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I have started to make a quilt for my great-grandson. I have finished the embroidery part, and I was sold some Pellon Fusible Midweight to make it more stable. Are there any tips you can give a beginner? I have read the instructions and it calls for a "damp press cloth". Would this be any kind of fabric or is it something special for a press cloth? Can I use a "tea towel"?
Sorry, but I have not taken any classes in this, and I have not done this before. I learned to do some basic embroidery when I was in Catholic boarding school, at the age of 7. (I am now over 70.)
A tea towel would work but it may be a bit heavy. If all else fails try a pillowcase. Make sure you wring it out well and that it isn't too wet. Lay your embroidery right side down on top of a towel, then the wet cloth on top of the back side of the embroidery and then press with a dry iron. The towel under the embroidery keeps it from being crushed down too much from the pressing. Let it dry well before picking it up or it will wrinkle quickly.
Make sure the embroidery thread is colorfast before applying any moisture. I learned that the "hard way" once. Once it bleeds, there is no easy way of bleaching it out.
Hi Evelyn, Welcome! I usually use a dish towel when I have to use a damp cloth. You know the kind you can embroidery on, the old fashioned ones. I've used them for all kinds of things. Straining juice for jelly making, milking through one and then straining with another towel when I got back to the kitchen, to cover rising bread dough, what ever.
Also, what Qwilter said about about color fastness.
The tea towel could be used but the pressing on a thick towel will protect the embroidery. I have also used old pieces of muslin for pressing.
Colorfastness of the thread is definitely something to think about...especially the reds. Learned the hard way. :-(
Join us on some of the other threads with our swaps.
OK, and thanks, everyone! I did use a "tea towel", which is a dish towel, but not the towel with a nap, but a flat one, like the kind you can sew onto. I put that on top of a regular towel. Since I already washed the embroidery, so the lines of the designs would not set, with the heat, I did not find any "bleeding" of colors.
The directions say to use a steam iron, but I did not find it to be necessary since I already had plenty of moisture from the tea towel. I am almost finished with it, since I need to complete it quickly. I do, however, appreciate all of your input. It does not look perfect, but I will not worry about it, since it is for a one year old boy. I will do my best to continue on and make it into a quilt.
while going thru my grandmother's things a couple years ago, I found a cloth in the original plastic bag stated as Pressing Cloth, resembled a heavyweight flannel. That's what I use it as, but have never bought one new to compare it to. Gma and my Aunt embroidered runners and tons of pillow cases in their time, I still have some that are patterned, but not embroidered or finished that belonged to them and 2 plastic shoe boxes full of floss...
Love the ABC design with the animals, be sure and post a pic when it's finished!
Thanks, Betty! Some of the images are cute, and some are very out of scale and a bit strange. Since this was my very first work, I just followed along...though I did change the unicorn and the snail as I thought they were not attractive. It was hard designing free hand as I stitched, and I took them out several times until I thought it looked a bit better. I will be more discerning when choosing patterns in the future, if I ever decide to sew again, but overall it did have what I was looking for.
Welcome Evelyn sure hope we get to see the finished quilt. I'm puzzled though as to why the pattern is telling you to use an iron on Pellon. To my way of thinking, it will make the quilt un-necessarily stiff. Is your fabric cotton? Is it very flimsy? If cotton and not flimsy I wouldn't use the Pellon. For a baby you would want a soft quilt.
The only time I use Pellon on a quilt is when I make T- shirt quilts in order to give the knit fabric a bit of body. I don't see the need on a woven cloth.
That's what the guy in the quilt store said to do. I don't really know anything. Yes, it will make it stiff. This is a baby quilt, not something that is meant to hang up. The fabric was not really stable enough though, as it was unraveling on the ends while I was doing the embroidery. I hope this won't ruin it. It is too late now...
there is many varieties of pellon. some is very stiff, some is very soft and supple, I have used both. I use the stiffer stuff on parts of the bags I make, and I use the softer stuff on other parts of the bag.
