makes the thread shimmer.

Here is the digital view so you can get a glimpse of that pattern.  The foliage really completes the design and I think it just might get you in that 5 o'clock somewhere state of mind!

This would be beautiful on table linens or how about an apron?  I can see so many possibilities for someone that lives on the coast or maybe loves island living.  Maybe it will inspire you to take that last beach trip before the seasons change? Check it out here in my store. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

What do a Desert Island, Sharkweek and going to work have in common?  Probably not alot unless you hang out with me.  This is that time of year when the TV programs center around sharks and I am just a little bit afraid of them. So much that I will usually avoid beaches.  So I thought what might be worse than being surrounded by sharks? I know there are lots of things, but funny ones?  Work immediately popped into my head.  This is how my brain computes. Isn't that a crazy way to get inspired to create embroidery?  My latest design is just a little bit unorthodox

Have you ever had "that" job?  The one that sucks your energy and crushes your soul?  Is being on a deserted island surrounded by Sharks better than your daily grind? Or maybe work in general just gets you down? Stitch this design and let the world know about it.

The sky includes two beautiful blended colors that could either be a sunrise or sunset.  The water is a motif design filled with those waiting sharks. Even though the little man is alone, it still might be better than work?   This would be too funny sitting on your desk or maybe pin it up at the water cooler? Give all of your co workers something to smile about. Visit our store here. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you have learned and are generous with what you create. Someone (maybe that sad co worker ) will appreciate your hard work!

I love all kinds of embroidery, but designs that make you smile really get me.  Embroidery is great because if you have a medium that will hold up to the stitching, you can embellish it and carry your story with you. To me, that is what embroidery is; your story. If you think about it, you can wear it or bring your "embroidery" mood with you and speak volumes without ever saying a thing! It might even help break the ice in a nerve wracking situation like a first date or job interview.  When I digitized this design, I wanted something that would be "saucy". I can imagine this going on a bag or jacket and giving someone a giggle. Another fun place would be on a baby bib. Now wouldn't that be the talk of your event!  Don't you just love the sunglasses on that cactus? He is dapper... This is also an applique design. The cactus and the pot are both material so you can change it up with different colors depending on your application.  Look for the design in my store. Two sizes are available - 4x4 here and a 5x7 here.  I am really busy working on some great designs to bring to you. Check back often to see what is new. I digitize every day and test out designs to make sure they run optimally. Don't forget to look for the free designs also. Download and give them a try. I am enchanted with embroidery and am so lucky to be able to do it on a regular basis.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work AND maybe get a smile from it.

Lining up Multiple Embroidery Designs for a project can be frustrating. When I first began doing machine embroidery, I wasn't sure how to accomplish it and my designs didn't always come out the way I planned. Now I still have boo boos; but if I follow these tips, I seem to have better results.

The first thing I do is print my designs at a one to one scale.  If you are using embroidery Software, you should be able to print directly from your designs.  All of our designs include a Design sheet which should print the size of the completed stitch out. There will be grid lines at the middle to help you line everything up. Here you can see we used some tape to put the designs together.

I always press my fabric. Sometimes I will also starch it depending on what type I am using and the design.  For this demonstration I picked one of the hardest types to show you the process. This is T Shirt Knit material. It is stretchy and rolls quite a bit.

Instead of trying to lay my stabilizer down over the hoop and then the fabric, I sprayed some adhesive right on the stabilizer.  Then I smoothed the fabric directly to it. This makes it more like one piece  and will be much easier to get in the hoop. It also keeps the knit from stretching out.

I use rulers and chalk markers to find the vertical placement middle

Then I do the same for the horizontal.

You can see here that the printed designs have lines through the middle that you can carry out to the edges. This makes it easy to know exactly where you want to put the hoop.

Once you have your lines drawn, you can use the hoop itself to make sure you have the fabric straight.

I usually start stitching my designs in the middle position and then move to each side.  You can see here that everything lined up exactly where I wanted it to by using those grid lines.

