Machine Embroidery & Applique on Embrace® Double Gauze Cotton

Hello! I'm Linda Lingner, and I'm a Shannon Fabrics Brand Ambassador serving the East Coast. I'm so happy the summer is here and I'm wearing plenty of tank tops and sleeveless sundresses to soak up the sun.  Unfortunately I get cold shoulders when in air conditioning, and I need a light weight cover up. The perfect wrap for me is the Simplicity Pattern 8172 Misses' Fashion Kimono made up in Embrace® Double Gauze from Shannon Fabrics.

I love Embrace® Double Gauze because it's breathable, soft, easy to sew, and it comes in an excellent selection of colors to go with my wardrobe. I have a solid kimono sewed up in Embrace® Double Gauze Teal, and the back struck me as a beautiful canvas for embroidery.

I used the Simplicity Pattern 8172 Misses' Fashion Kimono, View C with flounce and sleeve bands.

I chose a floral wreath from Anita Goodesign's A Sunday Afternoon embroidery collection, provided to me by Anita Goodesign.

In the hoop I used Heat N Gone melting stabilizer by RNK Distributing. This will literally melt away with very gentle heat, leaving stabilizer behind the denser areas. This adds support.  The shiny on the top is a water soluble topper, usually used to hold down pile. I chose this for two reasons- to add stabilizer to the soft Embrace® double gauze during embroidery, and help get a sharp satin stitch around the Cuddle® applique. I didn't want any stabilizer showing on my finished piece.

Here I placed the hoop over the kimono back to judge size and placement. This is the 200 x 200 hoop, and will fit the design in a B size.

I used the marks on the hoop to mark the back of the garment so the design is centered. These notches are on the center of each side.

I carried out my marks with a long ruler and a wash out marking pen. I love the Dual Purpose Twin Marking Pen by Dritz- one end is purple and is disappearing and the other end is the cold wash out blue marker.  I use these marks to place the fabric correctly on the hoop. I also use an embroidery basting stitch to tack the jacket back to the hooped stabilizer.

My design has an appliqued fox in the center. The design stitched an outline for where the applique fabric will be placed. Lay down an oversized piece of fabric, then the next stitching will tack down the fabric. I selected Floriani Polyester Embroidery Thread- so convenient as the thread numbers used by Anita Goodesign all relate to Floriani.

For the fox, I used Shannon Fabrics Cuddle® 3 in Papaya and for his accents, I chose Cuddle® 3 Snow White.

At this stage, remove the hoop and trim the applique. I know that Anita Goodesign uses a trim close to the tack down stitch. The satin stitch that finishes it will start close to this stitching and swing mostly onto the Cuddle®.  I use my embroidery scissors from Kai Scissors for tiny trimming, and an applique scissors for larger areas.

Trim after each color

My trimmed fox.

Continue embroidery through all the steps on the color chart.  Gently remove basting stitches, then tear off the top stabilizer while still fairly firm in the hoop. Turn over, and carefully cut the stabilizer  around the design, not too close. I use tweezers to gently remove the top stabilizer, and I don't worry about the tiny bits.  A low heat iron removes the back stabilizer.

I have a beautiful embroidered Embrace® double gauze kimono to wear all season!

Thank you to Shannon Fabrics for allowing me to guest blog and thank you to our partners Anita Goodesign, Dritz, Kai Scissors, RNK Distributing and Simplicity for their support. You can find Shannon Fabrics at fine quilt and sewing stores nationwide and you can also check out their Store Locator. Their Brand Ambassadors are also available to retailers for educational events and shows. You can view the events page here.

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Keep sewing!

Linda