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A Guide to Floating Embroidery Designs: Placemats and Napkins
If you're passionate about embroidery and looking to take your projects to the next level, you've likely encountered the term "floating" in the context of design placement. Floating an embroidery design might sound like a delicate dance, but it’s a powerful technique that opens up new possibilities for your creative projects.
Embroidery is more than just needle and thread. It's about perfecting skills that bring your designs to life. In this post, we’ll dive into floating embroidery: what it is, why it's awesome, and exactly how to do it.
I love decorating my table for the different holidays and seasons, and with summer arriving, I wanted matching placemats and napkins to brighten my home. With Designs by Juju, I can always find the perfect design. For this project I am going to float both my placemat and napkin with Designs by Juju embroidery. When I learned to float my embroidery designs, I told myself, “This is a game changer.” I now float at least 90% of my projects. Why?
- It helps reduce puckering of your fabric.
- There is no need to hoop difficult items.
- You can place your design anywhere on your fabric with ease.
- You don’t have to worry about your material coming unhooped mid-embroidery. We all know how hard that is to fix!
One of the tricks I use when floating is the basting box. This is a long stitch around the design that holds the stabilizer and material together. The stabilizer is hooped securely, while the material to be embroidered is laid unhooped on top.
Some machines come with a built-in feature to add a basting box around the design. You can also find this feature using embroidery software. If you don’t have either of these, you can find free downloadable basting boxes online. There are quite a few advantages to using a basting box, such as:
- It improves the stability of your embroidery project.
- It holds your fabric and stabilizer together.
- It does not require the use of pins.
Another way to float your design is by using sticky-back stabilizer, a tear-away stabilizer with adhesive. Alternatively, you can use a temporary fabric adhesive spray, which can be used on any stabilizer you choose. I recommend using either of these methods when floating fabric that may stretch (i.e., baby onesies, T-shirts, and knits) as well as any cotton material. For other fabrics, water-soluble embroidery film works wonders. When using high-pile material, fluffy cotton towels, or even lace, this film gives you a firm, stable surface to embroider on.
Supplies
Check out the DBJJ team’s favorite supplies in the Designs By Juju Amazon Store.
- Set of placemats (I chose FunWheat Round Braided Placemats.)
- Cotton napkins
- Wash-away stabilizer
- Wash-away film topper
- Sticky-back stabilizer
- Pellon SF101
- Thread colors of choice
- Scissors
- Embroidery hoop to fit your design
- DBJJ Designs
I used the Designs by Juju Busy Bees Flowers 1 set for my design. This set has six individual designs, so I can choose to make each mat and napkin unique! Juju has another set of Busy Bees Flowers designs too, if you’d like even more customization.
Once you’ve chosen your design, upload it to your machine. My machine has a basting box option that automatically works around the design. If your machine has this option, just press it and it will add the correct size!
If you are using a downloadable basting box from online, choose one large enough to fit the design, and add it to your screen.
If you’re using embroidery software, you can likely find the basting box option within your utility menu. A quick Google search will tell you if your software is pre-loaded with this option.
After you have uploaded your design and basting box, your screen should look similar to this:
Hoop your stabilizer securely inside of the hoop. If you’re stitching a large design and using a water-soluble stabilizer, I have found it best to hoop two layers. Mark the center of your placemat if needed.
Position your placemat on the top of your hoop and take it to your machine. Then, locate the center of your design. Add the water soluble film to the top.
The first stitch of your design will be the basting stitch, run that. It will secure your stabilizer and topper to the fabric.
Before continuing, it’s important to remove the hoop and double-check to make sure the design is the correct size and positioned exactly where you want it to be. If need be, you can remove the stitching, adjust, then re-stitch. Take your time, use precaution, and your work will pay off. Once you are satisfied with your placement and sizing, return your hoop to the machine and stitch out your design.
Once it’s finished, remove the mat from the hoop and tear away the topping. Trim as much of the water soluble stabilizer away as you can, then wet it to remove the rest. These straw-like placemats I’ve used for my project can get wet and air-dry easily, but be careful if you’re using another material. Trim threads once your project is dry, and remove the rest of the stabilizer. Once that is done, you will have a flat, clean back to your placemat!
To make matching napkins, wash, dry, and iron all of your napkins before you begin your project. This will ensure all shrinkage has been removed. I am going to use sticky-back stabilizer and Pellon SF101 interfacing. These, along with a basting box, will greatly reduce puckering. I highly recommend this interfacing for any cotton-based embroidery projects as it gives great stability to the fabric. You do not need to cover the entire napkin with your materials, just the area where your design will be.
To get started, press and fold your napkin in the exact way you’d like to display it on a table. Next, make a paper template for the size of the design. For napkins, I recommend a size no greater than 4” x 4”. For this design, my template needs to be 4” x 3.5”.
Place the template atop the folded napkin where you want the design to be. Carefully mark the top, bottom, and sides. On the underside of these markings, iron on the SF101. You may need to re-mark the front if you’ve used a heat-removing pen for your markings. Fold the template in half, and then half again, to find the center. This will show you where the center of your design will go.
Now, hoop the sticky-back tear-away stabilizer, making sure the paper side faces up. Score it with the tip of your scissors, being careful not to cut through. Then, tear the paper backing away.
Take the hoop to your machine and make a small needle mark to signify the center of the design. Remove the hoop, and place it on a flat surface.
Using the center needle marking as a guide to line up your napkin, lay your fabric over the stabilizer. Be sure to smooth out all wrinkles so it lays completely flat.
Now stitch the basting box and design. When you’re finished, remove the hoop from the machine. The sticky-back stabilizer, along with the basting box, leaves you with a beautiful finished design. Remove the basting stitches, and tear away the stabilizer.
For a clean backing, gently pull up the corners of the SF101 and trim around the edges. The paper backing can easily be removed with small scissors. If you are unable to remove all of the material, don’t worry! It will come off when washed. Now clip the threads, and be careful not to clip any knots. Take your time and be patient. You should be pleasantly surprised with how neat the back looks.
Give your napkins a nice press and they’re ready for use!
This guide can be followed for nearly anything you’d like to float. T-shirts, denim jackets, onesies, towels, and much more can be floated using this method.
I hope this guide has simplified the process for you, whether you're an embroidery newbie, or an experienced crafter looking to brush up on your skills. Remember, practice makes perfect, so don't be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you.
Don't forget to share your creations with us on social media using the hashtag #designsbyjuju!
