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    In-the-hoop: Wallet with a snap

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 3 comments, 5,096 views
    Original text by Marina Belova 
    My satisfactory experiment of making a passport holder inspired me to try and create an item of a similar type — a wallet for various small things, like credit cards and discount cards. For it is so simple to make something without extra effort using this method — of course, I that does not include creating a design. What is especially good is that all the seams are located inside and nothing sticks out, so the item looks very neat. 
    Here is the resulting wallet with a snap: 

    And this photo shows it from the inside: 

    The design was very simple — running stitches and satin stitches + a row of stops for positioning and sewing the parts together: 

    I chose the plainest fabric for the right side, linen for the lining and calico with a bright flower pattern for the inside. Before starting I cut out all of the embroidery parts from these fabrics: 

    Two of them — the pocket and the divider — I folded in half with the right side facing upward: 

    Now I could start the embroidery. As usual, I hoop the stabilizer only: 

    Embroider an outline: 

    Then I take a piece of fabric prepared for the right side of my wallet (linen) and stick it onto the stabilizer: 

    I should point out that Gunold temporary spray adhesive leaves non-erasable stains on linen, so you should use it with care. 
    After I have positioned my fabric, I additionally secure it with a basting stitch along the edges, and only then embroider a small design, which is a stylized flower: 

    Now it's time for the placement of the divider and the pocket. I position the details in accordance with the embroidered horizontal marks, which are located on the vertical side. First, I need to position the pocket (it is made of the same fabric as the right side of the wallet), adjusting the fold to the lowest mark. Thus, the level at which the pocket is situated will be lower than the divider: 

    Then I place a divider matching the fold with the upper mark: 

    After that, I attach the fabric to the stabilizer with a paper adhesive so that they don't shift during the embroidery: 

    I start the machine and sew the parts together: 

    Now I take a piece of fabric for the lining and place it with its wrong side up over the parts that are already sewn together: 

    Then I stitch the parts of the item together, save for the one small opening below for turning it right way round: 

    Now I can unhoop the whole thing and, having turned it out, trim the extra fabric along the perimeter in accordance with the outline: 

    I didn't remove the stabilizer, but instead kept it for the item to maintain its shape. 

    I regret that I didn't have a casing wheel — it is very handy for cutting such items. 
    Now I turn the item the wrong side facing upward. So that the right side is yet on the inside and the lining is on the outside. 

    But now I need to sew up the opening: 

    I sew it up manually: 

    And after that I turn the item the right way round and iron: 


    All that is left is to attach the snap. I used an ordinary one with a smooth upper surface. 
    This is all, in a nutshell. 

    Handmade patchwork box from a chocolate box

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 1 comment, 3,839 views
    Original text by the Elfort company (Irina Seden, Rita Yermakova) and Broidery.ru portal 
    If you have an empty chocolate box of a peculiar shape, don't hurry to get rid of it! Use your imagination and give the box a new lease of life... Pieces of bright fabric, a sewing machine, some spare time and such a seemingly unnecessary thing will become original and significant. You'll get a creative handmade patchwork box for storing your jewelry or embroidery minutiae out of a plain chocolate box. 
    A handmade patchwork pillow: Materials 
    Janome 3160 sewing machine  Leftover pieces of colorful fabric  Cut-away stabilizer Chocolate box  Temporary spray adhesive  Measuring tape, scissors  A handmade patchwork pillow: Assembling process 




    Create the pattern (trace the box onto the fabric), not forgetting the seam allowance. Cut out the strips of fabric 6 cm wide. Tack them. Iron them out. Decide in what order you will sew the prepared strips of fabric. Sew the strips together a chaotic fashion. 




    Stick the stabilizer to the wrong side of your prepared fabric. Select one of the decorative stitches from your machine's memory. Place the stitch where the pieces of fabric are tacked. 




    After having stitched all the decorative stitches place the pattern onto your patchwork. Trim it (don't forget to leave some for seam allowance again!) Sew up the corners (you'll get a jacket for your box). 
    Put the jacket onto the box and with the help of textile glue attach the turn-ups to the inner sides of the box. You can neatly sew on the fabric in the corners. The upper part of the box is ready, now cover the lower part of the box in the same way. You'll get a wonderful box for your fancy work. 




