Brace yourselves--I am about to impart upon you a piece of knowledge that will make your life as an embroidery professional sew much easier! Mostly everyone knows the importance of using a water soluble topping when stitching items with nap (such as the mint blankies, minky spa wraps, minky pillow cases and fleece blankets), but it's somewhat difficult to remove all of the topping without leaving gummy residue behind.
While at Market recently I had the chance to talk to other industry professionals regarding different tips and techniques for machine embroidery. There are bunch of creative people out there and I draw a lot of inspiration from them, especially when doing applique work on seersucker items from the Mint line.
Oh, how I love the Snack Square! It was the very first product that Suzi Homemaker carried from mint and it remains near and dear to me. There is nothing more darling nor versatile than the Snack Square (also known as the Cube of Cuteness). My three children (ages 4, 6 and 9) all carry their lunches in it every day. (I am amazed that the 4-year-old always eats more than the other two!) They also use the bags to store everything from their Nintendo DS game cartridges to Polly Pockets (see "Snack Square Use" under blog tab).
The recent survey results indicated that a number of customers had questions on the "stitchability" of mint products on home embroidery machines. Suzi Homemaker actually started out stitching on a Viking Designer SE and I can attest to the fact that all of the products in the mint line can be stitched on home machines using sticky stabilizer, a little manipulation and a lot of pins.
To Market, to Market...As usual, I had such a great time at the Atlanta Gift Market! It was nice seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We had lots of questions about applique, fonts and embroidery tips, so we thought we would jot some of them down here.
Did you know that just about every product in the mint line can be stitched on home embroidery machines? Yes, even those pesky nap rolls can be stitched by thinking a little bit outside the sewing box.
Remember back when the lunch boxes had the pocket on the top? (I must admit I still have several originals in my mint. Retired Colors Museum!) Before I purchased my Fast Frames system, I used to have the darnedest time stitching on them. Sewing through the two layers of nylon and the insulated lining caused the thread to loop on top of the bag, giving the embroidery a hairy appearance--I don't know about you, but I don't do hair. I was very excited when Christi decided to lose the pocket, but was suprised to learn that not everyone felt that way.
We know the lunch boxes can be a challenge to monogram. We were asked by so many customers to please remove the top pocket (to allow for more monogram space), that we finally took it off. Now, some of you have some questions about how to embroider them, seal the stitches, etc. Here's what we say:
