Under The Needle

I finally did it!!!!! - It has taken me about 4 weeks to figure out how to obtain good results with small lettering. It should have been very simple when I was asked by a friend to create a poem on a handkerchief for her upcoming wedding. She wanted to used a handkerchief from her grandmother for me to embroider a simple poem on that she could give to her mom. I did my research and knew I would need lettering about 1/4 to 1/2 inches in height. I knew what stabilizer, needle size and thread wt. to use. So I purchased a small font that the description said was good for poems and the height was 1/2 inch. The photo on the left shows my first attempt. As you can see, it turned out horrible. The lettering was very bulky and the back was a big mess. I decided I needed to head to the embroidery experts at Lori's Pins and Needles, the local fabric/quilt shop for some help. Deanne and Lori were so nice and didn't laugh at my attempt! Instead, I was instructed to decrease the density of the stitches, and try to change the push and pull compensation. Deanne asked me about the embroidery software I was using and told me to shut off the 3D effect so I could see the stitches better.

At home I read thru the manual of the embroidery program, watched some more you tube videos, took the advice I was given and as you can see it worked great! Well, almost. Now the white bobbin thread was showing thru to the top. Back to the drawing board! More research, more playing with the embroidery program, more looking for advice on small lettering...... Until I found the Embrilliance software site and was given more advice. I was told that not all small lettering is created equal. The lettering I needed was a tiny font 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. I was directed to Oma's Place, that had a great looking teeny tiny font.

This teeny tiny Samantha font worked great. It stitched out beautifully! I have learned so much about embroidering. The back of the handkerchief looks as readable as the front. My friend was so happy that she has now asked it I could try embroidering on a lace garter that she wants to toss. Always fun to learn something new!!!!!!!!