    Or do it the other way. Cover the lid of the box with your patchwork. Secure the corners with pins. Trim all the extra material. Take the box out. Sew up the corners (you'll get a jacket for your box). Put the box into this jacket. Fold the hem over to the inside. Mark the length of the hem and trim the extra fabric. Glue the fabric. 


    It's done!

    Pattern Maker for Cross Stitch

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 2 comments, 7,020 views
    Original text by Larisa Krapivina 
    Broidery.ru magazine 

    The windows of the shops that sell embroidery paraphernalia are full of Cross Stitch charts, which spare the embroiderer the laborious task of tracing the images onto the fabric and planning the design. Nevertheless, there are people who love their work so much that they prefer creating their own unique charts to embroidering the ready designs. For those who engage in this extreme sport, software was created specifically for the purpose of converting the images into designs. At the beginning, this software was aimed at those loving manual labor, but as the machine embroidery became more popular, almost every embroidery software manufacturer added a Cross Stitch module for the cross stitch embroidery. 
    These days there are lots of software products for creating cross stitch designs, able to save the project in a file format recognized by the embroidery machine. When choosing the software for cross stitch I rely on the user-friendliness and also the product's capabilities. One of the products I've chosen was the Pattern Maker. In our next issues, we'll go into the details of the design creation process, learn all the nuances of image processing and particularities of embroidering cross stitch designs on the embroidery machine. Before we delve into the subject, let's learn a bit about the software features. 
    LEVELS 
    Pattern Maker comes in two versions: Standard and Professional. The standard version has a limited number of capabilities compared to the professional one and is intended for home users. The professional one has a full range of the designed capabilities. We'll examine the Professional version in our lessons. 
    MAIN CAPABILITIES 

    Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
    Theater begins at the cloakroom, and the software begins with the interface. The user-friendly interface — this is what ensures the usability.
    The software developers who created Pattern Maker paid much attention to the interface, so we got a visually pleasing and intuitive application as the result. The software has seven main types of stitches and the whole lot of specific stitches (73 types). 
    If you haven't found the one you need, you may create your own stitch and save it under the unique name. 
    The main advantage of the software is that it is capable of saving the designs in the formats recognized by the embroidery machines. This software can save designs in the following formats: PES, HUS, PCS, EMD, JEF, SEW, CSD, XXX, DST, EXP. Only seven main types of stitches can be saved in machine embroidery formats.

    Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
    Besides the possibility of saving the file in different formats, Pattern Maker knows how to split a created design into several pieces in case the size of the design exceeds the given size of the hoop, and save them under different names. 
    There are 240 colors used in design creating; color charts from various brands, are included for the convenience. Among the well-known brands you will find the names of companies manufacturing threads specifically for machine embroidery. If you are not satisfied with given colors, you can make alterations or create your own. 

    Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
    The maximum size of a design is limited by 999 crosses on both vertical and horizontal sides. You can create and change the designs by mouse clicking, which is something that even beginners are accustomed to. 
    The software allows for merging different projects, which means that you can join different designs in one file. 
    You can create a design out of your head or use a ready image. The software recognizes vector and bitmap image formats. Designs are created under the care of the watchful Load Master that guides you during image conversion. If you possess a ready photo and some knowledge about the software capabilities, you can please yourself or your friend with a machine embroidered photo. 
    Having created the design, you can decorate it with an inscription. The software has 50 inbuilt fonts. The only disadvantage is that these inbuilt character sets allow for adding English-texts only. Nevertheless, if you know how to use the software, you can create your own character sets. 
    One of the software advantages is a possibility of creating a supplementary sheet containing all the necessary data (like the size or the number of colors), in a quick and easy way. 
    Among the useful features in the software, one should point out the OLE technology, which was created by Microsoft Inc. for object implementation and linking. Thanks to it, a design created in Pattern Maker can be imported into a Word Pad file. 

    I hope that this short guide will kindle your desire to know more about the software so that we could learn about it in details. 

    Double-sided applique

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 5,326 views
    Original text by Svetlana Yakunina 
    Double-sided applique technique allows you to make a napkin without sewing and decorate it in such a way that not only the right side but also the wrong side will look neat. In this master-class by Svetlana Yakunina, you will find tips and the step-by-step making of double-sided applique. 
    Materials: 
    Water-soluble stabilizer  Fabric (the one that suits your taste)  Temporary spray adhesive  Machine embroidery design (download from our shop)  1. Hoop the water-soluble stabilizer, which will allow you to add beautiful edges to the napkin. 

