Setting Your Christmas Table

You’ve got the tree and wreaths are hung. Don’t forget your table when you are decorating. We have the designs you need to make your holiday meals even  more festive!


Table Decorations by Mar Lena Embroidery

Stitch up beautiful 3D and fill stitches poinsettias for cutlery holders, door hangers, napkin rings, and table linens.

Christmas Bow Runner by Oh Sew New

Combine files to create elegant table cloths and table runners. Whether you make the runner or buy one already made, you can accent these designs with metallic thread for a bit of sparkle.


Poinsettia Table Runner by Embroider Shoppe

An easy, multi-hooping technique turns organza into gorgeous, shimmering poinsettias. Tack them together to make table runners, garlands, or use them to make a pretty pin or hair accent.

 Christmas Placemats by Allstitch

Mix and match these Christmas word art files for unique placemats that will impress your guests. Create the placemat or buy ready-made mats and add embroidery.

 FSL Christmas Napkin Rings by Ace Points

Little touches make a big difference. Choose from 14 different napkin rings stitched as freestanding lace. Just stitch and soak for a festive addition to your holiday table.

 Christmas Coasters by Oma’s Place

These Christmas coasters stitch up fast but look like you spent days on them. Piece, quilt, and embroider entirely in the hoop. The set of 4 comes with a holder that doubles as a hot pad for a great stocking stuffer or hostess gift.

 

Glowing Christmas Table Runner by Designs 4 Africa

Dress up a plain table cloth with this pretty table runner. Line quilting combines with holly motifs and elegant trapunto accents, making the stippled blocks pop on a monotone fabric.

 Cutwork for Christmas by Erinas Designs

Add gorgeous cutwork to table cloths, table runners, placemats, and napkins. If you can stitch applique, you can create heirloom cutwork very easily!

Stitch up something pretty for yourself, a friend, or hostess gift!

Winding Bobbins From Big Spools Without a Thread Stand

Sometimes you need to improvise. I’ll show you how to wind bobbins, or stitch from the big spools, even if you don’t have a spool stand!

I prefer to use Bottom Line by Superior Threads as my bobbin thread. It is virtually lint free and smooth as silk. Of course, it is more economical to buy thread by the 3,000-yard cone rather than the 1,420-yard spool. 

Without a thread stand, the cone doesn’t work well on a standard single-needle embroidery machine. It’s too large to fit on the horizontal thread pin and too heavy to spin on the vertical pin.

I prefer to wind my bobbins through the needle. I believe I get a smoother, more filled bobbin that way. Here is a tip on getting by without a separate thread stand.

  1. Place the thread cone on the table, below the traditional spool pin.
  2. Use an empty thread cone or spool on the rewind spool pin. Drape bobbin thread behind the cone or spool. That allows the thread to feed smoothly as if it were coming from the traditional position.
  3. Thread your machine with the bobbin thread.
  4. Oops, I skipped number 4!
  5. Thread the needle and make sure the thread flows under the presser foot.
  6. Wind the bobbin as usual.

Providing a clear path for the thread to feed off of the cone makes winding bobbins effortless, even without a thread stand.

Great Gifts for Embroidery Friends

Want to make something special for your embroidery, sewing, and quilting friends? We have just what you need!

Whether you embroider, sew, quilt, or serge, the Embroidery Mat by Erina’s Designs is especially useful. With three front pockets, you will have everything you need, right at your fingertips. Ten embroidery designs are included for embellishing blocks as desired.

Know a frequent class participant? The ITH Sewing Name Tag by Sew Michell works as a name tag or a machine tag. Customize for guilds, seminars, and retreats.

On the go? Inspiration Mutz designed this handy Mini Sewing Kit for busy creative people. It’s made in the hoop and would be useful for hand and machine users alike.

If you know someone whose sewing room is their happy place, they will love this Happy Quilt Banner by Oma’s Place. It is pieced, quilted, embroidered, and assembled in the hoop!

