Embroidery Designs Guide

Football and Tennis are the two common sports themes that have been used by embroiderers the world over. Tennis appliques make cute attractive designs on a T-shirt. Both the racquet and the ball - together or separate - can be embroidered in bright colours.

Check out this collection at Starbird. It gives a wide range of tennis embroidery designs. Some of them are beautiful like the yellow tennis ball you see next to this post. These are all applique embroidery designs and they can be done in zig zag fashion or the satin style.

Here are some basic tips on buying applique embroidery designs.

These tennis embroidery designs are done in a special style of applique called tackle-twill digitizing service. This is done by using pressure sensitive adhesive (unlike the spray cans of adhesive normally used). One needs to only peel off the back and press the applique piece at the exact place of the master cloth. The tennis embroidery stuck in this manner stands out in the T-shirt or master cloth and gives a good finish.

Check out this amazing collection of flip flop embroidery designs at Golden Stitch. Aren’t they a beauty. These are great appliques with a variety of categories varying from polka dots, hearts, swirls, checks and floral to name a few. Most of them are the small size appliques with width and height below 4 inches each.

These are available in most machine formats like Brother/Baby Lock (PES/PCS), Bernina (ART Version 1 Through 4), Viking Husqvarna (SHV/HUS), Janome (JEF/Sew), Compucon/Singer (XXX), Tajima (DST), Melco (EXP), Pfaff (PCS/VIP).

These applique embroidery designs can be used for kids wear, T-shirts, beach wear, beach bags.

What is metallic thread embroidery? This is a machine embroidery technique which uses fibers that reflect a metallic lustre and radiance. At first look, one might mistake it to be real metal but in reality, these are only fiber threads which look like metal. Surprisingly, these fibers are comparatively less strong and hence needs to be embroidered with great care.

Why is metallic thread embroidery becoming popular? The fascinating and spell binding color lustrous combinations that emerge from this style of embroidery makes it commercially viable to operate. These are popular for embroidering apparels, wrist bands, belts, lamp shades, bags and book covers.

Check out a sample at Stitchery Mall. Isnt it spell binding! The butterflies and the flowers come to life due to the metal threading. Also you could notice the fineness of the image. The size of this particular embroidery piece is 75mm by 95mm. This can be downloaded in the following machine embroidery formats - ARTv2, ARTv4, DST, HUS, JEF, PCS, PES, SEW, VIP.

The information on machine embroidery would come in handy here.

Millions of Indians all over the world rejoiced last week when it was announced that Taj Mahal was reinstated as one of the seven wonders of the world.
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned it as a mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1632 and was completed in 1648. This was designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri along with skilled worksmen and craftsmen. The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal Indian architecture, a style that combines Persian, Indian, Islamic and Turkish styles. The white domed marble mausoleum is most popular and many a time denoted as a national symbol (India). In 1983, this monument became a UNESCO World Heritage site and was cited as the “Jewel of Muslim Art in India”.

What does this edifice have anything to do with embroidery. Have you ever seen an embroidered Taj Mahal…! Check this out at Patterns Boutique. Isn’t it a beauty. This has been done through cross stitch embroidery. Since it is a pattern, it is important that the embroiderer uses the recommended fabric - Aida 18 and the recommended color - white to ensure the beautiful marvel of Taj Mahal comes out best on your embroidery. In the case of the pattern next to the post, the fabric size is 40*32 cm and there are a total of 30 color stitches.

Portraits like the Taj Mahal are great as wall hangings and door adornments.

I will try to follow this up sometime later with some of the portraits of the other wonders of the world.

Embellishments on Indian embroidery designs cannot be complete without the use of adornments like glass or mirrors at the right locations to give the right look and feel. The Hindi word for mirror is Shisha and embroidery using mirrors are known as shisha embroidery. The mirror glass used in embroidery, known as shisha or abla, can decorate clothing, torans (doorway hangings), household shrines, curtains and rumals (cloth wrappings).

How does one attach the mirror to the fabric?  The basic accessories needed are :

* Soft cotton fabric:
* Calico for backing
* Shisha glass generally of size 25 mm diameter
* Beads
* Embroidery frame
* Sewing thread to match the appliqué fabrics

The calico comes below the background fabric since it needs to support the weight of the mirror pieces. Stitching is done through both the fabrics. Once this is done, the panel is trimmed to the correct size and after turning under about 1 cm of fabric, the mirror embroidery is ironed in place (The information on iron-on appliques would be helpful here)

The common shape of shisha is round, but they do come in square and triangular sizes. There are no holes in the shisha, hence it has to be held in place with a network of stitches which forms the base for the decorative stitches.

The various types of shisha are :
* Handblown glass shisha is also known as antique shisha or mica. As it is hand cut, the sizes are more variable and the shape can be slightly irregular.
* Machine-cut glass is known in India as embroidery glass.
* Sequin shisha are in fact large flat sequins. They are thin and flat and have a hole at one side, but this is covered with the stitching.

Embroidered shisha rings are becoming popular, where you place the ring over the chosed mirror and slipstitch in place around the edge of the ring. The decorative ring around the mirror glass can be worked in various stitches, including shisha stitch, herringbone or cretan stitch.