    2. Insert the hoop into the machine embroider the outline without the fabric — all of the machines are created in such a way that they could make a stop for placing the fabric and trimming the extra pieces. 

    3. Cut out a fabric the size of the napkin and spray it with temporary spray adhesive. Only a small amount of adhesive should be used, otherwise, it will stick to the needle and make it unsuitable for embroidery. Sprinkle it over the fabric, directing the squirt so that it is distributed equally.

    4. Then leave it for a minute or so for better fastening. 

    5. Put the fabric on top of the stabilizer, smooth it down by hand and start the embroidery. Again, after having embroidered the outline, the machine will make a stop. 


    6. Now I should trim the extra fabric along the outline, pulling it out a bit and cutting close to the stitching. 

    7. After completing the embroidery, the machine will stop once more, and I take the hoop off and turn the embroidery the wrong side up. I spray it, too, and stick to the hoop on the wrong side. 

    8. After having embroidered the outline, take the hoop off and trim the extra fabric along the outline on the wrong side. Finish the embroidery, remove the stabilizer and tear it away along the edges. Remove the stabilizer leftovers from the edges with the help of the wet brush (it will solve). 


    Meet your embroidery machine

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 1 comment, 4,014 views
    Original text by Yelena Kraftwork 
    Broidery.ru magazine 
    What is the key part of machine embroidery? If you eliminate the human factor, the first thing that springs to mind is the embroidery machine. It's only after having purchased the equipment that we immerse ourselves into the interesting world of modern technology and machine embroidery. 

    Some people choose their first embroidery machine on the spot, whilst others approach it competently, having first figured out what all the terms mean. In any case, a mechanical computer device, carefully wrapped in a factory package, lands on your table. 
    Let's first try and get familiar not with certain models, but with their classification on the whole. Maybe, after having made the head or tail of the main machine embroidery products on the market, it will be easier for us to decide in favor of one or other manufacturer. 
    Machine embroidery equipment can be classified as follows: home, half-commercial and commercial. 
    HOME EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
    These machines may make your pastime better and are helpful in decorating garments. The presence of hoops and a possibility of embroidering designs without using manual labor make them attractive for a wide circle of users. 
    Hoops are an important feature of these machines. Not so long ago 130x180 mm hoop was something to be envied; nowadays 180x300 embroidery area barely satisfies the needs of an embroiderer. 
    Home machine embroidery equipment may be divided into two types: sewing and embroidery machines and just embroidery ones. As you can judge from the name, the main difference is that sewing and embroidery machines have sewing functions as an additional advantage. And if you want to kill two birds with one stone, this type is exactly what you need. A wonderful hybrid of the sewing machine and the embroidery machine well be at your service. 
    Time of non-stop run in home embroidery machines is limited, and if you are going to embroider from morning till night, attending to large orders from your clients, you should set your eyes on the next class of embroidery equipment. 

    SEMI-COMMERCIAL EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
    The balance between price and quality! The queen of small business — a semi-commercial single-head embroidery machine! Ateliers and small enterprises which need the embroiderer's services from time to time are the main users of this class of machines. Higher automation in comparison with home embroidery equipment will spare you the need of constant control over the embroidery process. 
    Besides the mentioned pros of this class of machines, their attractiveness is justified by the embroidery speed and the possibility of adding supplementary devices, which will take the machine a step higher toward the commercial equipment: the cording device, sequin device, boring device, etc. Purchasing a tubular hoop will allow you to embroider on caps, socks and sleeves. 
    I want to point out that the manufacturers of embroidery equipment tend to furnish semi-commercial machines with as many possibilities as possible, so the boundary between the commercial and the semi-commercial is blurred more and more, making the time of non-stop run and the size of embroidery area, which in the semi-commercial embroidery machines is much smaller, two major differences. 

    COMMERCIAL EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
    Commercial embroidery machines may be of a single-head or multi-head variety. They also may be divided into two types: single-purpose and all-purpose ones. Single-purpose machines usually perform only one operation. Chain stitch mechanisms, which are used for performing chain stitches and schiffli machines, used mainly for mass-production of lace, fall into this category. 
    Machines that perform a whole variety of operations are the part of the all-purpose equipment. As with semi-commercial machines, you can buy additional devices that allow cording, sequining etc. 
    The main advantages of the commercial embroidery machines are reliability, the possibility of working in two shifts with a short stop for technical maintenance, and the large size of the embroidery area. 

