Angelina
Fibers instead of Metallic Thread:
Using Metallic threads in
your machine embroidered designs can be a real hassle. They are expensive and temperamental. Metallic threads tend to break, fray and
bunch up. As a result I started using
Angelina in place of all Metallic threads in any design and I love it (I think
you will too). The look is a little
different than metallic thread, but I really like the look. It is textural and sparkly. It saves tons of time, thread and
frustration, and best of all it’s super-easy to do.
1. Pick
out the design you want to embroider, look at it to determine which color of
thread you would like to leave out to have the Angelina show through
instead.
2. Select
the color of Angelina you would like to use.
Lay the Angelina on your pressing sheet “book”. Using you fingers, spread it out to the
approximate size of the design area you want to cover. You are making a thicker sheet of Angelina so
you want to keep the fibers fairly close together.
1. Cover
with the top of the Pressing sheet “book”.
Using your Iron on silk setting, no steam – swipe the iron across the
pressing sheet twice. Check to see if
the fibers are bonded. If it still looks
furry , flip the pressing sheet “book” over and swipe once on the other
side. Check to see if bonded. If your iron is too hot or you press for too
long, you might dull the Angelina. It
helps to remember that you are not melting the Angelina, only bonding it to
itself.
2. Put
your piece of Angelina between two pieces of water soluble stabilizer (if you
are making a stand-alone design) – if you are going to use on a garment layer
as follows:
a. Your
favorite stabilizer
b. Shirt
(or whatever you are embroidering on)
c. Pressed
sheet of Angelina Fibers
d. Water
Soluble stabilizer favorite stabilizer
3. Hoop and embroider your design, leaving out
the fill stitches or those colors of thread where you want the Angelina to
sparkle through. Trim any excess
Angelina away from the design using embroidery scissors or a hot knife.
Hi Becky: I'll try to post some more photos - I'm still learning the ins and outs of posting. My article on machine embroidery with Angelina Fibers will be out in the Christmas issue of Creative Machine Embroidery Magazine (and they'll have professional pics!) I sell Angelina Fibers and Film on my website (Cowgirlquiltdesigns.com) or you can buy it direct from the Angelina Distributor - www.embellishmentvillage.com. My suggestion is to buy a bag of the metallic jellybeans and the crimped jellybeans (they call them jelly beans because all the colors are in little packages that look kind of like giant jelly beans. If you buy the 2 packages you have all the colors available. Then as you start using them you will gravitate to individual colors that you use often and you can buy large bags of those select shades (a real money saver).
ReplyDeleteTerrific post and ideas..Thanks sew much for being part of this Blog Embroidery shop hop. I love the pair dressed in the red/white/blue, and you can use them for several National Holidays.
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