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Background fabric for machine embroidery?
By Serena Nabeta | September 10, 2008
Once you have decided what embroidery designs you are going to stitch, the next step is choosing what piece of fabric on which to stitch them. Not every piece of fabric is meant for machine embroidery. Obviously a print boasting of roses, stripes or plaids is not the choice for embroidery, in the majority of cases.
Automatically you usually reach for a solid piece of fabric such as denim, cotton or muslin. But pieces such as marbles, tone on tone fabrics and muted prints create gorgeous backgrounds for embroidery. A marble fabric or tone on tone fabric is a piece of fabric that has a dominate color, but swirled in it are lighter and darker shades of that same color. It could be swirls, splats of color or splashes of various shades in the same color family.
A muted print often mirrors a print fabric, but instead of the many colors used in a print, it is in a monotone color in lighter and darker shades. Many time fabric collections will have a very colorful floral print with the same floral print in another piece of fabric, but in a monotone.
Marbles, tone on tone fabrics and muted prints are excellent fabric choices for machine embroidery. Many times the fabric will help to enhance the embroidery and add more texture to the overall project. This is not to say that solids are not an option as far as embroidery because they are still very valuable choices. The choice of fabric will also depend on what kind of design you are stitching. A redwork or outline design would show off its stitches much more effectively with a solid background verses a marble. However a filled in design such as a blooming rose would grab your eye with a muted rose background.
The next time you start pulling pieces of fabric out of your stash for embroidery, take a look at what you are stitching and explore other possibilities instead of just solid fabrics!
Note: When I first started machine embroidery, my mind only thought of solid fabrics for embroidery. But more and more I love the look of a marble or muted print background that enhances my embroidery designs! Sometimes even a muted strip can look striking with the right design!
The navy and green dish signs are solid fabrics.The yellow and blue are marbled fabrics.
Topics: Embroidery, Fabric Stash, Helpful Lessons | Comments Off
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