I finished up my designs by making a standard pillowcase. If you take your time, you should have no trouble lining everything up. As you can see, even this very stretchy knit fabric came out really nice.  I have a Youtube video you can watch below showing more detail. If you are interested in the designs, you can check them out on our patriotic store area here. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

You can tell where my latest design inspiration came from.  Mermaids are very popular right now and have been for several years.  I thought about that recently and remembered I loved mermaids when I was a little girl. I even have a doll from the early 1980's so they must have been popular back then also. I absolutely loved playing with this doll because she had beautiful long hair that I could brush. She was also safe to go into the water so she took A LOT of baths.

She does show some wear but I think she is in pretty good shape for her age!

Here is her inspired design stitched out in a 5x7 size.  It has open stitches with beautiful motif fills and Script fonts.  I think it would be perfect for pillows or even pillow cases!  A bag for that mermaid lover could be stitched up quickly also. I can envision items for slumber parties being made right now!

I have it available in 4x4 here and 5x7 here in my store. Look how cute she looks next to her designs.  Seeing that little mermaid brings back so many fond memories.  If you know someone who goes crazy for all things mermaids,   
​ I think they will fall in love with this design!  I hope your summer is going well and you share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

I attended the 2019 Applique Getaway in Dallas Texas last weekend.  I took several pictures along my trip and thought I would share some of them so you can see my route and decide if you may want to attend next year.  Dallas is a LONG drive from my home state of Alabama so I divided the trip into several days to break it up. We left early Thursday morning with plans to stop in Texas for an overnight stay. 

I had to include this rest stop in Mississippi.  If you travel much, you might be hesitant to stop at a rest area.  As you can see from the pictures, this one is really beautiful.  I love the brick floors and all of the antique furnishings.  I have been here during the holidays and they decorate it really well. This would be the very first rest stop as you cross over the state line on I-20. They even have free coffee to perk you up.

So back on the road toward Louisiana and this is the rest stop right past the border from Mississippi on I-20.  This is another good place to stop as they have free coffee and it is very busy so I felt safe.  We wound our way across the state and encountered some construction right at the Texas line. I don't have pictures of that stop because it was kind of hairy with a couple of detours. We were getting tired also as we had been driving about 9 hours.

We made our first night stop Thursday in Lindale Texas.  This is a small town right off I-20.  It is close to Tyler and if you are ever going to Canton Trade Days which is held once a month, this is a good place to stay.  The La Quinta hotel is clean and quiet with a free breakfast. There is a WalMart directly across the highway in case you forgot anything. The best reason to stay here is....   POSADOS MEXICAN RESTAURANT. All I can say is I would drive another 9-10 hours today to eat their food.  We literally inhaled our dinner. It is located within walking distance from the hotel.

Now I will tell you that I do not like to worry about getting caught in gridlock. I know you probably don't either and Dallas is kind of a gamble. You never know what construction will be going on or if an accident will totally shut down the roads. The Event was held in Irving Texas which is actually on the Northwest side of Dallas close to the Airport.  Here is a map of my route avoiding driving through Downtown Dallas. We left Lindale Friday morning and scooted north toward McKinney. Then we went south on the toll road and that took us right to the Sheraton DFW hotel.  The tolls are mailed to you by the state from photos of your license plate so you don't even have to worry about exact change. Just get on the road and drive.  You will get a bill later.  On Google maps this route was supposed to add about 20 minutes to our trip, but it was worth it. Nice two lane roads, plenty of places to stop, beautiful scenery and 75 miles per hour. Gotta love Texas!

We drove casually and arrived Friday afternoon. The event was hosted at the Sheraton DFW hotel. It is located adjacent to the airport. Check in time was at three o clock. We tried to get in earlier but it is very busy and our room wasn't ready.  It is a nice hotel but I will tell you that we brought a cooler and snacks.  There is no refrigerator or microwave in the room. We did have a coffee pot but if you don't have access to a car you will have to rely on the hotel restaurant. It was pricey and the food although good was limited. We always travel with drinks on ice and snacks to save money so that worked out well for us. We were able to get our event tickets easily and they had everything posted on large signs so you knew where to go.  I opted for the VIP pass which included extra classes the first evening, a shopping event and 80's party the first night as well as lunches for Saturday and Sunday.The event was well worth the drive for me. I learned some new techniques, got to do some shopping and met some new friends.  If I talked to you at the event, I hope you had fun also.  By the time it was over Sunday afternoon, we were ready to start back home.  So we drove back to Lindale, stayed at the LaQuinta one more night and yes we ate at Posados again. Not sure when I will get back to that part of the country!

