Free-hand machine embroidery

Hi there!

Today I’d like to share a technique with you that I recently tried out for myself after admiring for a while- freehand machine embroidery. I think it’s just lovely. I’ve owned a cute zipper pouch from this etsy shop for over a year this week I finally decided to try it for myself. Now, if you google freehand machine embroidery, here are the images you’ll find. It seems that a lot of it is a combination of embroidery and applique. For now, I choose embroidery to share with- maybe I’ll try out some free hand applique, next!

To start out, I’d use up some scraps to get a feel for it and what you want to do.

I used OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Chipper Village Blue / Natural, a piece of batting, and a dark turquoise thread for contrast.

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I thought it’d be neat to outline the pattern on this fabric. Now, due to the textured lines of this shape, this pattern takes a bit longer to do than if it were just a smooth polka dot, but the textured lines also appealed to me for that reason- I’m obviously not going to follow it perfectly, so the thought of just going around it roughly for an abstract look sounded good.

I laid my fabric on top of the batting and just began!

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I did a lot of backstitching, as well as pivoting my fabric with the needle in the down position. A lot. And then I did it even more.

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I decided not to do all of them. For one, I like the look of just a few being ‘special’. I also knew that I’d be turning this into a small coin pouch for my purse, and that the zipper and seams would hide most of the rest, so no point wasting time and thread!

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I adjusted the pattern size from the date night foldover clutch, and made my coin pouch, but there are so many options here. You could use this technique to make pillows, curtains would be amazing, a lampshade would be pretty rad, too! The possibilities are endless, really!

If you like this & try it out, please share with us here or on our facebook page! We’d love to see!