Recently I've borrowed an embroidery machine and been having loads of fun seeing what it can do. So far I've used the designs that it came with but you can also make your own. I might try that if there's time before I give it back but for now I'm happy picking from the selection it has built in.
I've totally ignored the thread colour suggestions though and just used whatever I like which is a small way of making the designs more individual to me I suppose. All of the threads I've used are Madeira Rayon or Metallic, I love how they look when they're stitched really densely. The glitzy metallics are the ones I'm instantly drawn to but I'm trying to use a mixture so that there are different textures and it's not all sparkle!
In theory you could set the machine up to stitch while you go off and do something else, which would be fantastically productive. So far however, the novelty of the machine is fresh and I find it totally mesmerising and end up watching it!
It's handy being nearby though for the small designs, this little one in particular had 10 different colours involved so there was a lot of changing thread to be done.
Hopefully I'll build up a little pile of embroidered fabrics which I can dip into and use for future projects. It's quite addictive so I expect I'll try to incorporate a bit of embroidery in lots of projects now while I have use of the machine!