We dipped down into Louisiana to Natchitoches on our ride back and ate at Lasyone's.  This is the home of the original Louisiana Meat Pie.  If you have never had one, do yourself a favor and stop in.  We had lunch there on Monday, went visit some friends Monday night and then had breakfast on Tuesday.  We also brought back some meat pies in our cooler. Trust me, just go ahead and stop by the store on your way, get some fresh ice.  We also brought back some Zwolle Tamales which are hard to come by in Alabama.

We drove a lot of miles, saw some beautiful country and ate really well on our trip.  The event was well put together and worth the drive. I had time to see new things and those creative juices have really been flowing since I got back home. I am hard at work in my studio on new embroidery designs like my new Shark Risk in the Hoop Sign.  You can see it in my store here.

I hope you have enjoyed coming along with me, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work! ​

The fourth of July is quickly approaching and in honor of that day, we have digitized a new design that is available in our store. We love all things patriotic and have several designs with that American spirit in mind! Check out all of them here.

This 5 x 7 design features red, white and blue thread, stars, fireworks and beautiful text.  This would be a great design to stitch on a bag. Another craft idea would be to sew it on an outdoor pillow for your front porch. As a Thank you to our customers, we are running a sale on it through the month of July! We want to thank  you for shopping our designs, visiting our blog and watching our You tube videos. Isn't it wonderful to have the freedom to do all of those things? Everyone have a wonderful Fourth of July and visit our store here to get the design.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

Happy Father's Day!  In honor of all of those wonderful dads out there we have digitized a fast and easy design that you can stitch out. The best part? It is completely free. Just visit our store here, add it to your cart and check out.  If you have never done puffy foam, this is a great design to practice with.  

My dad was the smartest man I knew and the "original nerd". He wore pocket protectors before they were even a thing. My brother's teenage friends used to visit our house and I naively thought they were coming to see me, but they were really coming to see my dad and his Commodore 64 computer because he was the first one among all of our friends that owned a home computer and actually knew how to program it. My dad used slide rulers everyday to do calculations and was forever learning. His field was communications and when our family needed extra money, he would climb towers to change out the light bulbs. They paid him by the foot. I am not talking about little towers. No these were on oil derricks out in the gulf of mexico that swayed. He did this all while hauling the heavy bulbs and equipment. He was a Vietnam Navy veteran that  served two tours. When he came home he served in the Army National Guard also.  There were so many other things he bravely did and sacrificed to take care of us.

Here he is on the right in the blue shirt with my husband. Can you tell they are panning for gold?  He was a great lover of the outdoors, camping and hiking.  Some of my best memories include him.  I think of him often and miss him every day as he passed away last October.  I didn't get to say goodbye and that is one of my biggest regrets.  If you still have your dad in your life, don't waste any time. Visit with him. Talk about the old days or just sit together.     
​ I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

When I purchased my multi needle machine I had visions of easily sewing on caps.  The reality of making that happen took me a little time.  I did have a cap hoop and frame that I added to my machine package but it was difficult for me to use it.  Once it was mounted to a stable table top, I had to almost kneel down while using all of my body weight to hold the cap taut.  Since I was below the frame, I couldn't see if it was lined up correctly.  At the same time I was trying to maneuver the frame to a closed position to lock in the cap.  If all of this worked out, I estimate 95% of the time, I had to re hoop because the cap was twisted or did not line up properly in the hoop. Then the tension on the cap usually loosened and my registration was off. This made me leery to even try to sew caps because each time, my stitch outs were a failure and I was wasting money on caps.

