Patterns for Embroidery By Ellen Anne Eddy
Permissions: These patterns are offered for your non-commercial useage. You may use them in class, for your personal work or for any charity you would like. Please dont use them for sale or contest.
2013 Patterns for Embroidery by Ellen Anne Eddy Thread Magic Studio Press 125 Franklin Street, Porter, IN 46304 219-921-0885 [Link] As always, following the kiss principle: Keep it simple, sweetie. For Mary, with love.
Introduction: The Pattern Principle
Confessions of a hard, hard teacher. I used to make my students draw. Having said that, I dont have three heads, really! Or keep small children chained under the stairs. Theres a magical thing that happens when people draw. Mostly, they learn that they can. We live with instant expectations and hard requirements for ourselves. Everything is worth doing badly. Drawing is no exception. If you want to do it well, you need to gently sit down to a space in time where youre going to fardle around doing it not so well. If you can give yourself that time, you can do it. Someday, as you are drawing something you think is pretty bad, youll nd its actually quite good. Please give yourself that present of time, courtesy and space, some day. But today may not be that day. Classroom with all its excitement and angst tends not to be that day. I started bringing in a few patterns for students to jump start them. Id show them how to draw, but the patterns were there. It wasnt long before I realized that they werent there in a one day class to learn to draw. They wanted to jump straight in to their embroidery. And who wouldnt? They grabbed those patterns! With that in mind, Ive dropped the drawing tutorial from everything but my most advanced classes. And I offer patterns to students so that they can tet on with the magic of stitching. How can you use these patterns? They work as well for bobbin work as for full thread painting and fully shaded thread sketching. If your wanted to print them on applique paper, you could use them for that as well. Since they are taken from quilts of mine, I ask you not to use them commerically. You are completely welcome to use them for your home, for classroom, for your personal work. Please dont use them on a piece you intend to sell or put into a moneyed contest.
Frogs
Dragonflies
Moon Moth
Ladybugs
Beetle
Butterflies
Leaves and Flowers
Moons
Clouds and Water
Stabilizing Factors
Just by way of denition, a stabilizer holds the fabric in place while were stitching and then is removed. This is different from an interfacing which stays in for the life of the piece. A stabilizer has two functions. One is to help hold the fabric stable while youre stitching the other is to be a surface for the pattern. The other is to give you a surface for your transfer or pattern. Most stabilizers can accomplish both tasks. Different choices will give you different results. But this chart will give you a way to gure out what you need from a stabilizer. These are some of the questions you need to ask: How much stabilization do I need? How much is my fabric going to pucker? How stable is my fabric already? How much stitching do I intend to do? Do I need surface I can draw or transfer a pattern on to? Do I care if my work is stiff when Im done? Is it ok to wet my work when its done? Is it ok to iron my work with a hot iron? Here is a chart that will give you some information about what different stabilizers can do for you. These are the stabilizers I tend to use most often. Talk to your sewing machine experts. Ask them what they like and why. Then gure out what stabilizer comes closest to giving you all you need Almost all non-fusible stabilizers except the corn starch lms can be fused using the glue sprays. I prefer 505 Adhesive Spray.
Stabizer Chart
Fusible Type Removal method stability Art abilities Finished Feel
Fuse a Shade
Yes
Non-woven Stays in forever polyester
Good stabilization Needs hoop for heavy zig-zag Needs a hoop Mild stabilizer
Traceable Drawable
Very Stiff
Somewhat stiff
Totally stable
Yes
Non-woven Tears away polyester cleanly Coated Tears away somewhat
Traceable Drawable Drawable Traceable Drawable Traceable
Freezer paper
Yes
May be used with or without hoop Strong stabilizer May be used with or without hoop Moderate stabilizer Needs a hoop not enough stabilization Can be used with and without a hoop Stiff stabilizer Can be used with and without a hoop Stiff stabilizer
Very stiff
Tear easy
No
Nonwoven polyester Corn starch lm
Tears away cleanly Falls apart in process Must be soaked in water Dissolves Partially
Stiff
Clear corn starch stabilizers Wash away Applique Sheets Dissolve
No
Drawable soft Traceable Drawable Stiffer
yes
Nonwoven polyester Nonwoven polyester
Printable
Traceable Drawable Traceable Stiffer
No
Dissolves Partially Tears away cleanly
Ive rated these stabilizers according to my own experiences with them.
This works easily and well This works but has its limits This has serious limits/problems
Patterns for Embroidery By Ellen Anne Eddy A Collection of Patterms for Classroom and Student Work Frogs, Butteries, Bugs, Leaves and Moons
