It’s fun and easy to use upside down stitchery, (also known as bobbin work), to embellish tea towels, table runners, pillows, scarves, jean jackets, & more! These are all ideal projects for embellishing with bobbin work. 

Just what is bobbin work and why is this technique called upside down stitchery? Simply put, bobbin work is an embellishment technique created with thick threads and novelty yarns that would never go through the eye of a needle and are not suitable for the thread path and tension mechanism of a sewing machine. 

Feel free to leave your comments and questions below!

Interested in learning even MORE about bobbin work?

• Brother has a short, silent video showing how to insert the bobbin case here: Brother has a short, silent video showing how to insert the bobbin case here: https://bit.ly/3zLgEvr
• Check out my It's Sew Easy TV video about bobbin work  on the embroidery side of the machine when you click the following link: Machine Embroidered Bobbin Work Pashmina​

Making personalized gifts for friends is so rewarding!!! I created the featured zipper bag with the Brother Luminaire, using several special features, including the ability to create a stamp outline in embroidery edit mode, create an original design using stamp shapes & decorative fill stitches in My Design Center, and select a specific hoop area to fill with the region fill tool. If you have a machine with options like those found in My Design Center you can create a similar bag design.

​Of course, you can certainly use my basic instructions to create a bag using an embroidery design you already have in your repertoire.

This zipper bag was created for the July 21, 2022 Brother Live show, Episode 284,  broadcast on the Brother Sews USA Facebook page and the Brother Sews USA YouTube channel.

With a full lining and neatly covered zipper ends this bag is as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. Leave it flat or choose to box the corners. Either way, this bag has plenty of room for a variety of items. Finished bag measures approximately 9-inches wide at the top edge, 6.5-inches at the bottom boxed edge, and 7 -inches long from top to bottom.

Take a peek at the inside of the bag and you'll see my custom label created using the special scanning mat. You’ll find a video showing the steps when you CLICK HERE to visit my Let’s Go Sew with Joanne Banko YouTube channel. While you're there, I'd love to have you subscribe and hit the bell for notifications if you haven't already.

Enjoy this project and have fun making this for friends. Please leave your comments and questions below. Happy sewing!

​I've on a mission to tackle some unfinished projects (AKA UFO's), and move on to new shiny objects that I'm more interested in right now. Can you relate to having partially made projects stuffed away in a closet or bin? If I was dishing out advice to a new sewing enthusiast I would encourage them to follow the rule of three. That is, “try” to have no more than three projects you are working on at once. And, if you start something, and it isn't working out, and has no chance of working out, forgive yourself for starting and not finishing, then promptly get rid of it!
 
Forgive yourself you say? Yes! You see, I think sewing folks are some of the most kind hearted and generous folks in the world, but that also means we are good at piling guilt on ourselves when we perceive something is wasteful. I'm a big fan of recycling and hate to just throw things away. How to get rid of the guilt? If you can finish the item and donate it, great! Perhaps someone else will wear it or use it with joy. I remember a suit I made long ago that turned out great but just wasn't me. What was I thinking was all I could thing when I tired it on. I finished it up, promptly donated it, and always wondered who fell in love with it at the thrift shop.

Can't stand to finish up a UFO? A local thrift shop in town collects fabric scraps by the bagful. Not quite sure how they re-purpose the materials but I was told by one person that they re-cycle it, and then a clerk told me they can use it for packing material. Check your local thrift shops and ask if they take fabric remnants and scraps.
 
If I would have received and heeded the “rule of three” advice, I would not be in the predicament I am right now. I readily admit that I have way to many so called UFO's. I'm happy to say that I've been motivated to finish a few this week and finishing is a sure way to get rid of the guilt. I found three unfinished baby blankets stored away when I was doing lots for the Project Linus organization. While I did finish quite a few. My enthusiasm for the project meant that I cut more than I sewed. These UFO's have been hanging around for too long and weighed on my conscience. So, I finished then as quickly as I could and they are now ready for a new home where they can be used and loved. Thought I'd share a few photos with a description of each, with the hope of inspiring you. 

