Skilled in Small Spaces

Special Event

This week, live with Eileen, we'll get to see the big reveal of her newest great tool, and get lots of tips on embroidering without hooping.

Join us Thursday at 12:00 noon MDT for Live between Friends with Eileen.

Some embroidery is big, and some projects are big in scope, but small in size. Fitting your work into small spaces can be challenging. This week, we're highlighting the products that make it possible and the skills you need to make it more simple for yourself.  See below to for answers to questions like:

• Can I embroider designs that are bigger than my hoop -- such as continuous borders?
• Can I embroider on something that's smaller than my hoop?
• Can I make lettering really tiny and still have it look good?
• How can I make good, crisp looking ties and other long, narrow  embellishments?
• How can I press a small project so that it looks really sharp?

Can I embroider designs that are bigger than my hoop -- such as continuous borders?

Yes, you can! It's called continuous embroidery, and it's a skill you can develop.   Some embroidery designs come created for putting together one hooping at a time, and other times you can split the design yourself in software. 
To learn this skill, you'll want to look for helps on "multi-position hooping" or "continuous embroidery". Eileen Roche will be gave tips about this technique.

Can I embroider on something that's smaller than my hoop?

Yes.  We often call this process "floating".  To float a small item in the hoop, you need to hoop your stabilizer, then attach your small something to the stabilizer.  Here's a quick video that shows you one way:

Some good tools for floating include sticky stabilizers of all kinds, embroidery software to help you with making a basting box, and the new Sticky Hoops, made especially for floating.

Can I make lettering really tiny and still have it look good?

That's a yes and no question. Generally, no.  There's a limit to how small thread can be and still be thread, right?  And thread has to interact with the texture of your fabric during embroidery. These things affect the look of tiny lettering.  Try not to embroider lettering with a satin colum of less than 1mm wide.   With that said, yes there are some fonts that are actually designed to work better at tiny sizes.   If you want to hone your small lettering skills, seek those out, and try using a thinner (higher weight) thread.
You might want to check out: Micro Fonts from Dime, especially if you already are using Embroidery Tool Shed.

If you use different software besides Tool Shed (Embrilliance for example), you can check out tiny font sets from a variety of sources.  Here are a few:

Petite Monograms 1 & 2

Angelica

Jester Font

Block Font Half Inch

How can I make good, crisp looking ties and other long, narrow  embellishments?

You'll want something long and narrow, like the precision turning tool.  With it, you can stitch up something long and narrow and turn it right side out, then make the edges and corners crisp.

How can I press a small project so that it looks really sharp?

Check out mini irons. They are great for applique, since you don't have to remove your project from the hoop to use the mini iron!