Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with embroidery

Help me make a Christmas tablecloth

widdershins — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:29:46 -0800

I have been taken over by an urge to embroider a Xmas tablecloth. Trouble is, I know nothing about embroidery or cross-stitching and I need a little (a lot of) help getting started, if you would be so kind. I'm not very crafty, though I like to knit (I'm not very fast or that good at it, but I do enjoy it). Lately I keep thinking I'd really like to embroider or cross-stitch a tablecloth for Xmas (aiming to complete for next year's Xmas).

I've done some googling and it looks like maybe embroidery kits like this or this are what I'm looking for. Would you agree that these are the best way for a novice? Or would cross-stitching be easier to start with? I'm not averse to cross-stitching, I just haven't found a pattern that I liked.

If so, what supplies do I need to get? The kits say that the tablecloths are stamped with the pattern, so I'm assuming I only need the right needles and thread? Err... what are the right needles and thread? I'll probably be ordering the supplies online because I can't find any craft stores near me (I'm in southern CT) that carry embroidery kits (but maybe I'm not using the right terms in my search?).

Also, how long do you think such a project would take? Assuming I'm a complete novice and can only devote an average of 1-2 hours once or twice a week, could I reasonably complete it by next Xmas?

Lastly, I prefer the first design (the baubles) but I can't find the kit anywhere - all the hits lead to sold-out links or to the placemats. If there's something I'm missing and you can find it easily, please share your secret. I'm looking for a 60 x 90 or 60 x 104.

Thank you so much for taking pity on me and helping me unleash my inner craftiness!

Stitch 'n' Bitch party of one? I hope not!

Diagonalize — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:45:40 -0800

Can a novice in Boston turn casual crafting into a social outlet? Growing up, I was never very crafty and never really hung out with anyone who was, so even though I'm not especially shy or introverted, crafting has always been a solitary activity for me. While I'm probably most in need of a crafty Obi-Wan to mentor my clueless self, what I'd really like some company to keep me from feeling like a crafty hermit. Is there somewhere in Boston/Cambridge where I can meet other crafters who won't snicker at my newbie attempts?

I'm not really looking to become a hardcore crafter, but it seemed like a good way to meet more female friends to balance out all the geeky science guy-types I tend to hang with. (I'm a non-science girl.) I guess age is something of a factor, since I don't fall into the grandmother or even mom bracket, but I'm probably also getting a little too old to hang with the high school kids or even undergraduates. Is there even a crafting niche for clueless 20-somethings? Online communities like Craftster have been great, but I suspect I spend too much time on the computer as it is, and creating a Meetup group when I'm the clueless one seems a little weird.

Crafting cred: My non-English speaking grandmother taught me the basics of crochet when I was very young, but the language barrier made it hard to get any more complicated. Attempts to teach myself knitting have generally been pretty tragic, but I recently picked up embroidery, which has been fun, but I'm still very much a noob. I don't have a sewing machine, and scrapbooking kinda scares me.

Recommendations for Custom Embroidery

cairnish — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:58:20 -0800

Recommendations for a custom embroidery vendor? Google returns so many. Would like a recommendation from someone who's used one. An artist made our small club a "theme graphic" for an event. It's basically a scan of an acrylic painting. We'd love to have some wearables made using it, both printed and embroidered. Most of the embroidery vendors say they will scan and convert images. I fear the stitch count will be astronomical and prove prohibitive, but before I abandon the idea I thought I'd at least get some quotes. To waste as few peoples time as possible, if there is a vendor you've worked with and had a good experience, I'd be grateful for any pointers. If you have an opinion on who the best on-demand clothing printers are these days ... also welcome info.

Help label me!

bunnycakes — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:11:44 -0800

CraftyFilter: Help me find a woven or pvc label maker! CraftyFilter: I would like to buy either woven (embroidered) or pvc labels -- the kind you put on clothes to denote trademark and/or care labels for clothes. Examples of what I'm talking about can be found here and here. I have found a number of sites that offer this service, but I seem to be at a loss as how to figure out which place to go with. Does anyone have experience with a provider that they were happy with? Have suggestions on how to find someone reputable?

I am not looking for a huge order, only 50 - 200 to start off with. My logo and words are black and white and the entire label would be approximately 3 inches by 2.5 inches.

How do I find the source of embroidery clipart

cairnish — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:44:15 -0800

Where do machine embroidery people hang out? I'm going cross-eyed trying to find the source of a clipart Conestoga wagon embroidered on an award bandana our club uses. The design was plucked out of a big book o' embroidery designs ten years ago. We need to have a new batch of bandanas made but our previous vendor disappeared. I've talked with several local embroidery shops, googled a handful of online embroidery emporiums, and plowed through 47 pages of google image results trying to find that particular wagon, to no avail. I can find a somewhat similar wagon, but without the horizontal pieces that in the sample connect to the circle. The circle is not part of the original clipart (to the best of my recollection). We'd love to find someone with the legal right to reproduce the original design. Some have offered to digitize it - but that seems potentially sketchy to me from the licensing angle. Are there any standout machine embroidery communities that I should briefly join in order to ask?

Looking for a better magnifier for crafts.

CKmtl — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:16:01 -0800

Are there stronger versions of clip-on craft magnifiers, such as this one? I'm thinking of giving new magnifiers to my mother and aunt, both avid cross-stitchers. They already have around-the-neck magnifiers (similar to this) but have mentioned that they're not quite strong enough; resulting in a lot of squinting when working on finer weave fabrics.

