I love embroidered bed linens. They are such a treat to slide between as you end a long day. Here are some tips for stitching gorgeous machine embroidery designs on sheets.
Tips for Success
• Take the time to prepare the design and the sheets. It’s well worth the effort.
• Purchase an extra pillowcase to test the design before stitching on the sheets.
• Open the band before embroidering to hide the wrong side of the embroidery.
• My stabilizer of choice for sheets is fusible polymesh cut-away stabilizer with a layer of tear-away floating under the hoop. Fine linens are a tight weave and benefit from a strong foundation for the embroidery.
• Insert a new, sharp needle.
• Consider adding a single-letter monogram to the center of the band. Then stitch from the center to the edge on each side.
• Allow some space at each end of the border for some breathing room (aka – room for error).
Here’s a case for prewashing the sheets. Normally, I don’t prewash blanks but sheets really benefit from this prep step. It eliminates the unwanted puckers that often appear after laundering embroidered linens.
Measure the band – from folded edge to stitch line and from selvedge to selvedge. If the band measures 4” (a common size), select a design that is 3” in height so that there will be ½” open space on each side of the design. Once you select a machine embroidery design that is 3” tall, make a note of its length. My design is 3” x 5” and my queen top sheet measures 90” from selvedge to selvedge. I’ll divide 90” by 5”. I’ll need 18 repeats to fill the band.
Hmm…90” is perfectly divided by 5 into 18 repeats. Frankly, that scares me because I’ll have to be absolutely perfect on placement for each of the 18 designs. So I’ll take a little artistic license here and set myself up for success by planning on stitching only 17 repeats. Not only will this relieve some stress, it will probably look more pleasing because the center of a design will be dead center on the band and not the join of two designs. Definitely more desirable in my opinion.
Not that I know how many repeats I’ll need, I will take a seam ripper to the band and release the hem. I know, reverse sewing but it’s so worth it. Next, it’s time to carefully press the band but I will leave the crease of the fold in place because it’s a built-in guideline for squaring the band (sheet) in the hoop.
Cut the fusible polymesh stabilizer into 4” strips and press it to the wrong side of the band.
Fold the sheet in half, selvedge to selvedge to find the center and place a target sticker to mark the center.
Print two templates of the design. Place one template on the target sticker. Make sure the template’s crosshair is aligned with the target sticker’s crosshair. Use a ruler to verify the design is flanked by ½” on each side (from fold crease to hemline).
Select a hoop that will accommodate the design – one or two repeats. Hoop the band with tear-away stabilizer. Center the needle over the target sticker and embroider the design. Place the template on the band, connecting the image to the stitched design. Move the needle to the template’s crosshair. Remove the template and embroider the design.
When it’s time to rehoop, use the template and folded crease to square the sheet in the hoop and continue to fill the band with embroidery.
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99 COMMENTS
Jacque
11 years ago9 hearts
Beverly Owen
11 years ago11 hearts
Cheryl
11 years agoI see 8 hearts.
Tanya Flannery
11 years ago10
Jacque`
11 years agoI counted 12 hearts.
Myrna King
11 years agoI see 8 hearts.
Angelica Bustos
11 years agoI see 12 Hearts
Glenda
10 years agoI only found 3. I guess I better make an eye exam appt.
Vickie
11 years ago12 hearts
Lorraine
11 years ago7 hearts 🙂
Donna Street
11 years agoI believe I found eleven…beautiful scene by the way.
Bonnie Griffith
11 years agoI count 12 lovely hearts.
Kathy Heath
11 years ago13 hearts
Anne Marie Reilly
11 years agoI think it is 20. Beautiful picture.
Glenna Allenberg
11 years ago10 hearts
Mitzi
11 years agoI see 7 – it depends on how abstract you want to look
Vona Thompson
11 years ago7 hearts…I would love to have a copy to hang in my sewing room.
Betty
11 years ago11 is what I see
Shelly
11 years agoI can only find 6
cherie laswell
11 years agoI have found 5
Sandi Cunningham
11 years agoI see 7 lovely hearts!
Sandi Cunningham
11 years agoI feel badly that I can’t find the other hearts where folks are saying 10, etc. I’ve stared and stared so someone better show us where they all are when this is done!
Avril Harvey
11 years agoi found 13 hearts
Sheryl Matthews
11 years agoI see 11 hearts. Very pretty.
Sandy Seitz
11 years agoI found 10 hearts.
