Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Zippered Wristlets Made with the Embroidery Machine


Over the summer my daughter lived in the dorms during a ballet intensive out of town and I was prompted to make a few things to make life a bit more convenient. I wanted something specifically helpful for trudging down to the laundry room in her building.  I found that the Embroidery Garden In The Hoop Wristlet Set, made in the 5x7 size, is the perfect size for quarters for the machines.  I made a couple because they were so quick and super handy to have.

"In the hoop" refers to 3D finished items made entirely (or mostly) in the embroidery machine.  This is a fully lined pouch and even the zipper is installed in the embroidery machine. (A nylon zipper must be used (never metal) for in the hoop (ITH) projects because the embroidery machine will be sewing over the zipper.)  I took a class with Reen, the owner of Embroidery Garden a few years ago when she came to town.  Her great tip for ITH projects, that differ from her own printed instructions, is to hoop no show poly mesh (cutaway stabilizer) instead of the prescribed tear away.  The no show poly mesh is so soft that it can stay in the project with a window cut out behind the zipper.  (Cutting out behind the zipper is a must in order to turn the bag when completed!)


For this project, the strap was made on a regular sewing machine, however, using modified instructions that are included with the file instructions.

I preferred these without the flower embellishment or the decorative quilting on the file, but I did still use a cotton batting to give it a little structure.



The second one I made was embellished with a file my daughter picked out from Frublomgren on Etsy.  Her fantastic hipster bunnies get the rare distinction of being the ONLY design in my collection of thousands that my 15-year-old liked!


We decided to remove the bubble with PEACE from the original design.  When I edited it out, I also lost part of the circle applique with blanket stitching behind the bunnies.  I wanted that background so my little bunnies wouldn't get lost in the printed base fabric of the zipper bag, so I went on and edited out the circle background too with my Embrilliance software (Essentials module's tools) and then used the Embrilliance Stitch Artist module's tools to digitize a new circle applique with a blanket stitch edging.  Using the shapes library made it a cinch to do!





I used a swivel lanyard claw hook on the strap to finish, a slight modification to the Embroidery Garden instructions.  The strap can be unclipped to be used as a wrist fob for keys.





Quick Links to Blog Mentions:
To see my other embroidery projects and links to tutorials and resources, check out my Machine Embroidery Gallery.  Paper projects can be found in my Paper Gallery.  Soaping recipes can be found in my Soapmakers Gallery.  


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