    Choosing this type of embroidery equipment, make absolutely sure that this "workhorse" will not be idling in your workshop. 
    ***
    As you see, the classification of machine embroidery equipment is easy to understand. And, as any classification, is artificial. 
    Today's embroidery market offers a wide variety of machines of different brands. We will return to the subject of making a decision about embroidery equipment and attempt to give a detailed review of the pros and cons of particular brands. 
     

    Loading designs into the embroidery machine

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 3,227 views
    Original text by Lisa Prass 
    All of a sudden I was struck with an idea of writing about loading the designs into the embroidery machine. Mainly because the second-hand equipment market in Russia becomes bigger every year. Users, having played with home embroidery machines to their hearts content, now move to the more sound equipment, leaving their previous ones to somebody else. And in doing that, people tend to forget a supplementary loading device and are stuck with it as the result. 
    If you are going to buy an embroidery machine, inquire into the method of loading of the designs into it. This is an important question, the answer to which will allow you to understand whether you'll be able to load the designs into your machine, or will it become an ordinary sewing machine without the possibility of embroidering. As of today, there are several methods of loading the designs into home embroidery or sewing and embroidery machine. 
    Direct connection to the PC 
    If you buy the equipment capable of it, ask for a cable and don't forget to inquire if there is any software for it. If there is software, but the seller does not have it, hold your horses. Inquire if there is free software for it, and if not, whether it can be purchased. 
    If you fail to buy the software for loading designs, your embroidery machine will turn into a pumpkin. 
    3.5 floppy disc 
    A relic from the past. It can hardly be encountered nowadays. Usually, machines of that loading type can be connected directly to the computer, so you can forget about the role of the floppy in all this. In our days, a 3.5 floppy disc is the least reliable loading device. 

    USB Flash 
    Handy and easy to use. A rather popular way of loading designs into the machine. When buying an embroidery machine ask the previous owners if they could give you their own USB Flash — perhaps, it is small. This will allow for the machine to read the information more quickly. It's hard to find a USB Flash of a small capacity, they are usually large one nowadays, and it slows the loading process. I checked it on my Janome MB-4. 

    Сompact flash 
    The machines of this loading type are no less popular than the ones with USB, and are as good as the latter, because of their availability. Same recommendations: the smaller the size, the quicker the designs will be loaded into the machine. 

    ATA PC Cards 
    It's become harder to find a device like that nowadays, but it is still possible. So, if you are going to buy a machine of this loading type, don't neglect to inquire if you will be able to buy it separately in case it is not included. 

    Card Reader/Writer 
    Don't buy it without the loading device and the software! It's almost impossible to find one in Russia. You can often spot the sale offers in online shops, but it always turns out that the seller has never laid his eyes on such a thing. Without it, your machine will not be able to embroider! The device should necessarily be equipped with a special card and the software. If you don't have the card and the software for it, don't even hope to buy it separately. Remember that any other card won't fit. The card and the software will cost you about $500-600. 

    When purchasing an embroidery machine, make sure that you will be able to load the designs into it, and then complete the transaction! 

    In-the-Hoop: Hot pad with a CD inside

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 2,874 views
    Original text by Marina Belova 
    I've long wanted to create an embroidered pad for a hot tea bowl using an old CD as a basis. Now, at last, I've made it, utilizing the double-sided applique technique. The right side of the pad is full of stitches, like an expensive fully stitched chevron. 

    The back side is applique. I would need something inside to hold my CD in place. I used a leftover piece of the first available sole-colored fabric — the two-thread — though now I think that I should have used a more lively color. 

    The thing is very easy in making — all you need to do is to define the size of your design, making the allowance for the embroidery to envelop the CD. This is necessary for the CD not to get into the finishing stitch border. The rest is the same as in ordinary double-sided applique. 
    So, the CD is 12 cm in diameter. And the alien face is 13,3 cm in diameter. Below is the preview of the machine embroidery design for this pad: 

    I decided to use two layers of organza for the embroidery, which I hooped together with a perforated stabilizer that tears easily: 

    I have prepared an old CD for the filling: 

    Then I have almost the entire design embroidered: 

    After that, I take the hoop off the machine, turn it the wrong side up, pick up the CD and stick it there with an ordinary glue pencil, trying to center it on the embroidery: 

    I stick the fabric for the back side of my applique on top of it: 

