When I first started embroidering I knew nothing.  What was there to learn?  My wonderful machine threaded itself, let me know when my bobbin was almost out, if the thread broke I could go back to where that was and start again.  All I had to do was push buttons!  I was so excited I couldn't wait to start my first project! 

So I picked a beautiful flower design, some light weight fabric and some light tear away stabilizer.  Choosing all the thread colors was time consuming (I think there were like 26) but fun.  Hooping took a little bit of practice and I was off!  The design had quite a bit of satin stitching and as I advanced through the colors I noted that the satin stitch was not tight like it should be.  Now what?  My first thought was the tension, of course.  I read my manual and I had automatic tension.  Now what?  It must be wrong so I fiddled around with the tension but to no avail. 

Of course, my favorite tool is Google.  You can find anything on Google, including information about yourself.  So I Googled and Googled but couldn't quite find the specifics of what I needed.  I was frustrated. I know you know the feeling.  So I picked another design and didn't want to pick out 26 colors or have it embroider for 60 minutes, so I picked a simpler design. I was off and it turned out beautifully.

Does anyone know what my problem was?  I did not learn it for probably  a year.  The stabilizer and light weight fabric were wrong. My favorite site for designs is emblibrary.com.  I started searching on their site and found a place about stabilizer.  There it was.  There was a hint exacrly for my problem. Heavy stitching, and satin stitching is pretty heavy, needs heavier stabilizer.  It needs to be cutaway as the tear away is too hard on the stitches.   They specifically addressed the satin stitching problem.  Also my fabric was probably too light for the heavy design I picked.

So using the correct stabilizer is very important.  There are many sites that address how to use stabilizers.  I was a beginner and half the time I didn't even know what they were addressing as everyone has their favortie brand.  We bought our stabilizer through brewersewing.com and one of my co-workers gave me a link that was perfect.  It was a sample pack from OESD with instructions of how to use them.  That was a glorious day as not only did I have the explanation but I could see and feel the stabilizer and know what they were addressing.

The right stabilizer is an important thing to learn.  I love using Sulky's Dissovable and making lace book marks, ornaments etc.  Did you know that most dissolvable stabilizer is made from the jelly fish on the beach?  I learned that at an aquarium.  Once they are on the beach they will die so they use them.

I always like to just get into my projects.  I don't want to spend time learning all about it.  How many of you are like that?