Easy Embroidery Designs Drawing
Gordon Neal
I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more
Making Your Own Pounce, in three shades
Powdered Charcoal for Pounce (and resources)
Talc for Pouncing Dark Fabric
Making Your Own Pounce Tool
How to Transfer an Embroidery Design with the Prick and Pounce Method
I use the sewline brand white marker. These markers are great. They are refillable and have different colors you can get. So one pen is all you need. The marks do wear a bit but seem to hold up well. They can be erased when done if they show. The pen has an eraser on the tip. Love this brand
Another approach is to draw your lines on wash-away stabilizing basted to your ground fabric. Embroider outlines and major features right through the stabilizer, then wash it away. There are also dissolving threads that can be used to mark all over a fabric. They wash right out after you are finished. The kind I use is shiny white and very visible on dark fabrics. It does not have a long life as a mark, though, as it tends to vanish with high humidity or a lot of handling.
Featuring strong ceramic 0.9mm white lead: specially formulated for dark fabrics and made from water soluble dyes. Package contains one pencil with a soft grip for comfort and ten leads in a reusable storage tube. Dark and white refill leads are available separately.
I use stretch and seal. Baste it onto the fabric and embroidery right through it. Tear it off when done. Be ready for some tedious picking to get it off small spaces in the design. I have only used this on simple designs.
I have not transferred very often on dark fabric. I have used a yellow or white chalk pencil or iron-on pencil in the past. I am wondering if a Copic Sketch marker/pen will work. It was a suggestion in one of the Stumpwork books that I used recently to color the edges of a detached piece so the white of the fabric would not be seen. I did use it and there was no bleeding but have not washed anything. Also have handled the piece since and had no marker on my hands after.
I use the white re-fillable pencil from Fons & Porter to draw or trace onto dark fabrics. I have also used dressmakers carbon to trace then go over it with the Fons & Porter pencil. And when the drawing is just how I want it, then I lightly mist the drawing with hairspray and that keeps it from smudging any more.
Jo
Durham NC
For Stacy : Transfering design on darker material or clothing. I use SOLVY WATER SOLUBLE STABILIZER. You can trace on it or draw on it. And the good thing about it : It dissolves in water. The way I use it is I place the solvy stabilizer over my design, trace the design with a pen, then I place the stabilizer over my material I securite it with a few pins and embroider over the stabilizer when I am finish I tear the stabilizer off and the pieces of stabilizer that I cannot tear off comes off with water. The SOLVY WATER SOLUBLE STABILIZER comes in different weight: Light, Medium, and the color is Transparent. It also comes in sheets or rolls. I have been using it for a few years know and I just love it. Hoping this will help you.
Monique Galipeau, from Huntingdon, Qubec, Canada.
I have used avalon water soluble plastic and a white gel pen to trace with. Just tack the plastic well onto fabric and once you are finish with the project you can either tear it away or wash it and plastic will disolve
Recently I learned from a Facebook friend a great way to not only trace a pattern but to enhance the embroidery on not so great materials as well as nice fabric.
Kimeko Smalls, will trace the pattern using the gell pens mentioned by Mary. But she will trace the pattern on to a matching sheer silk veil material. Then she pins or sews it, with a basting stich, to the material of her embroidery fabric. After you do your embroidery you simply cut away your waste Veil material. This can also make the fabric look more expensive. I did it on a piece of black fabric, and it made it look like velvet. Too cool!
Just to clarify.
I have used overhead plastic, template plastic used in quilting and the front page protector of the cheap glue bound books used by my university for their selfpublished classmaterial.
When I want to embroider on dark fabric I use a water soluble topping by Stitch and Sew. Trace the design onto the topping and baste the topping onto the fabric. When finished, I soak the fabric in sink until topping desolves (sp). Viola my finished product.
