Creating an applique placemat in the DESIGNER Regal Hoop!

I had so much fun playing with the Guided Pictograms yesterday. Now it’s time to move on to some embroidery with the Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3.

The box with the DESIGNER EPIC 3 includes four traditional embroidery hoops: the DESIGNER Regal Hoop (465 by 260), the DESIGNER Royal Hoop II (360 by 200), the DESIGNER Jewel Hoop II (240 by 150), and the DESIGNER Splendid Square Hoop II (120 by 120), as well as an adapter for use with some of the legacy hoops.

Today, I want to explore the DESIGNER Regal Hoop (465 by 260), the largest non-turnable hoop! And it’s enormous! You’ll see that I’ve set up the DESIGNER EPIC 3 with the recommended Large Hoop Supports in the front and the back of the embroidery area.

There are two supports, one for the front and one for the back, which are very easy to put on and remove. I have to push the embroidery machine back onto the table a bit to accommodate the extra width, so I use them when using the DESIGNER Regal Hoop, but I’ll take them off when using a smaller hoop. However, I can leave them on all the time if I wish. You can see how those extensions are helping to support the larger hoop.

It’s easy to hoop your project and stabilizer as there are 24” rolls of stabilizer in some of the most popular types. Shown here is a Tear-A-Way X-Wide and a Cut-A-Way X-Wide.

To get started, you need an area large enough to hoop your fabric. Whether you use your cutting table or have enough room beside the embroidery machine, you want a nice, sturdy area to hoop your fabric. If you’re floating the fabric, you’ll still have to hoop the stabilizer.

I’m using a 6-foot wooden banquet table with room to the left of the embroidery unit to hoop my projects. It’s sturdy enough to support the DESIGNER EPIC 3 during the embroidery stitchout.

I’ve decided to make a quilted placemat with applique to visualize the maximum stitchable space in this large hoop. I’ll use a thin batting and cotton fabric for the top and bottom with all three layers in the hoop. Be sure you have enough fabric on all four sides to secure the project in the hoop.

Around the perimeter of the embroidery hoop, plastic ribs allow you to use hoop clips (not pictured) to provide additional support. Depending on the hoop size and how many layers of fabric or stabilizer are along the edge, I’ll choose to use some, all, or none of the hoop clips.

I searched the internet for a black and white clip art of cutlery and brought that into the mySewnet Embroidery Software, where I used Express Design to create an applique. While this is an effortless process, the results can vary greatly depending on the quality of the clip art you start with. Also, be careful of the copyright of the images you select. Then, I went to the Quilt Block Wizard tool, where I answered a few questions about the style of quilting I wanted. This grid pattern surrounding the applique was the result. I’m ready to send the design through the mySewnet Cloud to the DESIGNER EPIC 3.

The proportion for a placemat might be slightly out of whack, but my goal is to see the maximum size piece I can create in this hoop. It’s now time to start stitching. When I created the design, I designated the stitching order and chose the applique to stitch first. The software will generate SVG files for the applique, which I can use with the Singer Momento (digital cutter). In this instance, I chose to trim the excess fabric away with my Husqvarna VIKING Applique Scissors.

Once the applique is in place, it’s time to change the thread and stitch the quilted grid in the background. I’ll use a matching thread in the bobbin for all the stitching, so the piece will look as lovely on the back as it does on the front. When this is on the table, someone will peek underneath to see how good a job you did! You know they will!

I made the placemat twice. The first time, I selected a running stitch as the final stitch for the applique when I wanted a satin stitch! It’s all a learning experience!

Here’s the second piece with the satin stitch applique, and I love it! It was easy to put the binding on, and now I have a great visual reference for the project size that I can create in the DESIGNER Regal Hoop.

If you want to peek at the back, this is what it looks like! And yes – I’m thrilled with the result. I want to make another one, and this time, I’ll cut the applique shapes on the digital cutter as some of those parts are somewhat small to trim with scissors.

Before I go today, I wanted to note the optional Husqvarna VIKING Mega Turnable Hoop. I won’t have time to play with it this week, but it’s here, and I can’t wait to open the box. As mentioned above, you can see the clips in the photo that help secure the fabric.

The stitchable area of this hoop is 450 by 450, which is over 17” if you’re like me and struggle with translating metric to inches. That’s huge!!! The possibilities of what I can stitch are flashing through my head.

Tomorrow, I’ll use the DESIGNER Regal Hoop to do edge-to-edge quilting on a quilt! I know – I can’t wait to try it and see how easy it is. With the large hoops on the Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3, it’s so easy to work through any project quickly, and I love it!!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Guided Pictogram Projects