Blankie #1 is made of waffle weave cotton knit. This is the same kind of fabric that used to be common for long underwear. Somewhere in my past, I came across this pretty purplish/pink yardage. I thought it would be a soft and cozy blanket, but it did prove to be a little difficult to handle as it's very stretchy. I stabilized the embroidered area with medium weight cut-away attached with adhesive spray, and embroidered this cute applique from who knows where. Yes, that part was done many moons ago but came out quite nice. I had two identically sized pieces of the fabric all cut and layered together so I simply sewed right sides together leaving an opening, turned, pressed, and topstitched along the edge with a two step zig zag stitch. I knew the fabric would be hard to keep flat. The zigzag actually made it wave a bit on purpose and gave it a cute and durable finish, with opening closed up with the topstitching. Lining the entire piece gave the blanket extra body and covered up all the "uglies" from the backside of the embroidery.

Blankie #2 was a result of my desire to pair a cotton fabric panel with a backing cut from Minky. I remember wanting to try quilting the layers using the Brother Digital Dual Feed foot as it seemed perfect for the task. Indeed, it was! I sewed, turned, and topstitched the two pieces like I did for the previous blanket, this time, using the Dual Feed foot to control the unusual combination of fabrics. Then I quilted it, using a  3.5 straight stitch, stitching down the horizontal and vertical centers and then stitching more lines around the pre-printed blocks. The result was nice smooth Minky backing with virtually no ripples.

My third and final blankie was just a small pice of unfinished fleece. But oh my! What a cute print!  To get this one done in a flash I threaded my serger for a three thread balanced stitch and zipped all around the edge, finishing in less than five minutes! By the way, if you're looking for more fleece finishing ideas I have a Five Ways to Finish Fleece tip sheet HERE.

I'm so happy to see these finished and ready to go to a good home! I'm even happier that a friend of mine who specializes in sewing for charity will see that they are taken to a local hospital that welcomes the donations.

Hope you enjoyed reading about the blankets. Please share your UFO stories an ideas you have for getting rid of the guilt!

Coasters, coasters, and more coasters! Creating coasters with an embroidery machine is so easy and so much fun! These in-the-hoop style coasters finish up fast and make great gifts. Below, you'll see a sampling of some of my favorite coasters styles.

The stipple style coaster design shown above is available for you to download here on my site for free. I originally offered these as a bonus to coordinate with It's Sew Easy TV show 1506-2. You'll find them in different sizes and shapes, with the smallest one sized to fit a 4-inch embroidery hoop.

On show 1506-2, I created coasters with silk dupioni, metallic thread, and included a sheer organza gift bag. You can watch this episode HERE on my YouTube channel.

Visit the Let's Go Sew with Joanne Banko YouTube channel and you'll see two additional coordinating videos showing detailed steps to create in-the-hoop coasters using built-in frame shapes on Brother machines. Basic steps and supplies for creating all the coasters shown here are pretty similar. Watch the two videos and you can confidently create any of these coaster styles.

​Link to video #1: Create Custom Coasters using Brother Built-in Frame Shapes

Link to video #2: Extra Tips for Re-sizing Appliqué and conserving Fabric

Let's me outline general supplies you'll need and the steps to create:

• Select fabric & batting. Quilting cottons, fancy fabrics like silk dupioni, and even ordinary craft felt will work. My preferred method is to cut coaster fabric to fit required hoop size and add a layer of cotton batting or fusible craft fleece, hooping the fabric and fleece together for the top side of the coaster. If you're creating a coaster using my method for adding an appliqué, you'll need contrasting fabric pieces, cut slightly larger than your appliqué shape.  Steps for adding an appliqué shape are  detailed in the video. I prefer to back my appliqué fabric with fusible web such as the Exquisite FuseMe fusible webbing by DiME. Once the coaster is all finished I give it a good press and my appliqué piece is throughly bonded to the coaster.
• Select fabric for backing the coaster. I prefer to use the same fabric on the back as I did for the top part of the coaster. Back pieces need to be cut to meet in the middle if you want to add a water resistant filler to your coaster, but they can be cut larger to overlap at the back if you wish. Felt can be cut single layer but woven fabric needs to be cut on a fold. The video shows how to create a custom pattern to determine size for back coaster pieces. Be sure to securely tape pieces in place to avoid shifting during embroidery. I used ordinary Scotch® Magic™ Tape and stitched right through the tape.
• ​Decorative frame shapes and lettering can easily be added to your coasters. Just remember, you'll want to stitch decorative frame patterns before adding the back pieces. In addition, for stipple fill coasters you'll add the monogram after the stippling is done on top, but before the backing is added to finish the coaster.
• Insert a piece of vinyl shelf liner or cork to make your coaster water resistant.

Follow the steps shown on the video to create custom coasters you'll be proud to use or give as gifts! Feel free to leave your comments or questions below!