The Accidental Embroiderer

The beginnings of a BIG project

When I started with machine embroidery (and I hate to think how long ago that was…) the largest design you could use was about 5 x 7 inches (130 x 180 mm) That sounds pitiful now, with all the huge hoops that modern machines can use. Those large hoops have such a lot of potential – you can make designs with all sorts of tiny details, and the finished embroideries can have an astonishing impact

Recently my friend Cherri has had some ideas for some really large and colourful designs, and I’ve been enjoying myself designing and digitising them. (I leave the stitching to her – I just do the fun part!)

Anyway this is the first of what I think is going to be a very large series of very large designs. It’s for the 10 ½ x 16 inch (272 x 408 mm) hoop, and it’s just about the largest size I can manage on my digitising software. It has around 114,000 stitches, and takes something like 5 hours to stitch out. But as I say, I leave that part to Cherri!

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A very Big Bird

9 thoughts on “The beginnings of a BIG project

  1. Hi Mia, I see why you are having fun with this, an interesting design. Love the bright colours, a nice combination of stitch and appliqué. The variation in colour of the leaves is great. I look forward to seeing more of the large designs, too big for my hoops, but I love to see what you are doing. Keep up the great work.

  2. I must say I like your Big Bird better than the Muppets one! He seems to be looking over his shoulder…maybe another yet bigger is coming along? My largest hoop is 10-5/8 x 16 inches, so the big designs appeal, if I only have the time to stitch them someday. I love all the detailed colorations in the leaves…metallic threads?

  3. Hi Mia, Your big bird is just spectacular!! The fabric and thread colors that you used are both fun and colorful. This design will be perfect for framing, pillows, jacket backs, linens, or on anything.

  4. Hello Mia – what a gorgeous design – everything about it is amazing – colours, character and different types of embroidery – applique, etc.

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