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How to Make a Bookmark With an Embroidery Machine
The time is coming when you’re going to be looking for a quick and easy, but also elegant and thoughtful, gift for a book lover in your world. Good news! Today’s tutorial will walk you through the steps to make your own machine embroidered bookmarks. This is also a project you can likely complete with things you have on hand. Even better, right? This is a really low stress project, so relax and let’s make a bookmark with an embroidery machine.
Gather Supplies
NOTE: Check out Embroidery Supplies Juju Uses.
- ITH Bookmarks Set 4
- ITH Bookmarks Set 11
- ITH Bookmarks Set 16
- Woven fabrics of your choice (check those scraps you’ve been saving)
- Felt/Fusible fleece/Batting/SF101/Decovil Light (whatever you have on hand will work)
- NOTE: In this project I tested batting, felt, Pellon Fusible Fleece, and Pellon Decovil Light to see which one I liked best. I’ll share my findings below.
- Ribbon (I recommend a flat ribbon to avoid bulk in the body of the bookmark)
- Water soluble stabilizer (WSS) (the mesh kind, not the plastic kind)
- Spray adhesive/Painter’s tape
- Scissors
- Embroidery thread
Prepare the Designs (Optional)
Since I wanted to maximize my efficiency and produce four, embroidered bookmarks in one hooping, I used Embrilliance to arrange four different designs in one 8” x 12” hoop and sorted the colors so that placement and tackdown stitches ran together up front, then all embellishment stitches ran, and finally attachment of the ribbons and all common, finishing stitches ran together at the end. Doing this required adjusting a few colors so that Embrilliance would be able to differentiate embellishments from finishing color stops.
If you want to create a single, embroidered bookmark at a time, you can simply load the appropriate file to your embroidery machine and skip the steps above.
Review the Colorchart
Your downloaded design folder will contain a folder named something like “DBJJ Bookmarks Set 16 Colorcharts.” In that folder will be a colorchart for each design in the set. I really like printing this out and making notes on it as I plan my project. The colorchart file is like a roadmap for the project and is helpful to me as I plan out not only what threads I’ll need, but also the purpose of each.
Most of these designs start with a placement line for the batting, then a tackdown for the batting that looks identical to the placement line. That tackdown secures the batting to the stabilizer you’ve hooped (more on that later). The third color stop is the tackdown for the background fabric of the embroidered bookmark. The fourth color stop is the beginning of all of the embroidered embellishment of the bookmark. How many colors of embellishment will vary depending on the design you’ve chosen. The last four color stops will be the placement line for the ribbon, tackdown for the ribbon, tackdown stitches for the back of the bookmark, and finally the decorative satin stitch edge that completes the embroidered bookmark.
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with each step of the design, select front and back fabrics (light colors allow the thread to stand out more), and coordinate ribbon. Pick your thread colors and line them up in the order you’ll need them (single-needle machines) or load them onto your thread stand (multi-needle machines) to avoid confusion during stitch out.
Hoop and Embroider
Hoop a layer (or two) of mesh WSS. Make sure it’s secure in the hoop and will not shift as you stitch your embroidered bookmark(s).
- NOTE: As you can see from the pictures below, I’ve written “left” and “right” on my hoop in permanent marker. I find this very helpful in the following steps when I’m taking the hoop off and flipping it over many times. It’s easy to get confused and put it back in the machine in the wrong orientation.
Run the first color stop, the placement line for the batting. If you’re using a single-needle machine, it will save you some thread changes if you do all of the placement and tackdown lines in the same color as your first embellishment color stop.
Cover the placement line with a piece of felt, fusible fleece, or batting (your choice). You can use adhesive spray or painter’s tape to secure, if desired.
- NOTE: In this project I tested (pictured in order from left to right) batting, felt, Pellon Fusible Fleece, and Pellon Decovil Light to see which one I liked best.
Run the next color stop, the tackdown stitches which secures the batting to the stabilizer.
Place your embroidered bookmark top/background fabric so that it covers the tackdown stitches that are visible.
Run the third color stop, the tackdown for the top fabric. Now you should have the top fabric, the batting/felt/fleece, and the WSS all stitched down.
Trim away the excess batting and fabric as close to the stitching as possible, without cutting the stitching. It might be easiest to remove the hoop from the machine for this step but DO NOT remove the layers from the hoop. You’re not done yet.