Enis
11 years agoI only see 7.
Laurie Sieg
11 years agoI see 11. Beautiful picture too.
Jennifer P
11 years agoI must be blind ‘cuz I see only 5.
Carolyn H
11 years agoThere are 7 hearts.
Kimeran
11 years agoTwelve
Jo of So TX
11 years agoI think I found 20
Mary Haggenmaker
11 years agoI’ve looked and looked and the best these poor old eyeballs can come up with is 9.
Kay Bovim
11 years agoI can see 7.
susan patrick
11 years agoThere are 11
Sherrie Lilly
11 years agoMy old eyes see 7.
Frances Powell
11 years agoI found 8 hearts. I also found some areas that looked like they were partial hearts.
judit z
11 years agoCounted 7 juditz
Garilyn
11 years agoI’m going with 8.
Kathy e.
11 years agoI found 27 beautiful hearts.
Elaine
11 years agoI see 8 that I can definitely say are hearts.
Jean Boothe
11 years agoI found 7 hearts.
Sandra
11 years agoI see eleven hearts,
Casie Williams
11 years agoI see seven — that’s what I get for being concrete instead of abstract. 😀
Renata
11 years agoI counted eight!
Coleen Bunner
11 years agoI can only find 10
Gail Beam
11 years agoI think I see 8.
Becky3580
11 years agoI can easily see 12 but there might be more.
Thanks for a good blog with helpful information.
Barbara Giamportone
11 years agoI spy 7 hearts. What a beautiful vista. Very challenging tho.
Cheryl
11 years agoI see 8 hearts
CY
11 years agoI see 6 hearts.
Judy G
11 years agoTen
Sharon O
11 years agoI found 10.
Beth R
11 years agoI see 7.
Linda Epting
11 years ago7 hearts
Kathy Matchett
11 years agoI found 8 hearts
susan b
11 years agoI see 13 hearts
Kathy
11 years agoI see 7.
Debbie
11 years agoI found 5 hearts
Mary Jessie Lowe
11 years agoI found 8
Anne
11 years agoI found 12
Phyllis
11 years agoI found 13, there may be more but that is what I can find.
Glenda
11 years agoSeven hearts.
Mary Ann
11 years agoI see 7 hearts. I’d love to see where all of them are at the end.
Fonda
11 years agoI see 7..
cynthia
11 years ago10 hearts
Jacque`
11 years agoI count 12 hearts.
Diane S.
11 years agoI see 10 hearts.
Jackie Ames
11 years agoI see 16
Deborah
11 years agoI think I see 11 hearts… please show us the correct number in the end.
Sharon Brockhouse
11 years ago11 hearts
Kris Jacobson
11 years agoI only saw 10 hearts
Mary G.
11 years agoBeautiful picture – I counted 11 hearts.
Margaret
11 years agoI see 10 hearts.
Karen
11 years agoI found 8.
Pam Rohlfs
11 years ago20 hearts
Debbie
11 years agoI see 10
Patty Schrock
11 years agoWell, I think I see 11. Might be crosseyed but I’m going with 11!
Barb Miller
11 years agoNine hearts
Kristina
11 years agoI only find 7 hearts.
Cheryl Lindemann
11 years agoI found 14 hearts!! Beautiful picture!
Sandra Rockwell
11 years agoI find only 9 hearts
Connie W.
11 years agoI definitely found 8 hearts, but as I continued to stare at each area, I could visualize and make just about everything into a heart shape.
Patty Sack
11 years agoI see 8 hearts easily.
annette Rady
11 years agoI think I see 20 hearts… but my eyes could be playing tricks on me. Pretty cool.
Vanessa B
11 years agout-oh, I only came up with 5 and that was counting the couple as 1, LOL! Thanks!!!
SheilaofDC
11 years agoI see seven (7) hearts. Lovely picture too.
Nancy Gross
11 years agoI found 8 hearts.
Quiana Riddick
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Leora B
11 years agoi found 12…
Ezekiel Switzer
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Ruth
11 years agoEmbroidered bed linens make it just s if they are for royalties, so elegant to fit queens!
them
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look what i found
8 years agoI’m impressed, I have to admit. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and amusing, and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something which not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I came across this in my search for something relating to this.
Hank
7 years agoThank you so much for appearing at Wayland High School today! You gave extensive information on a wr;9irtes process and inspired me a great deal. Again, thank you. -Tc
Betty
5 years agoI saw 8 hearts.