RE transfering design on dark fabric. If the fabric will tolerate and you are willing, you can use Pellon StickNWashaway sheets (8.511 or bolts) onto which you have scanned and printed the design. Peeling off the backing, it has a light self stick surface that holds it on the fabric, but I basted it on too. When the stitching is done, the sheet can be washed away gently in cold water. It worked wonderfully for me with linen threads on linen fabric.
i do a lot of very large embroidery designs on dark fabrics with lots of text and I have had the best luck with the white carbon transfer sheets that Sublime Stitching sells. They do not brush off easily and I have used them on a linen weave type fabric and just plain cotton.
I find the FriXion pens are very useful. There is now a .5 one available here in Australia. The only colour is bright pink but it irons out very well on cotton. I did test on white silk and it left a faint discernable line. It just means it best not to make any mistakes when tracing. As yet I not tried it on linen.
Many thanks for your e-mail. I do look forward to it.
hello mary,
i too, have used tissue paper. sometimes it works fine and others, its a nightmare. i think it depends on the texture and quality .
but being a quilter also, i have found the frixtion pens, that are used for fabric to make lines or quilting designs and them to disappear instantly by the heat or steam of an iron. they come in many colours, light and dark . hope this helps, marcella in kentucky
I use carbon tracing paper it comes in yellow, black and white. Its like the old typing carbon. you place it under the pattern on top of the cloth. I use a stylus tracing tool its wood in the middle with a piece of metal at each end. One end has a very fine ball and the other slightly thicker ball. You can use an empty biro as long as it is a small ball. You must use glass under the cloth to ensure a hard surface.
Vanessa, please try the white tracing paper I wrote about at about 10:30 yesterday. A damp cloth or sponge takes off the white transfer. I think you, like me, will be happy with it. I too am a new embroiderer and like things easy!
I have had tremendous success with heat sensitive quilting pens. These are pens that mark in different colors (some brands do have white) and the marks disappear when heat (ironing) is applied. Do not leave marked fabric in a hot car, sometimes that generates enough heat for the design to disappear. I also use it to mark where beads will go when I am embellishing.
Whatever happened to that tracing paper you could get at the store with the sewing notions to mark darts and pleet lines on material being made into clothes? It came in lots of colors including white and yellow which would work on dark clothes and there was a tracing wheel with little teeth on one end and longer teeth on the other end?
Today I would like to share a really easy and fun transfer method for simple embroidery patterns. It is a wonderful product which looks like a fabric stabilizer but has an adhesive backing and also dissolves in warm water. It is thin enough to see through so you can trace your embroidery pattern onto it, then stick it onto any surface you want to embroider. When you are done stitching, it washes right off in warm water.
This is what I used. This is Pellon brand Stick-n-Washaway. Solvy (sticky fabri-solvy) is another brand that makes this product. I am sure there are other brands that make this as well but these are the ones I found and tried. They are both wonderful! This particular product comes in 8.5 X 11 sheets designed so that you could simply print your pattern directly onto the sheet! I did a brief internet search and priced these out between 7-10 dollars for a pack of five sheets. I have used the printer method but there was always a lot of paper left over so I will show you a simple way to use up this paper and add some cute touches to your clothing and accessories.
Each sheet of paper has a paper backing. It is transparent enough to see through even with the paper. After you trace your pattern, you simply peel off the backing and stick your pattern where you want to stitch.
Find a simple pattern you would like transfer, a marking utensil, and a sheet of the Pellon paper. Notice in the above example, I used a sharpie marker. The sharpie marker bled into the embroidery thread when I rinsed it in warm water. I thought the effect was cool but if you do not want unexpected bleeding is would be better to use a fabric pen with washable or vanishing ink. I have also used pencil and did not have any noticeable bleeding.
Tape the pattern onto a bright window (or a light box if you have one.) Next tape the 8 x 11 sheet over the pattern and trace it onto the paper. (Make sure to use removable tape like painter, masking, or washi tape.)
Once you have traced and trimmed your designs onto the special paper, peel off the paper backing and stick the pattern to whatever surface you would like to embroider! Make sure the surface you are stitching onto can be rinsed in warm water since you will have to dissolve the paper in warm water at the end. In this case, I chose a pair of jeans. Once you have applied your design to the desired surface, start stitching! Stitch right through the paper and into the fabric. You will not see the paper when you are finished.
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