    Then I carefully insert the hoop back into the machine so that to not shift anything on the wrong side and stitch a zig-zag stitch to secure this "layer-cake". This is how is looks on the wrong side, after I've taken the hoop off the machine again: 

    Now only a few things are left — to trim the extra fabric along the zig-zag stitch: 

    And tear away the stabilizer: 

    Then I change the color of bobbin thread from ordinary white to the one that matches my future border: 

    I put the hoop back into the machine and finish my embroidery: 

    This is practically all. After that I trimmed the organza along the edges and singed the leftover fibers with a lighter. 
    Of course, there were several mistakes in my design and during the embroidery process, but they were easily corrected on the fly, and the result is sufficiently good, considering that this is my first try. But I would do the following: 
    I'd increase the width of the decorative border. This is necessary for avoiding any problems with trimming of the fabric used for the applique or tearing away of the stabilizer so that the item would look neat and beautiful.  I'd also use another, more durable stabilizer.  And I'd choose better colors if I had such a possibility now. 

    Creating texture with thread cuttings

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 1 comment, 3,544 views
    Original text by Marina Belova 
    Once in the Stitch and Print magazine, I saw the photos depicting and interesting way of creating an unusual embroidery surface — thread cuttings are placed on the fabric and then covered with Tatami fill of a very low density, to hold them in place, and after than a design is embroidered over it. Now I've got to try it, at last. Unfortunately, there was no guide in the magazine. Therefore, I decided to reinvent the wheel on my own. 
    Here is what I got as the result: 

    This technique can be used for imitating water, sky or grass. You never know. Only I doubt that you can decorate clothes in such a way, for it is unlikely that this technique can endure repeated washing. 
    In order to create this fish I digitized the design: the blue stain behind the fish is where the thread cuttings were to be attached to the fabric: 

    The fill was nothing unusual — density value was 3 mm and stitch length was 3.5 mm. 
    Then I wound old threads on a piece of cardboard, thought it would be more convenient to use knitting threads, but I didn't have any in my cottage, therefore, a piece of cardboard would do. I used 2 colors because it seemed to me that it would be better that way: 

    Then I cut the threads on one side: 

    And got this beautiful tufty heap: 

    Then I started embroidery: I hooped the fabric and the stabilizer and loaded the design. The outline was embroidered first, showing me where to put the threads: 

    Now I could create my background. At first, I just laid the threads onto it: 

    But short after I began the embroidery, I understood that it wouldn't do: the foot shifted the threads, they pushed through the hole in it and got tangled. So it was downright pandemonium and not the embroidery: 

    So I had to spray the thread cuttings with the temporary spray adhesive and also put a water-soluble film on top; after that everything became much better: 

    Here it is with the fill securing the threads already embroidered: 

    Then I embroidered the rest of the design: 

    I solved the water-soluble film and ironed the ready item. 
    It is as easy as it looks. And what's most important, this method can be used with any design if you wish to do so. One last thing: you can use knitting threads instead of embroidery ones, or several threads of varying thickness, color, shine, and texture, then the resulting effect will look more interesting. 
    P.S. Only now a thought popped into my head: if you embroider fractal or stipple fill instead of Tatami and use multicolored threads, the effect will be even better. 

    Embroidering an Easter egg holder

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 2,839 views
    Original text by Marina Belova 
    I've been long been using Criswell catalogs as the source of ideas for machine embroidery. Criswell is a rather well-known website, where you can buy ready machine embroidery designs, mostly the FSL ones. Or, if not buy, then, at least, look at them to adopt new techniques. 
    So, in these catalogs, there are wonderful holders for Easter eggs and Christmas balls. There is too late now for Christmas balls, perhaps — we'll leave it for the future. But it's about time for Easter. To cut a long story short, I decided to make something similar, not in the FSL technique so as not to spend a lot of time, but something simpler on organza, which is a lot easier in terms of design creation. 
    What I got as a result was this egg suspender, which can be used as a present: 

    The design is based on simple rules of geometry and is completely unpretentious. At first, I thought that I would need a particular pattern for the holder that involved development drawing of an egg, but then I tried to do without it. After all, the areas between the sections are sufficiently large for the embroidery to mold to the shape of a three-dimensional object. The size, of course, was changed in accordance with the size of my egg. Here is my sketch drawing for the future design: 

    I created a design for it: 

    The rest was easy — I hooped only the organza and made sure it was drum tight. 

