by Jo Masters, Quilt Direct's Embroidery Specialist
I don’t do Valentines, and pink and red aren't my usual colours, but… when I saw this little Valentines post box I thought I'd try something different.
After all, I do like a challenge!
Materials
So, I gathered some fabric, threads and the OESD essentials – Stabilstick, Badgemaster, Aquamesh, Fiber Form, and some glitter vinyl. As I was searching I found some lovely pink vinyl, so I decided to use that for the outside of the post box.
Set Up
I set up the Bernina 700 ready with the files, and as I don’t like waste or a single hooping for each part of the post box, I added as many design parts as I could to the Bernina Maxi Hoop. I layered one layer of Aquamesh and one of Badgemaster, cut the fabric bigger than the patterns, and put one layer of Stabilstick to each piece - yes, the vinyl and the glitter as well. Then I cut the Fiber Form to the pattern sizes.
Then away I went!
First Steps
First it was placement lines for all the pieces, putting down the Fiber Form, then the fabric on top and stitch down, and then hoop off and cut the excess away.
Next, the hoop went back on for placement lines for the heart, and again I cut off the excess and put it back on to stitch the rest of the design, which was only two colours.
Then I had to place the fabric for the backs on, which is the same process just with a bit of tape to hold the backs on while being stitched, then I removed the excess again and finished the design.
Top Tip: Just as I started embroidering, I noticed the stitch holes on the vinyl. So when using vinyl, especially leather-look, use OESD Stitch H20 as a topping to stop this.
Hoops
I ended up doing two hoopings on this design. First I used the Bernina Maxi Hoop, as you can see above, and then, as there were only a few pieces left, I used a Bernina Medium Clamp Hoop. Both worked perfectly!
Removing The Excess
I trimmed all the excess Badgemaster and Aquamesh away as close as possible to the design, ran it under warm water to melt the rest away, and then dried it on top of a towel on my dryer.
I had my washing drying at the same time - two birds one stone, as they say!
Final Steps
I used the OESD Perfect Punch to make the holes, and OESD Alligator Clamp to pull the buttons through the buttonettes, which as you can see are fab tools for this.
And that's it - my post box was done!
Final Thoughts
I know I've missed out some stages and some photos, but I'll be doing more of these and will learn as I go.
I still don’t do Valentines! But the post box is quite sweet, and as I went out of my comfort zone with the colour choices, all in all I think it looks good.
Embroidery isn't all fluffy ducks, I love that we can make practical things as well.
I'm looking out for my next project, so keep an eye out for it too!