If you are like me, you first get frustrated, blame the machine, blame yourself etc...  Once I got over feeling sorry for myself, I spent a lot of time researching and found the Hoop tech brand.  They have some wonderful videos but I was not fully convinced until I went to a sewing convention and stopped by their booth.  I got brave, grabbed about six or seven different caps and went to town testing each one out on the hoop. I can't stress this enough. Don't be shy. There is nothing worse than buying something you don't try and then it becomes a very expensive paperweight because you don't like it or can't remember how to use it. Trust me, if you have tried hooping caps on conventional hoops, you will know immediately if you like this product.

  The price tag of the hoop/frame scared me a little bit. I am not going to post what I paid for it because you can find that information online, but it will give you a momentary pause.  I can say that if you are considering doing cap embroidery, you will definitely say it was a worthy purchase once you have practiced a little bit. The T bar lever arm is what makes this frame different.  It hooks into the back of the cap and uses downward force. Remember pulleys and levers in grade school science class?  It will come back to you once you see this in action. All of this happens with you standing fully upright so you can actually see what is going on with the cap.   I would advise you to buy several different types of caps and play with them because each one will react a little differently in the hoop.  The way the front of the cap angles down to the bill,  the way the sweatband is sewn in, structured or unstructured all determine how easy it will be to place your embroidery design. I have even seen different results in a batch of caps from the same manufacturer because the materials were thicker or thinner.  So some playtime on your machine will help you feel much more confident. A great place to pass on your practice stitches is your local nursing home, homeless shelter or give them to some other local charity. A good cap is always welcome.

I don't keep my frame up all of the time due to space issues, but I do have a temporary mounting system that allows me to set it up and take it down quickly.  Here it is in my studio.

Here is the frame on my 12 needle Happy embroidery machine.  When you purchase a Hoop tech, be sure to tell them the exact model of your machine so they can get you the correct mounting arm.  If you are going to a show, maybe write it down or take a picture of your machine info so they can help you get squared away. Just to let you know, I am not affiliated with Hoop tech in any way. I just really love this product and think it is one of the best investments I have made besides my embroidery machines.  If you want to see how to hoop a cap I have a video you can watch below.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

We have a new design that not only uses puffy foam on the letters, but it also has 3 D stitching on the golf player.  Foam is a great way to make your embroidery stand up and away from the item you are stitching on.  It does need to be be specially digitized for the foam to be totally encapsulated.

For this design we used craft foam that was as close to the thread color we could find.  The piece was cut 2 by 3 inches.

We used a plain unstructured cap to sew the design on. It could also be stitched on many other items also. 

Here is the foam being held onto the cap with masking tape while the letters stitch.  The golf figure sews out first and then a short placement stitch allows the machine to stop so you can get that foam in place.  We are using our multi needle embroidery machine and cap frame but a regular 4x4 frame and flatbed machine can be used also.

 If there are any small bits of foam left over once you pull it off, you can use a hair dryer with warm air to carefully shrink it. The final results really look professional.  If you have a golf lover in your life, they would happily wear this design.  Don't forget Father's Day and Dad's birthday.  You can watch a video of this design stitching out by going to our store here.
​I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

Have you ever done Fringe Machine Embroidery?  It is not difficult and if the design is digitized to be fringed once it completes, the finished look has a lot of added texture.  We have included this cute design in our free downloads so you can play with fringe.

When the design finishes, it looks like a flat pattern. 

The trick is how the stitches are digitized giving you an area to slide your scissors in to trim the bobbin threads. Here we are carefully making those clips along the body of the caterpillar. 

Then the design is turned over and using a blunt object, the fringe is pulled forward. You will know you have finished when you don't feel any resistance from the thread anymore.

That is one fluffy caterpillar! How fun does that look?  It stitches very quickly and uses a standard 4 X 4 hoop.  How many projects can you use this design on?

Here are the stats on this design showing the height, width and stitch count in case you are interested.  Go to our store and look at our free designs. We will be adding more in the future so come back often!  This little caterpillar will let you try before you buy.

 Enjoy this free design and remember to check out the other Fringe designs available in our store. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create.  Someone will appreciate your hard work!