mySewnet + creative icon 2 make pretty flower patches for a play book

Hello and welcome back to day 4 of our project! Yesterday we inserted a zipper into a mesh fabric pocket and completed the front cover of our cute play book. Today is all about adding some extra charm. We’ll dive into creating beautiful, embroidered flower patches using designs from mySewnet library to bring a playful touch to our project. Then we’ll learn how to work with Velcro for a practical and fun way to add flexibility to our book’s layout. So grab your  6D Dynamic Spring Foot, 0A Standard Presser Foot for IDT System, and the creative 120 Square Hoop (120 x 120 mm), power up your PFAFF creative icon 2, and let’s get started!

Take the last 5¼” x 6¼” piece of ultra-firm stabilizer and with a soft pencil draw a semicircle in approximately the middle of the page. I like to use my thread spools as small circle templates. For this project, I’ll use my 500m and 200m spools. Separate the 9” x 1½” Velcro strip into two pieces. One is the hook side, and the other is the loop side. Flip the loop side (the one with the dense nylon pile) to the wrong side. Using the 500m spool base, trace 7 circles onto the wrong side of the Velcro strip. Cut out the circles on your drawn line. Pin them onto the ultra-firm stabilizer, using the semicircle line as your guide.

Select the sewing option on the welcome screen of your PFAFF creative icon 2. Attach the 0A Standard Presser Foot for IDT System and pull the lever down to engage it. Next, click the projector icon and adjust the background color and LED work light using the slider. For better visibility, turn the stitch preview on. Using the projected stitch navigator as your guide, sew a straight stitch close to the edge of each circle. Remove the pins as you go. Place a 9” x 9” piece of deep ombre green fabric right side up, over top of the stitched circles on the stabilizer, centering the fabric to the stabilizer. Use clips to secure the layers.

Place a 200m thread spool in the middle of each Velcro circle and trace around the outside edge with a soft pencil. Hold the stabilizer up to the light to ensure the small circles are perfectly centered. With the projected stitch navigator, sew a straight stitch around each small circle, trimming thread tails each time to keep the back clean.

Click on the load stitch icon and choose utility stitch 12. Adjust the width to 2.7, the length to 0.8, and the metering to 40. Don’t forget to save this stitch for easy access in future projects. For your needle, I recommend using PFAFF Quilting Needles Size 90/14. Thread your machine with the desired thread color and sew a zigzag stitch along the edge of each circle. Make sure not to push or pull the fabric while sewing as it may distort the stitches. Let the machine guide your work at its own pace and enjoy the stitching process. Now carefully cut out each inner circle to expose the Velcro. Be sure to stay close to the edge of the stitches. Flip over so that the wrong side is facing up. With a fabric glue pencil draw a glue line at the corners. Fold the excess fabric over to the wrong side of the page and press it to secure. Next, draw glue lines along the sides of the rectangle, fold the seam allowance to the wrong side of the page, and glue it down for a neat and clean finish.

To create a quilted pocket, take a 3” x 7” piece of light ombre green fabric, fold it in half lengthwise with right sides together, and stitch along the long edge with a straight stitch close to the folded edge. Now, attach the 6D The Dynamic Spring Foot. As soon as the foot is attached, the free-motion options window will pop up on your screen. Select the dynamic spring option. Thread the machine with your desired color and starting 1” from the edge on each side of the seam allowance free-motion stitch some grass contours.

Mark 1 ½” from the edge of the page with a fabric marker, then place the quilted pocket in position. Pin the pocket securely. Using a fabric glue pencil, fold the seam allowance of the pocket and glue it to the wrong side of the page. Now that all the elements are prepared, it’s time to finish the back of the book. Place the back cover with the wrong side facing up. Position the remaining embroidered lace so that its raw edge is 2½” from the top, with the wrong side of the lace facing up. Now, place the spine along the opposite side of the page. Finally, position the page with the Velcro circles, right side up. Clip all the layers together to secure them in place, and hand stitch around the page shape using a loop or blind stitch.

Prepare three fabric sandwiches as follows. Start with a 10” x 10” piece of  PFAFF Whisper Web Mesh Light Stabilizer then place a 4” x 10” piece of fabric on top with the right side facing up. Use light ombre purple fabric for the first sandwich, deep ombre yellow for the second, and deep ombre blue for the third. Hoop the first sandwich in your creative 120 Square Hoop (120 x 120 mm) then click on mySewnet from the welcome screen. Sign in or create an account to access the library and get ready for the next steps. Since our Velcro strip is 1½” (38.1 mm) wide, the final flower applique should be approximately 26mm x 26mm or 27mm x 27mm. This size is perfect for stitching multiple flowers at once in the hoop. On your PFAFF creative icon 2 screen, press the applique creator icon with the globe symbol to access the mySewnet design library. Search for applique and browse through the designs. There are so many beautiful options! For my fox garden, I chose flower 707. Click the design twice to load it for editing.

Now let’s adjust the size. Click the resize icon and use the control points to resize the first flower to approximately 26.1 x 26.3mm. Add a second flower and set the size to 27.4 x 27.7mm. Once you’ve resized both flowers, click the resize icon again to return to the main editor. Next, click the edit design icon to fine-tune the size and placement of your applique flowers. Once ready, set up the hoop with the first fabric sandwich. Click the projector icon and adjust the background color and LED work light using the slider. To begin, click the go icon on the screen, then press the start button on the machine panel. Now, just sit back and enjoy watching the embroidery bring your flowers to life!

After completing the embroidery, reload the hoop with the next fabric color and repeat the process until all three fabric sandwiches are done. Trim each embroidered flower to 1½” x 1¼”. Cut the 9” x 1½”, hook side of the Velcro strip into seven equal pieces each measuring 1½” x 1¼”. Flip the hook side so it’s facing down (wrong side up). Place a flower on top of each Velcro piece with the wrong sides together and pin. Attach the 0A Standard Presser Foot for IDT System and stitch along the flower silhouette with a straight stitch, staying close to the inner edge of the applique for a precise finish. Finally, fussy cut each flower patch with scissors, staying close to the edge of the stitches for a neat finish.

We’ve done an amazing job today by completing the construction of our beautiful play book and adding charming embroidery flower patches. Tomorrow we’ll have even more fun as we bring a whimsical fox to life with the PFAFF creative icon 2! I’m thrilled to wrap up this project with you and can’t wait to see how it turns out!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Make a zippered, mesh fabric pocket for a play book page