Even though I have been using the new Bernina 580 non stop I have actually made very few useful things with it besides monogramming. I am just too impatient right now to sew any thing and just want the immediate reward of seeing something beautiful painted in threads come off the hoop.
Still, there is only so much free hours (minutes) in a day and they would be better used in the pursuit of the useful, so last night I started making "Merci etiquettes" (thank you tags) to send to the lovely people who sent us nice Christmas presents.
After some trial and error I have finally arrived to the right mix of "ingredients". First with some help from the near by Bernina dealer I selected the right type of stabilizer. There is probably over twenty different types so it is not as obvious a task as one might think, anyhow... Onward! The stabilizer required for the job must be thick and cut-away. I found mine at Joann's, Sulky Cut-Away plus. It comes in rather narrow width so I simply sewed two lengths together with a zigzag to make it fit in the hoop. With the oval/large hoop I can fit four of the motifs which saves me a lot of time and stabilizer.When the little tags are cut off I still have enough on the left side to fit the hoop. I found that to avoid cutting the work when trimming the stabilizer I simply push with the blades of the scissors instead of doing the normal open/shut motion. It has worked very well so far. I am still looking for a clean way to open the hole though.
Above is an example of what I have in mind for "Les Etiquettes".
This motif can be found on the Tendre Creation website. To download the file you must first subscribe to the site's newsletter. I added the text with one of the fonts included in the machine.
you might try a leather punch for the hole. I use that for installing grommets and love it. They should be relatively inexpensive at a hardware store.
Posted by: Christy | January 08, 2012 at 04:16 PM
Hi re the holes what about a paper hole punch. I'm not sure if you can get different sizes (I think you can though) and they work on material as well. Lovely work though and lovely idea to send as thank yous :-)
Posted by: marg | January 08, 2012 at 04:16 PM
Beautiful! Just imagine all the fun tags you will be able to make now that you have all that information figured out!
Posted by: Lisa | January 08, 2012 at 05:29 PM
You could try a leather or paper circle punch. You can find them in all sizes at Joann's and michaels.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S12HG6?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1
Posted by: Jessica | January 09, 2012 at 06:00 AM