Machine Embroidery by the Book

Through the years, I’ve come across a lot of machine embroidery books. Most of the time, I find they are complex, stuck in the weeds, focused on things that are not important, or are just plain hard to get through.

But this new book from Bernina really works. Because it is written and edited by Bernina educators, I thought it might simply be a hard sell for Bernina products. And make no mistake, it has no shortage of Bernina machine specifics.

However, it really gives a good breakdown of everything you need to know about machine embroidery, including tips and tricks that make life easier.

The images, graphics, tables and info in this book are all really easy to read. And the spiral binding is helpful. Nothing worse than anything step-by-step that won’t stay open.

Don’t get me wrong.

Wherever you purchase your machine, you should be sure to take the free classes they offer so you become comfortable with your machine (and all good dealers do that.). I don’t care how many books you read, you will not learn to hoop your fabric properly by reading. You can only learn that by doing.

When I teach classes, I tell my students that there are 3 variables in embroidery:

  1. Stabilizer.
  2. Your fabric.
  3. The density and size of the design

Any of these could and should change based on the others.

The book addresses all of these right up front. But more than that, it gets into techniques, and stitching on different types of fabric. Want to learn about minkee? It’s in there. In-the-hoop projects? Free-standing lace? No problem.

I’ve done all of these things, so I read with a critical eye. And I have to admit, all the categories are thorough and succinct.

Here’s a link to many of the techniques I have written about.

Will you read the book and be an expert? No. I tell my students that they will only become experts after making their own mistakes. No book can tell you what to do when your machine is acting up. Or if your thread is breaking or you haven’t cleaned your machine in awhile. These things come from experience and the only way to get that is to stitch.

But I’m putting this one on my top shelf and keeping it handy. It’s new this summer and is available anywhere Bernina machines are sold. It’s a solid resource for any machine embroiderer.

Machine Embroidery News

I have long thought that someone needs to create a place where we can all share news and ideas about machine embroidery.  All the information seems so scattered online.

It’s a lot of work to find out what designs are new out there on all the different sites and to see some inspiration.

So I thought that once in awhile, I might put together a bunch of links to things that are new, or hot, or just inspirational in machine embroidery.  I come across things regularly in my online travels, so I thought it would be fun to share…even if I haven’t had time to stitch some of it out yet.

Chalkboard ideas:

I’ve seen this in a number of places, and by now most of you are familiar with the chalkboard fabric out there.  It’s easy enough to purchase at your local quilt shop or hobby shop.

Embroideryonline.com has some great new chalkboard floral designs. These are next on my list of embroideries to try.

Here’s another link to chalkboard ideas from emblibrary.com.

Need some ideas?  Chalkboard creativity is everywhere on Pinterest.  Check out this and this.

Machine Cross Stitch:

Here’s something else that’s fun.  I made a few cross stitch designs last Halloween and loved it.  I think the cross stitch look for the holidays is charming.  Here’s a peek at my previous Halloween post.

But I found a site that specializes in machine embroidery cross stitch. They have designs for all occasions. They are appropriately named machinecrossstitch.com.

Again, on my list to do.  I am intrigued by the possibilities.

New Releases as of May:

This is obviously not a complete list, but I hope to be able to build on this list every time I publish a Machine Embroidery News blog. So many times I have wished that someone would organize all this info for me.  So now I’m doing it, and sharing it with you. And I’ll update it as often as I can.

embroideryonline.com (new releases)

emblibrary.com (new releases)

urbanthreads.com (new releases)

amazingdesigns.com (new releases)

I prefer to stay with major digitizers until I have some idea of the quality, but I am happy to publicize the place where you purchase your designs if you want to share.

In fact, if you have something you’d like to see with regard to machine embroidery, feel free to leave me a message in the comment bubble at the top of the post.  I’d love to hear what you want to see more of in machine embroidery…whether it’s in the hoop, freestanding, contemporary or all of the above.  Let me know, and I’ll try to do a little homework on it for next time.

For now,  happy stitching!