Creating Jewelry on Your Embroidery Machine
Did you know that if you have an embroidery machine that you have a powerful tool at your command to create wonderful pieces of jewelry to make you feel absolutely amazing with just a few minutes of stitching time? It’s true! No matter what embroidery machine you have, you are only limited by your imagination! You can create a vast array of freestanding lace embroidered jewelry for yourself, to give as gifts, or even to make and sell in your own small business side-hustle!
One of my favorite things to make with my embroidery machine is Freestanding Lace pieces, and doing small pieces and using them as earrings, pendants, or charms is a wonderful way for me to express myself and make something beautiful to wear! Now, before you start imagining that all Freestanding Lace is just solid white and boring, or not really your style, let me encourage you to take a moment and just hear me out! With the exception of my wedding in the early 90’s, I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything white, and I’ve certainly not ever thought wearing white lace as jewelry was practical with my lifestyle. I have kids and am carting them to activities, running to the grocery store, and doing lots of “mom” type things, so beautiful white lace isn’t ever one of my wardrobe considerations! I do love color, though. Lots of color, and I love earrings especially because they are a super easy way to feel “put together” without going through a lot of effort. It’s also easier to pop on a pair of lightweight earrings and not worry about them all day, too, because they aren’t “in the way” when I am taking a few minutes on the computer or making snacks for everyone like a bracelet would be. Earrings just make me happy, and they make people happy when they see you - it’s like wearing a smile!
When I make freestanding lace earrings, I always use a good stable wash-away stabilizer - the kind that looks like a fabric - not the clear kind that is used for a topper. This allows the embroidery machine to have a stable surface to stitch on and let the threads hold onto. The threads join together and interlock through the stabilizer to each other, and because they dangle from earring hardware and can sometimes be seen from both sides, I like to use a bobbin thread that matches the top thread. Be sure to check your manual to see what size bobbin thread works best in your machine! My machine uses 60 wt thread in the bobbin, so I just wind a spool before I start my project so that I’m ready with a matching bobbin for each color that I will be using! Many Freestanding Lace jewelry designs incorporate a satin stitch border, which is a great way to use a contrasting thread color. You can coordinate your outfit or your makeup on a whim once you have made a couple of practice pairs of freestanding lace earrings!
After the stitching is done on the machine, you can rinse away the extra stabilizer by running the embroidery under hot water, and then drying the lace pieces on a dry cloth like a kitchen towel or a wash cloth until the lace is dry and then add them to earring hardware just like you’d add a charm! One thing about making freestanding lace jewelry is that it is SO much lighter than metal jewelry, and you can add beads or crystals easily to your stitchouts without worrying about adding so much more weight to a heavy piece.
That’s really as simple as it sounds! Of course each embroidery design will include specific instructions to get the best results, so be sure to pay attention to any included instructions or tutorials. You can really have a lot of fun creating all kinds of freestanding lace wearables in all your favorite colors and even create seasonal pieces for extra fun!
Making jewelry like earrings, bracelets and pendants is a great way to add your own creative touches to your wardrobe, and a pair of freestanding lace earrings is a great gift! If your intended isn’t a jewelry wearer, the little charms double as mini ornaments, so it’s a fun way to decorate seasonally or make bookmarks or suncatchers as well! Check out the freestanding lace designs that may be built into your embroidery machine already, and head over to Grome’s Sewing Machine Company to pick up a bundle of freestanding lace machine embroidery designs to try out for yourself!
I really love making practical and beautiful things on my embroidery machine, and learning how to master in-the-hoop style freestanding lace techniques will be an addition to your embroidery skills that will bring a lot of joy to your crafting time. I hope you try stitching some out! You will be hooked as soon as your first piece is dry and ready to wear!
XOXO,
Sheila Ryan for Grome’s Sewing Machine Co.
Bio:
Sheila Ryan is a San Antonio based embroidery enthusiast. She loves sharing projects and design ideas with embroidery machine owners and helping them develop their skills and passion for the many wonderful techniques possible with machine embroidery. When she is not busy digitizing new embroidery designs for her business Designs by Babymoon, you might find Sheila buried under a new quilting project or busy with other crafts like watercolor and mixed media painting. Sheila loves dragging out all the supplies and mixing things up to see what will happen. She hopes that you will fall in love with making beautiful things with her.
Links to Sheila's Facebook, Instagram, YouTube & Website
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Published: 3/28/2024