Take your sewing notions with you wherever you go, and keep them organized with a custom in-the-hoop needle book. This type of machine embroidery design is constructed using felt for the pages and a non-fraying fabric for the cover, and can be used to store needles, pins, safety pins, and more. Read on to learn how easy it is to construct your own using tearaway stabilizer, embroidery thread, and a little time.
Supplies & Materials:
Supplies
- Main fabric
- Lining fabric
- 1/4 yard of felt
- Temporary spray adhesive (such as Gunold kk100)
- Cord or ribbon
- Masking tape
- Tearaway stabilizer
- Embroidery thread
Tools
- Embroidery machine
- Scissors
The design featured in this tutorial is:
Gather Materials:
When you download an in-the-hoop needle book design, you will find multiple files. One is the full embroidery file. The others 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. If you do not have embroidery software, you can stitch the DL dieline files directly onto a piece of paper to create a pattern, or the fabric that you wish to cut out (then cut around the stitched dieline).
Some needle books are rectangles and some are fun shapes. The dieline and embroidery files will help you cut and create the intended shape for your chosen design. No matter the shape, all will use the same assembly steps used below.
If you've printed your dieline files, spray the back side of the printed front and back dielines with a small amount of temporary adhesive. Smooth the front dieline onto the main fabric and the back dieline onto the lining fabric. If using an alternative method for cutting out your fabric shapes, skip the next three steps.
Cut out the shapes and remove the paper.
Spray the back side of the printed page dieline with temporary adhesive and smooth it onto a piece of felt.
Cut out the page dieline and repeat to cut out three felt page pieces.
Start Embroidering:
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. Madeira E-Zee Tear 1.5 oz. or Floriani Tearaway Medium are good choices. These brands are more fibrous, less paper-like, and will tear more cleanly.
Attach the hoop onto 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, so that will make smaller perforations in the stabilizer. Embroider the design. The first thing to embroider will be a dieline or outline. This marks the area on the stabilizer for the front fabric piece.
After the dieline has sewn, remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Spray the back of the front fabric piece with a small amount of temporary adhesive. Place the fabric inside the sewn outline.
Attach the hoop back onto the machine and continue with the design. A running stitch tackdown will sew next. This holds the front fabric in place for the remainder of the design. Then follow the color change sheet to embroider all the inner details. Stop before sewing the "finishing seam step".
Before embroidering the "finishing border", stop the machine, and remove the hoop from the machine but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Flip the hoop over so that the back side is facing up. To add the two ties, cut two pieces of cord 6" long. Center the two ties on the two short sides, making sure there is about 1/2" of cord overlapping the back of the embroidery. Then tape them in place on the back side of the tear away stabilizer. Tape the tail of the cord out of the way by the edge of the hoop, so it will not be sewn over by the finishing border.
Spray the back side of the back fabric piece with adhesive and smooth it inside the shape on the back side of the embroidery.
Since both sides of the finishing border with be seen, wind a bobbin with the same thread being used in the needle.
Attach the hoop back to the machine and continue embroidering the "finishing seam". A tackdown and the final border will sew around the outer edge of the fabric. This binds all the layers together.
Stop before sewing the "page takedown". Stack all three of the felt pages on top of each other, matching up the edges all the way around.
Remove the hoop from the machine, but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Turn the hoop over with the bottom facing up and center the pages within the design shape. Securely tape them in place with masking tape. Try not to place tape at the center of the pages where the "page tackdown" will sew, because the tape will be easier to remove if it does not get embroidered over.
Since the "page tackdown" will be seen from both sides, wind a bobbin with the same thread being used in the needle.
Return the hoop back to the machine and embroider the "page tackdown".
Once the embroidery is finished, remove the hoop from the machine. Unhoop the stabilizer, and carefully tear away the excess stabilizer.
Fold the needle book in half along the "page tackdown” and tie the needle book shut. If the cords feel too long, trim them to your desired length. A knot can be tied at the ends of the cords to prevent fraying.
Get Inspired:
Use the six pages of the needle book to safely store all your hand sewing needles, safety pins, machine needles, and sewing pins in your studio or on the go.
