This title provides everything sewing machine users need to know, from the types and formats of embroidery design available, how to get them off the internet and into their machine, how to stabilise fabric, which threads and needles to use, and how to use these designs creatively for beautiful results.

Break the rules with a sewing style that's all about irresistibly rough edges, uneven stitching and mismatched fabric! Step into the studio of popular textile designer Poppy Treffry, as she demonstrates how to create quirky, fun and memorable sewing projects using freehand machine embroidery, in this follow up to her first book Free and Easy Stitch Style. Learn to draw and doodle with your sewing machine, using scraps of new, used and vintage fabrics for one-of-a-kind creations. This book will make you look at your sewing machine in a whole new light - not just as a maker of curtains and tablecloths, but as an artist's tool. As you work your way through the steps and become more confident with the techniques, you'll be able to make your sewing machine do things you never thought it could! Poppy guides you through the basics, from getting to grips with your sewing machine and setting the right tension to choosing fabrics and hooping up ready to stitch. She then demonstrates how the core techniques, including outlining, shading and applique, are used to create pictures with charm. She shows how layering fabric pieces and leaving edges to fray add to the unique and personal effect. Once you have mastered the techniques, 16 projects allow you to put your new skills to use to make practical and desirable sewn objects. Make your own embroidered craft kit in the Getting Crafty chapter, with needlecase, pincushion, sewing kit and knitting bag designs. Create beautiful gifts for little ones in the New Arrivals chapter, with a tooth fairy pillow pouch, baby bib, nursery wall hanging and quilted baby blanket. Set the stage for a celebration in the Party Time chapter, with nautical bunting, place name tags, a party bag and a stunning tablecloth design. Finally, have a great getaway with the Happy Holidays chapter, with designs for a sunglasses case, bookmark, wash bag and beach backpack. With style and substance, these charming project ideas are sure to excite and inspire you. Step-by-step instructions, helpful illustrations and photographs combine with a fresh design to offer you a new twist in needlecrafting.

“A spectacular encyclopedia of embroidery, sharing valuable techniques passed down through the generations . . . you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.” —Sew Magazine Enjoy the tranquility of slow stitching with this step-by-step, visual guide to 149 embroidery stitches, motifs, and extras. Go beyond basic color theory–robust color charts take the guesswork out of choosing thread, silk ribbon, buttons, beads, and trims. Then take your embroidery to the next level with luxurious seam treatments and stunning stand-alone designs. Bestselling author Christen Brown’s traditional and contemporary techniques are showcased in a colorful gallery of crazy-quilted projects. “An overview of embroidery stitches and techniques as well as inspiration for embroidery projects . . . She dissects several of her pieces, summarizing the color palette, decorative elements, and stitches used.” —Library Journal

Lindee Goodall, founder and former owner of Cactus Punch, the first independent company to design embroidery specifically for the home market, gives you everything you need to know to produce quality embroidery no matter how small and basic or large and fancy your machine. Foreword by Deborah Jones.

This volume, written by two experienced teachers of embroidery, shows how to gain mastery over your sewing machine and produce exactly the effect you want. Techniques include running stitch, zig zag, satin stitch, whip stitch, combined stitches and cable stitch.

This book starts with the basics of free-machine embroidery and leads on to advanced techniques. Heavily illustrated with colour photographs, it includes many of the author's own ideas to make embroidered pictures stand out sculpturally. Building up techniques with textures and applique are explored, together with the use of thick threads, both wrapped and applied, stumpwork and fabric sculpting. The use of painted backgrounds and layers of semi-transparent fabrics add to depth and mood. This book can be a stepping stone to the development of readers' own ideas in this growing art, which is not tied to traditional ways. Two very helpful charts allow you to tell at a glance how the basic stitches are achieved, and how they can be used creatively.

Featuring new and exciting techniques on how to dissolve, melt, and distort fabric both before and after stitching, this guide explores the evolving and innovative materials that are introduced into the textile market and instructs fiber artists how to use them creatively and effectively. Whether dissolving, melting, punching, slashing, or distorting textiles, crafters can achieve fascinating effects using the handbook's easy-to-follow steps, design tips, and diagrams. The book's organization around three themes--stitch, dissolve, and distort--allows experienced embroiderers to easily incorporate fresh ideas into their favorite stitching styles.