    After that, I embroidered the entire design: 

    We've how come to the most boring step — trimming the organza along the perimeter of the embroidery. If I was embroidering lace on water soluble stabilizer (as in the original pattern), it would have fallen off of its own accord. But with a little patience I managed to do it: 

    Then I cut the holes at the ends of columns so as to insert ribbons in them, singed the organza fibers with a lighter and sewed up the resulting ribbon manually in two places. This, literally, took several stitches. Then I cut away 2 small pieces of ribbon and passed them through the eyelets, top and bottom. I tied the bottom ribbon in a bow. 

    After the it has been tied I put an egg into the holder and tie the upper ribbon as well. You can use a bow again and get something like this: 

    Or do without bows at all, if you like: You can hang them on a now popular Easter tree, making an ordinary loop out of the upper ribbon. You can additionally decorate your embroidery with beads or other things. The result will look rather interesting. 
    As usual, everything is very simple. A number of sections with eyelets may be increased (I have 5, but it is enough for me). But the most important thing that I noticed while choosing the image and creating the design was an understanding that the design should be very simple because of the small embroidery area. 

    In-the-hoop: Towel topper

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 4,624 views
    Original text by Marina Belova 
    Yesterday I suddenly arrived at the idea that it was impossible to make the eyelets for all the towels in the house. Yet I'd like my towels to hang, even on the hooks that are poorly adapted for use, and don't drop down. So I searched the Embroidery Library and found this method. The idea is so simple that it is ingenious — to embroider a towel topper specifically for the purpose: it is the thing that can hold your towels. 
    My first sample, a test piece, turned out to be not so good-looking, but a functional one: 

    For I decided not to overcomplicate things and not to pay extra attention to the design, as I now have little time for embroidery. The design, as usual, is a series of stops and color changes, for it is a double-faced applique, so it looks like that: 

    Now it is time to embroider. I hoop the tear-away stabilizer: 

    Insert the hoop into my machine and stitch the outline for positioning of the fabric: 

    I put the fabric next, having sprayed it with temporary spray adhesive prior to that: 

    I start the machine and embroider the second stitch — a zig-zag one, which I'll later use as a guideline for trimming of the applique on the right side of the embroidery: 

    After that I can take the hoop off the machine and trim all of the extra fabric:
     
    You can also embroider everything you want on the right side and cut the fabric later, before attending to the wrong side of the embroidery: in that way you'll have less work to do. This is extremely important as I cannot get used to the way the hoop is attached to my home embroidery machine. 
    After that I embroider a simple design with the pig's snout: 

    Now it's time to take the hoop off again, turn it the wrong side up and attach an eyelet to the top of the pig's head using an adhesive tape. Like that: 

    I made an eyelet out of an ordinary elastic, for I had nothing else. But after having used the result for a while I arrived at the conclusion that a non-stretchy woven ribbon would be better for an eyelet. 
    Then I attached the fabric I'd prepared for the back side of my pig to the wrong side of embroidery: 

    And put the hoop back into the machine. I added one more elastic across the pig's belly with an adhesive tape, having stretched it slightly: 

    I start the machine and sew all these layers with a zig-zag stitch, along which I later trim the elastic on the right side of the embroidery: 

    I also trim the leftover pieces of fabric on the wrong side: 

    All that is left is to embroider the finishing satin stitch border. Before resuming the embroidery, change an ordinary bobbin thread so that it is the same color as the upper thread: 

    Embroider the finishing border: 

    Detach the embroidery from the stabilizer: 


    Then remove jump stitches, singe the fibers of the stabilizer, and everything is ready. You can use it now. I rotated the elastic across the pig's belly so that it was on it's back. Though you could insert towels at the front side, too. 

    The back side: 

    Summary may be as follows: 
    It's better to use non-stretchy materials for eyelets and tower toppers, such as woven ribbons or similar things.  The elastic is better to be located on the wrong side.  In order for the fabric to maintain its shape, it is advisable to secure it with the fusible interfacing used in sewing. Or just pick the thicker stabilizer.  The size of my embroidery was 12,5х13,5 cm. But you can reduce it to 10х10, and it will look better.  You can choose from a huge variety of designs, including the ones with names, which will come quite handy in a large family.  My machine struggled over so many layers of fabric + elastics. As for commercial embroidery machines, I've never noticed any such troubles on them. 

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