Here is the first project I made for the Craftsy class Elegant Machine Embroidered Bags with Amanda Murphy. I have actually already made a few luggage tags with monograms on them but this time I used the flower file that Amanda provides in the class.
I used different colours than the sample because I am going to include this in my Christmas gift basket for my mom and she loves purple. I think it turned out nicely but I did ask if it looked right using the 'ask a question' feature on Craftsy. Amanda thought it appeared that my bobbin thread was coming up to the top so I might try it again and change the tension. I think it is making the leather poke through otherwise you would see the white bobbin thread...but I don't really have enough experience to know for sure so only another stitching will prove if a tension adjustment will make it look better.
After embroidering 6 luggage tags I am definitely getting the hang of hooping the flap and keeping the rest of the tag out of the way. The leather is quite thick and stiff so it's a little tricky and definitely hands-on embroidery! The class has taught me that you can pretty much embroider anything you can get flat enough in a hoop - even though it may be a struggle to do it. I don't want to go out of my way to find difficult things to decorate with thread but Amanda has opened my eyes to the possibilities. I will definitely keep an open mind as I look through stores and see things I could embroider.
There is a link to an on-line provider of 'blanks' (plain items ready and suitable for machine embroidery) in the class materials and when I get a chance I want to place an order for some interesting items (there are aprons, make-up bags, clothes, totes, etc.). You can check out All About Blanks if you're interested in seeing what can be embroidered and use the link at the top if you'd like to check out Amanda's class.
I feel a lot more confident about the whole process of using my embroidery machine after taking these Craftsy classes. I realize that I AM doing it right and everyone has to fight a bit to manipulate what they are working on to get it in the hoop. The machine pretty much does the rest after that. I haven't had a whole lot of time to play on my 350e but when I do, I love it! It's a very fun process to add customized stitching to personalize anything!
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