Stitch Inspiration for Dropcloth Samplers

You may or may not know that I am a sampler designer, drawing images that get turned into patterns for hand embroidery.  Most times, Dropcloth Samplers are stitched by hand, but occasionally stitchers work in a few machine stitches too.Sttich Sampler Beautyshot

In my own fine art, I love combining machine stitching with hand embroidery, and I thought it would be fun to work on a little stitch sampler using my BERNINA and co-ordinating stitches, some which I made up, and some which mirror their machine stitches quite perfectly (like the blanket stitch.)

When you have a bit of free time, a great way to learn about your machine and to get yourself out of a stitch rut is to spend an afternoon or so stitching a sampler of sorts of some (or all) of your machine’s decorative stitches.

On the BERNINA 750 QE for the stitched purple stars I used #133 (and mimicked them using the Algerian eye stitch).  For the lines with X’s I used #305 (I used back stitch to mimic these).  For the Double X’s, I used #304.  For the angled blanket stitch, I used #13 (I hand stitched a variety of blanket stitches mimicking these).  For the rows of triangles, I used #19 (I used back stitching to mimic these with hand embroidery)

 

BERNINA Stitch Sampler 2

 

I’ve done this before with other machines (some of those samplers are featured here along with the BERNINA sampler), and was excited to try this out when I first got my BERNINA 750 QE.  Its extra wide stitch plate makes for some wide stitch patterns, and it’s a lot of fun to be able to stitch letters in many different fonts.

 

BERNINA sampler image 1

 

After I had stitched several rows of designs, I turned off my machine and placed my fabric in a hoop, creating rows of hand embroidery that mirrored (or were at least inspired by) the machine made lines.

 

BERNINA Stitch Sampler 3

 

BERNINA Stitch Sampler image 4

 

It was a lot of fun!  I hope you’ll try making a similar sampler….

These little rows of stitches make a great backdrop for a needle case or coaster.  Or, hang it on the wall behind your machine to inspire your next project!

 

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