Using the embroidery features on the Designer Brilliance 80

Did you like my learning curve yesterday? I explored working with flimsy fabric and the Seam/Overcast Stitch to make gift bags. Thankfully learning is fun, especially when you’re working with a great sewing machine like the Husqvarna Viking Designer Brilliance 80. It performed beautifully despite the ‘operator’s’ issues.

It’s the end of the week! I’ll play around with some embroidery and make something from those last two pieces of gold fabric and something exciting happened when I turned on the sewing machine yesterday. I’ll share that with you at the end of the post.

Today, I’m embroidering on non-quilting cotton to make a very elegant cushion cover, with very little effort.

I really wanted to do some embroidery on that gold fabric. The right side was very busy so I decided to use the “wrong” side as the “right” side so that the embroidery design would not compete with the motif on the fabric.

I browsed the Sampler Booklet and found a design that I thought would look nice and I choose a red thread for high contrast.

I was running around the house doing other things so I used the mySewMonitor app on my smartphone to alert me when the thread needed to be changed. Gosh – I love that feature! You can see the name of the sewing machine (HV Brilliance 80) in the top gray bar.

I had no issues doing the embroidery on this fabric. I used a regular hoop even though I thought of using a metal hoop (with magnets). One layer of stabilizer under the fabric and I got a beautiful stitch.

Before I knew it, the embroidery was completed and I received a notification on mySewMonitor to tell me that.

Before I show you what I made, I thought I would share a few tips with you. When I’m working and I need to change needles due to what I’m working on, I don’t put the used needles back in the plastic cases that the needles come in. I made this little needle case a while back. It’s the best thing and it allowed me an opportunity to play with the built-in alphabets on the sewing machine. Find the instructions for the little needle case in this post so you can make your own.

The other thing that’s very important – make sure you have your tools handy and you have a clear table to work on. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to get up and find the right tool or thread. I have the accessory box with all the feet nearby so if I need to change the stitch plate or the foot, everything is there.

Saves a lot of time and frustration.

We have a tendency to work in a tight space with loads of stuff around. Well, you don’t want that when you using the embroidery machine. You don’t want that arm to be jostled by something on the table which can cause the embroidery design to get messed up. Keep the space around the embroidery unit clear!

I was originally going to make the last two pieces with the embroidery into more gift bags, but I changed my mind and decided to make a small cushion cover instead.

To make it easy, I made an envelope style backing using two pieces of fabric. I did have to cut the fabric down a wee bit because the design wasn’t centered for a cushion cover and I had already cut the corners out to make the last two gift bags with box corners. It’s all about making it up as I go along.

The other tip I have for making a cushion cover is to trim away some of the excesses in the corners. If you don’t, you’ll get dog ears on the cushion that makes the corners look floppy.

There you have it – an elegant and festive cushion cover made with a wee bit of embroidery and a piece of recycled fabric. I still have to make the second one, but I ran out of time. I really like how the embroidery provides a pop of color to an otherwise “plain” fabric. Notice that this is the wrong side of that fabric. Why not get creative when you look at something – try to see it in a different light. That’s my new motto – don’t take things for granted – ask questions – experiment and explore!

If you can’t find a cushion in the size you want, you can always make one.

Before I close out today, I have to tell you what happened when I turned on the Husqvarna Viking Designer Brilliance 80 the other day.

I got a message letting me know that a new update was available for the sewing machine. I was asked if I wanted to download the file at that moment or wait. I chose to download the file right then. It didn’t take long for the file to download and then I was asked if I wanted to install the upgrade at that time. I said yes. And here’s the update happening.

The next time I turned on the sewing machine, I saw that I had new mail in the news-feed. There was a “what’s new” notification letting me know all the updates that had been installed. OH – I see there’s some exciting news. A Free Motion Ruler foot is coming and there will be a special setting for the Ruler foot. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of those!

How many times have you been somewhere and you realized that some new thing has been out for months. Or if you don’t get to your dealer often, that a new update has been available for months? No longer will that be an issue. No longer will we have to pack up our machines and take them out for updates. No – they’ll be done in the comfort of home in a very short and painless way.

I’m impressed.

I hope you enjoyed following along this week as we explored the BRAND NEW Husqvarna Viking Designer Brilliance 80. It’s a great sewing/embroidery machine that’s filled with many amazing features. It’s hard to say which one is my favorite – I like them all. OK – I’m kind of hooked on the WiFi connectivity.

I’m off to explore some more but this time I think I’ll stick to 100% cotton fabric!

Have a great day!

Ciao!