Gingery Christmas - Gingerbread Ornament There's still time to make a few more quick gifts before the holidays. Use this technique to turn applique designs into free-standing ornaments and trimmers for packages, gifts and decorations for your tree. Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 1 of 7
STEP: 1 STEP: 2 Prepare fabrics: quilt weight cottons, preshrunk & pressed. In all likelihood your applique will not be perfectly symmetrical. To make a mirror image, we'll fuse one template (available in the Download Center when you purchase any Gingery Christmas gingerbread applique design) to the front of the fabric and one to the back. For both the front and back applique pieces, make a "sandwich" by stacking together your fabric (right side up), fusible web, and cutaway stabilizer. Press together to form a bond. Apply the printed applique pattern piece to the front of the front piece and the back of the back piece. If you've printed the templates on fusible stabilizer, simply press the template on with a dry iron. If you've printed on paper, spray the back of each pattern piece lightly with TESA (spray with temporary spray adhesive, like 505 Spray 'n' fix) and smooth into place. The double layers of stabilizer provide extra stability to maintain the shape and rigidity of the ornament plus add a little loft and dimension to the piece. Repeat this process for the back piece, but layer the pieces as shown in the graphic for this step. Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 2 of 7
STEP: 3 STEP: 4 Cut out the two applique pieces, leaving the paper pattern piece attached until you are ready to place the appliques. Although this design looks symmetrical, it is probably not perfect enough if the pieces are applied to the wrong sides! Hoop two layers of wash away stabilizer. Load the design (in this case lg002012 for the small ginger man). Sew the first color. The machine will stitch a placement line, which coincidentally exactly matches the template outline. STEP: 5 STEP: 6 Cut a 6-8" piece of ribbon, fold in half and align the cut ends about 1/4" to 1/2" within the outline at the top of the gingerman's head. Use small pieces of tape to hold the ribbon in place and to keep it from catching during the sewing process. Make sure the tape will not be sewn over! Spray the stabilizer side of your prepared front applique piece with TESA (temporary spray adhesive, like 505 Spray and Fix). I sprayed into the lid of box. Spray sparingly and in a protected area away from your machine. Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 3 of 7
STEP: 7 STEP: 8 Place the sprayed front applique into position within the sewn outlines. The photo from this angle allows you to see the outline; looking straight down it is not visible. Continue sewing the design. I often slow my machine down and lightly hold the applique in place with a pair of tweezers to prevent any shifting or fabric rippling. After the tack-down sews, I stop the machine (a stop is not programmed in) and make sure there is no fabric extending beyond the zigzag. If there is, I use double curved scissors to carefully trim it away. The cover satin will only extend about a half a millimeter on either side of this tack down so precision placement is a must! Notice loft in the applique! Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 4 of 7
STEP: 9 STEP: 10 This project works because the satin edge cover stitch runs last. Stop the machine before the last color runs. (You will need to do this manually; a stop function is not programmed in.) Remove hoop from machine but do not unhoop the project. It's kind of messy on the back! You'll notice that the trimmers pull the threads to the back leaving a short tail. Don't trim these tails off or you will increase the changes of the design stitches raveling out -- especially on longer satin stitches. The back side of embroidery is seldom attractive, so we'll remedy that in the next step. Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 5 of 7
STEP: 11 STEP: 12 As you did with the front piece, spray the stabilizer side of your prepared back applique piece with TESA. Smooth the back piece into place over the back of the embroidery, right side up. For a truly reversible design, replace the regular bobbin with one wound with matching thread. STEP: 13 STEP: 14 Reattach the hoop and finish the design. The satin edge will sew, finishing off the edges of the applique and attaching the back to the front piece The graphic for this step shows the back of the design. You could have a more finished result by matching the bobbin to the top thread. Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 6 of 7
STEP: 15 And the project is finished! Copyright(C)2006 Embroidery Central, Inc. Page 7 of 7