Decorate your Christmas tree and gifts with a dimensional in-the-hoop ornament made with fabric and batting! The step-by-step project instructions below will show you how to stitch and assemble this type of machine embroidery design.
Supplies & Materials:
- Light and flexible fabric (to show the puff in this demonstration we used lame)
- High-loft batting
- Temporary spray adhesive (such as Gunold KK100)
- Scissors
- Tear-away stabilizer
- Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
- Water-soluble topper stabilizer (such as -Vilene or Sulky Ultra Solvy)
- Small piece of ribbon for ornament hange
- Masking tape
The designs used in this tutorial include:
This design will have three files. One is the full embroidery file. The other two are dieline files, marked with the letters DL. Dielines are used to cut the fabric to the right shape and size. Open the dieline files with embroidery software and print them. Alternately, you can stitch the dieline file on the fabric and cut it out - no software needed!
Trim printed dielines close to the dieline with some space around the edges.
First, cut a piece of high loft batting larger than the both dielines side by side.
Spray one side of a piece of the batting with temporary adhesive and smooth it on top of a piece of cutaway stabilizer.
Then cut a piece of the lame fabric to the same size as the batting. Spray the wrong side of the fabric with temporary adhesive and smooth it into place on top of the batting.
Spray the back side of the printed front dielines with temporary adhesive and smooth them onto the right side of the fabric. The front and back dielines are the exact same shape so either one can be used for the front or back.
Cut the dieline shapes out of the adhered fabric, batting, and stabilizer. Then remove the paper dieline.
As high loft batting causes problems with shifting, the batting and stabilizer will need to be trimmed slightly smaller than the fabric piece.
Press the layers of fabric, batting, and stabilizer flat, and carefully cut away any of the batting and stabilizer that sticks out past the fabric at all. Do this until you can press the shape flat on the table and not see any batting or stabilizer peeking out around the fabric edge.
Now that the fabric pieces are cut to the proper shape and size, it's time to embroider the design.
Hoop a piece of tearaway stabilizer.
Attach the hoop to the machine and load the full embroidery design (not the dieline files). Use a size 11 or 75/11 sharp sewing needle, rather than an embroidery needle. A sharp sewing needle has a smaller, finer point than an embroidery needle. It will make smaller perforations in the stabilizer.
Embroider the design. The first thing to embroider will be a dieline or outline stitch. This marks the area on the stabilizer for the front fabric piece.
Spray the cutaway stabilizer side of the front piece with temporary adhesive. Remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Smooth the shape onto the stabilizer inside of the sewn dieline. The cutaway stabilizer should be against the hooped tearaway stabilizer.
Then stretch a piece of water-soluble stabilizer over the shape and tape it in place. Make sure to pull it taut so it squishes and holds down the batting. This will prevent the embroidery foot from catching and pushing around the fabric piece while sewing.
Place the hoop back onto the machine and embroider the tackdown for the front fabric piece. The tackdown will hold the fabric piece in place for the remainder of the design.
After the tackdown stitch, carefully tear away the water-soluble stabilizer from the front of the design. Don't worry if there are some small pieces of the water-soluble stabilizer stuck into the stitching, that will all be covered in the finishing border step.
Once the front fabric piece is stitched in place, embroider all of the inner details. Make sure to stop before sewing the "back piece tackdown" step.
Before sewing the "back piece tackdown" step, remove the hoop from the machine and turn it over so the back side of the embroidery is facing up.
Place a small loop of ribbon (to create the ornament hanger). Use a piece of masking tape to hold the ribbon in place so that the loop is facing outward.
Then spray the cutaway stabilizer side of the back piece with temporary adhesive and smooth it into place on the back side of the embroidery.
Stretch a piece of water-soluble stabilizer over the shape, and tape it in place the same way as was done on the front.
All of the embroidery from here on out will be seen from both sides. Wind a bobbin to match the thread color used in the top needle.
Place the bobbin into the machine and embroider the "back piece tackdown". Then the finishing border will stitch.
The final step will include a small dot in the center of the design..
Once the design has finished stitching, unhoop the stabilizer and gently tear away all of the water soluble stabilizer from the back of the ornament.
Carefully tear the excess stabilizer away from the outside edges of the design.
Your in-the-hoop machine embroidery design is now finished! You now have a dimensional ornament that will add beauty and shine to any Christmas Tree.