- NOTE: As you can see in the picture below, I nicked the tackdown stitches in a few places and didn’t trim away enough excess fabric in other places. It takes some practice to get the hang of cutting away just enough. Give yourself a break if you don’t get it perfect the first time. I sure didn’t.
Once you’ve trimmed away the excess batting and fabric, you’re going to run all of the embellishment color stops. How many colors of embellishment elements will vary depending on the design you’ve chosen.
Isn’t that looking great? Now we’re on to the final steps.
- NOTE: You might notice that I’m stitching these bookmarks out upside down. This is intentional, so that I have easy access to the ribbon placement area when the hoop is loaded on my machine.
Run the placement line for the ribbon.
Okay, we’re going to get crazy now. Hang on! Remove the hoop from the machine, flip it over so that you’re looking at the back side, and position a piece of ribbon (I’d recommend at least 5” long, but it’s your bookmark so you do what you like), folded in half, centered over the placement line so that the fold is inside the stitched area and the ends are outside the bookmark. Tape the ribbon down, outside of the bookmark, really well because you don’t want this shifting around when you flip it back over.
Flip the hoop back over and carefully load it into the machine. Double-check that the ribbon is still where you want it to be and your tape is doing its job.
Run the next color stop, the tackdown for the ribbon. It’s going to be identical to the previous color stop, the placement for the ribbon.
We’re not done with the back yet so remove the hoop from the machine again, flip it over again (so that you’re looking at the back side), and place another piece of fabric, right side up, covering all stitch lines. This will be the back of the embroidered bookmark. Secure this in place with tape.
Once again, flip the hoop back over and carefully load it into the machine. Double-check that all components on the back side (fabric and ribbon) are still where you want them to be and your tape is still doing its job.
- NOTE: It’s really a pain when you rush and skip this step, only to find out the tape has gone rogue and is stuck to the bed of your machine, and you’ve created something that is most definitely not a lovely and elegant embroidered bookmark. Ask me how I know. 😉
Run the next color stop, the tackdown stitches for the back of the bookmark.
Remove the hoop from the machine again, flip it over, and carefully cut away the excess back fabric. Be careful . . . DO NOT cut the ribbon and make sure that it’s still secured out of the way for the last step.
Flip the hoop right side up again and reload into your machine.
Run the last color stop, the decorative satin stitch edge. For this step, if you want an ultra-finished look, you can use matching thread in the bobbin.
Remove the hoop from the embroidery machine and trim the stabilizer close to the decorative stitches, without cutting any of the stitching. You can use a cotton swab, paint brush, or old toothbrush dipped in water to dissolve any remaining WSS from the edge of the embroidered bookmark.
That’s it. You’re done with this How to Make a Bookmark With an Embroidery Machine project. Enjoy!
Middle Layer Comparison
- Batting (Be Brave) - medium thickness, flexible but not floppy
- Felt (#bibliophile) - thickest and stiffest of the options
- Pellon Fusible Fleece (Progress not Perfection) - similar to the batting, possibly slightly stiffer
- Pellon Decovil Light (You are enough) - thinnest of the options, but not floppy
The Verdict: All of the options produced a good, usable bookmark. I liked the felt and the fusible fleece options the most. They were the least floppy, with the fusible fleece being thinner than the felt.
Lessons Learned
- When doing multiple embroidered bookmarks in one hooping, as I did, be careful to ensure the WSS is securely held in the hoop. In the center of the wide side of my hoop the stabilizer was not as secure as it should have been, so my final stitches shifted a little from where they should have been, resulting in the fabric not being completely covered by the decorative satin stitch.
- Trim the top and middle layers carefully. If you get too close, you can cut the tackdown stitches, which could result in the fabric not being completely covered by the satin stitches. If you don’t get close enough, you have the fabric edge showing through beyond the satin stitches in the end product.
- If you end up with any frayed edges or loose threads in your finished embroidered bookmark, you can VERY CAREFULLY use a hot knife to clean those up. Keep it away from the ribbon though. Again, ask me how I know. LOL
- Any time you’re trying out a new design or technique, test first with materials that are comparable to your final materials, but not costly or scarce.
Please share your projects on the Designs by JuJu Embroidery Blessings Facebook Group. We’d love to see what you create!
