ALL TOOL SCHOOL, Crafts, Tool School Extra Credit

Extra Credit: Embroidery Stitching Tool

Embroidery Stitching Tool:

The Swag Tag!

By Shannon and Jason

We give you, the Swag Tag!

NOTIONS AND TOOLS

  • Clover Embroidery Hoop – Item #8812
  • Scissors – Bordeaux 130 – Item #4940
  • Embroidery Stitching Tool – Item #8800
  • 3 ply Needle – Item #8803

MATERIALS

Fabric

Top – Plain cotton fabric or muslin, enough to fully cover the embroidery hoop.

Backing fabric – recommend using felt or a paper textile like Kraft-tex.

6 ply Embroidery Floss

3-5 colors of floss (we used Aurifil Cotton Floss 18yd/spool). Colorful is the word of the day!

Fabric Glue

Permanent fabric glue such as Aileen’s Fiber Fusion. We don’t use hot glue on this as it cools too quickly to spread and apply the backing.

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Cut your fabric to cover the framing embroidery hoop.

Step 2: Trace the pattern from the included design or draw a pattern of your own.

  1.  If drawing your own, make big bold shapes that stand out. Small corners and shallow curves do not show well when using the Embroidery Stitching Tool.
  2. Trace on the Wrong side of the fabric so your loops appear on the Right side.

 You can punch from either/both sides as you like… we like loopy.

Step 4: Punch Away

1.    Make sure your Embroidery Stitching Tool is equipped with the 3-strand needle refill.

2.    Pull out about 1-1.5 yards (1 meter) of floss and gently tease the end so you can easily pull out 1 strand of floss. Do this 3 times so you have 3 strands of floss together.

  •  YOU WILL BE TEMPTED to try to pull out more than 1 strand at a time… DON’T fall for it. You have been warned.

3.    Follow the directions included with the Embroidery Stitching Tool and load your 3-strand bundle.

  • Punching from the Wrong side will make smooth design.
  • Punching from the Right side will make a loopy design.
  • Punching partly from the Right and the Wrong sides make really fun designs!

4.    Snug up your fabric in the hoop if you notice it getting too relaxed.

Step 5: Finishing

1.    Remove your fabric from the Clover Embroidery Hoop.

2.    Use and iron to steam the fabric and your stitching.

  •    This will smooth out any wrinkles and fluff up the floss.

3.    On the Wrong side of the design apply a coat fabric glue to keep the loops from coming out.

4.    Cut out a circle of felt or Kraft-tex that matches the dimensions of your design

5.    Cut a piece of floss 3-4 inches (10cm). Make a loop from the floss and place it between the glued wrong side of the design and the backing fabric.

6.    Allow the glue to fully dry

Smaller versions of these work beautifully as tags, enjoy your embroidered design!

S&J