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Fun With Redwork Machine Embroidery Designs

3/16/2019

13 Comments

 
Here's a little bit of stitch entertainment to start this blog post!
Rooster and chicks in stitches!
Click the arrow and wait a second or two for the stitches to show.

Earlier this month I contributed a tea towel project posted on Stitching Sewcial, the official Brother blog. It featured the redwork design you see above. My version of farmhouse chic, it's stitched on a hemstitched blank towel from Dunroven House, combined with color matched decorative stitches and a strip of fabric. Be sure to check out the entire project HERE, and don't forget to download the Free design courtesy of Brother. You'll find additional redwork designs available for purchase on Brother's digital download site, iBroidery.com.

Chances are good that your local sewing machine dealer also has multiple design collections with a redwork theme. Dakota Collectables has produced some of my own personal favorites.
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Machine made Redwork embroidery is a quick way to dress up plain lightweight fabrics such as linen, muslin, and Osnaburg cloth. Most often, designs are just one single color, stitched with a straight stitch traveling more than once in the same spot. Typically low in density and therefore lightweight, for most fabrics you'll still need stabilizer to support stitches during embroidery. Light weight tear-away works well for many projects. Just be careful to gently remove stabilizer at the end, and avoid distorting the stitches. 
 
Wash away mesh is another option, simply cut away excess when finished and then wash out the remainder. 

You can certainly use these designs on heavier fabrics but avoid any fabric with nap or the stitches will get lost in the fibers. No matter the fabric, the best hooping method is to layer the two stabilizers together. Secure between the inner and outer ring of the hoop with fabric and stabilizer taught in the hoop.

Liquid designed to stiffen fabric temporarily and then wash out is one more way to beef up the fabric for this light weight style of stitching. CLICK HERE for a Free Let's Go Sew tip sheet on using liquid stabilizers.

If your fabric needs a more permanent stabilizer consider cut-away, or if it's suitable for your project a medium weight fusible interfacing works well.
Days of the week kitties from the book titled Redwork from the Workbasket by Rebecca Kemp Brendt. 
​Redwork designs are such a joy to stitch! They’re simple designs, but Oh . . . the stories they tell! Ranging from farm animals to nostalgic items, to cute images of boys and girls at play, and so much more!
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My friend Rebecca Kemp Brendt authored a book on the topic of redwork. Titled Redwork from The Workbasket, her book includes 100 designs from The WORKBASKET®, a classic magazine with a 60-year crafting tradition. 

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​In the book you’ll find lots of inspirational projects accented with redwork designs. 
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​All 100 designs have been digitized for use with an embroidery machine! Each of the designs is available in multi formats for machines, plus .jpg and .pdf files, making this collection as appealing to hand stitchers as it is to machine embroidery enthusiasts! 

Note: I'm the proud owner of an autographed copy of this book. I just recently learned that it's in short supply. If you can't snag a copy online contact Rebecca directly through her Facebook page. I believe she has a few copies available.
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​As you may well know, there’s a resurgence of hand stitchery out there.  Many of us came to machine embroidery by way of a hand sewing background. Personally, I’m more machine oriented these days, but I value the time-honored techniques and the portability hand stitchery affords.
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Redwork designs are as American as apple pie. Becoming popular in the mid 1800’s, the “red” in the redwork is part of the history of this homespun look.  Research into production methods for creating the historic “Turkey red” thread could consume an afternoon but suffice it to say that in this bygone era American stitchers were happy to finally have embroidery floss that wouldn’t bleed into their fabric. Colorfast red thread allowed for embroidery motifs to be transferred onto fabric and stitched into pretty little pictures with simple outline stitching. These motifs proved to be popular for quilt blocks, tea towels, pillow covers and other common household linens.
 
In the 1870’s iron on transfers were developed. This eventually led to the availability of Penny Squares commercially produced and sold for a penny. Popular for quilt making, they were also perfect for teaching children how to handle a needle and thread. I can just imagine how much fun it was to stitch over those line drawings, seeing them come to life and turn into pretty little pictures.
 
Amazingly, we still see these in online needlework catalogs, available from online sites such as Colonial Patterns Inc., craft stores, and even in your local Walmart fabric department. somewhere in my stash I have a package of Aunt Martha's transfer designs similar to the days of the week kitties seen above. Who knows! Perhaps this summer I'll spend a few leisurely hours returning to my hand embellishment roots, relax with some hand embroidery, and wind down by stem stitching a few embroidered redwork blocks. It’s likely that I’ll add some trim finishes by machine. After all, I can’t stay away from pushing that machine embroidery start button for very long! How about you? Have you converted totally to embroidery by machine or do you still dabble in had worked techniques from time to time? I’d love to see your answers in the comments below.
13 Comments

Re-play of Sewing News Live Show With Angela Wolf, Cindy Hogan, & Joanne Banko

3/1/2019

2 Comments

 
​This bi-monthly live show is sponsored by Brother International Sewing Machine Company. It originally aired on Tuesday February 26th.

​In this 47 minute show the three of us talk sewing and share ideas designed to help you master your craft and create beautiful things in your own sewing space. You can watch the replay on my Facebook page.

UPDATE! Watch the show on YouTube by clicking on the image below:
Prior to this show I spent a lot of time thinking about a recent blog post where many of you contributed to a lively conversation about the search for sewing resources. Your participation in the survey included with the post, along with interesting and sincere comments, made this an enlightening experience. It seems we all enjoy a regular dose of solid sewing motivation and education to fuel our passion and progress in this creative endeavor.

​Prior to the show I prepared some slides designed to help Brother owners and interested parties discover fun projects, click their way through inspiring photos and blogs, and dig for answers to questions about machines and accessories. I thought perhaps the information from these slides would be helpful, so I've included most of them here, along with a few extra tidbits of information for you to explore at your leisure.

​Clicking on many of the individual photos will take you directly to the websites referenced in the show. I hope you enjoy the show and the slides. Please reach out if any of this information prompts further questions. I'm happy to help in any way I can!
Searching for sewing inspiration, ideas, and information?

 blog.brothersews.com 
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AND
brothersews.com are the perfect places to start your search!
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Let's start by talking about what you'll find on the Brother blog. Each month I post a quick tip to help you make the most of your machines. Below is an example of my the February Quick Tip. It shows how to search through the information on the blog to find projects, videos, and more! You can search using the search box, tags, or even the name of one of the Sewing Specialists who contribute to the blog. Click on the image below to learn more.
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More about the Brother blog!
Each and every month you'll find a Free embroidery design from Brother and a featured accessory or presser foot. Both the Free Design of the Month, and the Foot of the Month projects include step-by-step instructions that you can view or print for yourself.

New posts are added regularly from a variety of Brother brand ambassadors.
Now, what about the Brother website?
The main Brother website has an incredible amount of information on machines, accessories, and a wide range of products.

Did you know that there are also tons of projects and tutorials archived on the site? An easy way to sort through the menu of all that is available is to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the home page where you'll find the all important site map. Click on the image below and it will take you directly to the site map.
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Once you're there, scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Inspiration Category. this is a great place to look for projects from the past and the present. The image below shows an example of the many things you'll find in this category.
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In each category you'll find valuable information, with pages and pages of pictures and projects to scroll through. Archived Foot of the Month projects, Free Embroidery designs, ScanNCut projects, and more! See some examples below:
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I hope you'll set aside some time to explore the possibilities presented here. You'll find a wealth of information no further than your fingertips. Happy searching & happy sewing!
2 Comments
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    Author:

    Joanne Banko
    Brother Ambassador


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