Those large lamp-and-magnifier combo units wouldn't fit well in their usual work spaces. So, I'm looking for magnification-only ones in clip-on or, less ideally, tabletop-base (i.e. this) styles.

If stronger versions simply don't exist, would using one of those clip-ons in addition to their around-the-neck magnifiers provide the squint-reducing supervision that I'm trying to provide?

Blank capsules of embroidered cellophane!

ostranenie — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:58:30 -0800

ComputerEmbroideryFilter: Can you recommend some small-time (<=$300 range) for a home hobbyist to embroider shirts and ball caps and whatnot? Can you recommend some embroidery software that you've used personally and are happy with? It must output DST format (which my machine reads) and preferably import (and digitize) bitmaps, although the bitmap thing isn't a hard requirement.

I'm looking at a few packages in the $300 range (BuzzEdit, Embroidery Magic 2) but I'm wondering if there's anything out there I haven't discovered (as is the case with so many other things on MeFi). Thanks so much in advance!

Hand stitiching on paper

levijk — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:25:22 -0800

Looking for sites with embroidery on paper patterns. I've seen all the books on Amazon.com and have used several patterns I found on these three sites. Wondering if there are any more out there to continue this hobby.

Since the idea seems to have originated in Europe, maybe foreign language sites exist?

Quick way to remove embroidery?

0217174 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:13:28 -0800

Quick way to remove embroidery? Anyone know a quick and clean way to remove embroidery, such as logos on hats and clothes?

I do it by using tweezers or a needle and breaking the thread from the backside but this takes hours and my hands get cramped up.

Thanks~

One-off embroidery around Boston

Plutor — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:02:50 -0800

I need to get three words embroidered in black on one shirt breast pocket. Is there anyone in the Boston area who will do this for me, preferably for next to nothing?

Help me design a personalized baby sleeper

happyturtle — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:03:24 -0800

Help me decide what to embroider on a baby sleeper for my new nephew. I've got a baby sleeper with long sleeves and legs and snaps up the middle. Similar to this in style, but plain white (no print on the fabric). I want to personalize it with embroidery, but am having trouble making up my mind. I have until mid-October when my nephew is due to finish it.

Ideas so far:
* My Auntie [Happyturtle] loves me!
* Nephew's name across the chest (which means when the snaps are open, his name will be split in two, which will give two nonsense words. Which isn't really a problem, just something for me to keep in mind)
* Nephew's name across the bottom
* [Niece's name]'s little brother. (My niece is 4 years old, and though very excited about being a big sister is also very likely to react badly to not being the center of mommy's attention anymore)
* Understated version: any of the above stitched in small letters on the collar
* I've seen lots of cute things on baby clothing sites, like 'Love' on the front and 'Stinks' on the bottom. It would be cute and funny, but not personalized. Any ideas for cute/sweet/funny *and* personalized are most welcome.

I can pretty much embroider any type of line art that I can sketch or trace onto the outfit, so am not averse to adding simple designs like hearts or stars or an outline of a car or puppy or something.

Any ideas? If you're a parent, what would make you think 'Wow, she really put a lot of thought into this... I love it!'

boston custom embroidery

saffron — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:03:50 -0800

Where in Boston can I get an apron embroidered with a custom image before Valentine's day? Can those mall kiosks that do caps handle a jpg on a disk, or only their own images?

When it falls off, your wish will come true

nekton — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 18:26:09 -0800

I recently decided to re-visit one of my favorite summer activities: making friendship bracelets. I am looking to a) remember some of the techniques I used to know b) learn new and interesting bracelet patterns. I know the basics. I can make a flat band with diagonal stripes (knotting along a row of strings) and of course the tube-shaped striped pattern made by knotting around the entire bundle of strings. I once knew how to make designs in the band (like chevrons or fish). I also used to be able to do something involving loops over the fingers.

What interesting things to do with string can you teach me? (I have 12 skeins of embroidery thread ready to go...)

Science baby...

jennyjenny — Wed, 11 May 2005 19:01:48 -0800

Science/physics geeks (and I mean geek in the most affectionate possible way) -- I need a hand. Two extremely sciencey friends of mine are having a baby, and I am looking for something to embroider on a little outfit for it. One parent is a glaciologist/astronomy fan/physics whiz, and the other is a fan of all things sciencey and mathy. I will be embroidering a bunch of little pictures (rocketship, atoms, etc), and I need some text to go in the middle.

Ideas that are lovely, but have been rejected for one reason or another are "Back off man, I'm a tiny scientist," "Rocket scientist," and "What part of [embroider maxwell's equations here] don't you understand?"

So, science people -- what would be just incredibly hilarious to see written on a baby's shirt?

Jackets to be embroidered?

TurkishGolds — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 09:37:04 -0800

I'm trying to buy some jackets with our company's logo embroidered onto them for some key staff members. I really like the Carhartt canvas style jacket, but they're just too expensive and I can't get them embroidered at the Point of Sale, which would make this whole thing a lot easier. I've checked out Land's End and LL Bean, both of which have catalogs specifically for embroidering company logos onto merchandise, but neither one of them has exactly the selection or type of jacket that would be ideal. Any thoughts?