These Glamour Bags by My Fair Lady would be as equally useful in the sewing room as in the dressing room. Keep scraps in the bin and notions in the bag.

Anyone would appreciate a Machine Cover. This one by Enchanting Designs provides several motifs for customization of machine covers and wall hangings. Keeping your equipment dust (and paw) free never looked so good!

Is a Stitch Eraser on Your List?

Stitch erasers are nice but do you really need one? Read on to find out!

Recently, I decided to try using variegated thread on bushes in an embroidery project. The mistake I made was not doing a test stitchout. Variegated thread changes colors in certain increments, generally every inch. While I was hoping that the shrub would show shades of green, it actually stitched in stripes of green.

Ann’s Cordless Stitch Eraser

Stitch erasers are an embroidery tool you don’t even know you need, until you do. Then, they are a godsend.

Stitches are removed from the back of the embroidery. It takes surprisingly little effort. Just slide the cutting blade along the bobbin stitching on the back of the embroidery. Turn over the hoop and carefully brush the surface of the embroidery with your finger nail. Threads rake right off.

Although you can eliminate all stitches, I left some of the underlay since it would be covered by dense fill stitching anyway. 

Restart the embroidery that was erased, and you’d be hard pressed to know that there was ever a blunder.

You do have to be careful when using stitch erasers. Be sure to operate on a flat surface to prevent the embroidery from stretching in the hoop. Avoid over-use of the stitch eraser. A little big goes a long way and you can cut through fabric if you are not careful.

We all make mistakes. That doesn’t mean anybody has to know!

The Stockings Were Hung

Deck the halls and stitch up the stockings! These designs
make it easy to create personalized stockings you won’t find in any big box
store!

Christmas
Stockings by Louisa
Meyer Originals

Pretty stockings, with layered applique and decorative
embroidery, stitch up quickly. Felt means no-fuss, clean-finished edges. A
keepsake pouch is also included for storage, making this a perfect heirloom
project!

Christmas
Stockings by My
Fair Lady

One of three in a set, you can play tic tac toe before
hanging this stocking. It’s made in the hoop in sections, then assembled. Another
stocking features an applique frame for a photo or monogram while the third is
a Cinderella stocking project with lots of glitz and glam.

Crazy
Patch Christmas Stocking by Kreative
Kiwi

Mix and match fabrics and threads or use the same fabric for
an elegant tone-on-tone look. Stitch the panel and sew the stocking together. Pick
the perfect font for a personal touch. Designs are included for three hoop
sizes.

Crazy
Quilt Stocking by Molly
Mine

This stocking is fully lined and created in the hoop with the stitch and flip method which keeps bulk to a minimum. Decorative stitching and six sizes provide lots of options for stitching up a stocking for every personality! See a crazy quilting tutorial here.

Giant
Christmas Stocking by Inspiration
Mutz

This stocking was made for your front door, but that doesn’t
mean that you can’t hang it on the mantle! All eight sections are pieced,
quilted, and embroidered in a 5×7 hoop.

ITH
Christmas Stockings by Omas
Place

Have a new baby in the family? Three sizes and several
options make this stocking easy to customize for everything from pets and family
members to ornaments and silverware holders.

Burlap
Christmas Stockings by Embroidery
Weekly

Go country when you combine burlap, cotton, felt applique,
and embroidery. Add a touch of lace and beads for a shabby chic twist to
Christmas.

 Romantic
Crazy Stocking 1 by Graceful
Embroidery

This beauty was featured in a 2016 Designs in Machine
Embroidery magazine. Multiple hoopings are well worth it. Add multiple colors
or heirloom tone-on-tone and accent with beads, buttons, and charms.

Vespa
Christmas Stocking by Enchanting
Designs

Give your stocking a modern vibe with this applique design. Add it to a purchased stocking or make your own (get a free pattern and tutorial here). The designs would also work well on placemats, table runners, or wall hangings.