Inspirations in Machine Embroidery

Sometimes, we need more than just an idea to inspire us in our creativity. Last week, I was perusing one of my favorite Machine Embroidery Magazines: Stitches, and one of the articles regarding small businesses interested me enough to visit the website. What an amazing inspirational site. For about an hour I oohed and aahed over techniques and the beautiful pictures of some of the most loveliest cushions that I have ever seen. LOL, have I got your attention. Those who know me, know well that I am a sucker for cushions. My dh always rolls his eyes when I mention the word cushion. Michael Savoia of Villa Savoia has some of the most beautiful interior ideas and how he has interpreted them onto fabric is amazing. Not only is he a designer but also a digitizer! A visit to his website inspired me so much that I had to stop everything else that I was doing and create something just for myself. Yup, you guessed it! Another cushion cover.

Something Blue collection is a cutwork collection but it has several designs which can be used just for embroidery. As much as I had envisioned the collection to be the shades of blue used together in the stitch outs of the designs, I was inspired by Michael’s visions to use a completely different palette. Using a very light gold metallic as the main color and light baby blue as the underlying color, I stitched out a 20″x20″ cushion cover using three different designs from the collection. My initial thought was to find dark navy velvet, but as I was not successful I opted for a layer of two different shades of blue to achieve the look. The first fabric is a navy satin topped with a navy georgette. I have not as yet finished the cushion cover as I have not been able to find the perfect trimmings. What I envision is not going to be found so instead I’m making the trimmings and hope to show the finished product once it is finished. There were a lot of hoopings involved in the creation and not a single template was used.

Some years ago, I discovered the basting box in our machines and in various softwares to be the perfect guide when multi-hooping. The technique can be seen in several of my collections. This involves absolutely no brain storming or mathematics or printing of templates. When I first started multi-hooping, way back in the days of the Deco 600, I did use the paper templates but always found that I had to nudge slightly to have a perfect match. The reason being that paper is a stable object whereas fabric moves.  With my basting box or shape technique, there is absolutely full guarantee of perfect multi-hooping. Yes, I did use the PR to stitch out the designs using my method of only hooping the stabiizer and pinning the fabric to it. No puckers, no stretch marks, just smooth embroidery. I do intend to use a lot of beads and self created trimmings to finish the cushion cover.

I found my inspiration at Villa Savoia and hope the site will also inspire you. Not only is the site inspiring in creativity but also is a great inspiration for anyone wishing to start a one of a kind business. Several years ago, one of my friends emailed me some of the most beautiful home furnishings that she had created using my designs. She has a business of interior designing a full package, for example: dining room set up includes not just the table, chairs and other furniture but also the complet set of embroidered table cloth, the napkins the chair backs, the runners etc etc. Great idea, don’t you think. My suggestion to friends, find inspiration, its all around us.