Free Machine Embroidery is for everyone

Free Machine Embroidery is for everyone.
Free machine embroidery has been part of my creative life for nearly twenty years, and it still surprises me. Whether you’re completely new to it or you’ve been sewing for years and never tried it, this is one of those techniques that genuinely opens doors. Here’s a bit about how I came to it, what I’ve made with it, and how you can get started yourself.

Free machine embroidery, free motion embroidery, free motion quilting — whatever you call machine stitching with your feed dogs down and a darning or embroidery foot on — means exactly that: FREE to be as creative as you dare. And yes, it really is for everyone. There are so many projects you can create or enhance with this technique. It’s a little like tapping your head and rubbing your belly, but with a little encouragement and practice you too can fall in love with this new freedom on your sewing machine.
I first began experimenting with free machine embroidery when I was studying printmaking, just after completing my degree. I was excited by the lack of restraint — having total control over the stitch direction and the rhythm between the needle speed and fabric motion. With practice I found I could follow drawn lines, and so this grew to become part of my work.
I found I didn’t need to confine free machine embroidery to fabric alone, so I started experimenting with paper and then card. The only restraint with card was its rigidity — unlike fabric, there’s very little give. But experimenting with silver foil backed card (the kind you find on the top of a takeaway container) threw up something wonderful: the stitched thread absorbed the ink, and I could print the marks beautifully. My process was to draw the image onto the foiled card using an old biro with no ink, making an embossed line on the surface. I could then follow this line using free machine embroidery, leaving the thread tails in place — these would also print.
The image below is from a large body of work I made around 2006, exploring the connection between text conversations and relationships. Twenty years on, I think there’s rather more to worry about.

Not long after I first set up Creative Thread Workshops, I went on to produce a couple of projects for Stitch Magazine — some of you will have seen these in the studio. This felt painting features quite a bit of free machine embroidery, and I can honestly say that the combination of fibres and stitched line really does create depth. A tip for free machine embroidering onto handmade felt: add a piece of stabiliser to the back. This helps prevent snagging and stops too many fibres getting caught in the machine.
The second piece I made for the magazine was a festive design — a partridge in a golden pear tree. I’ll add a photo at a later date.

Some guidelines for successful free machine embroidery

Setting up your sewing machine

You’ll find the instructions in your machine manual. Locate the button or lever to drop the feed dogs — these are the teeth that sit beneath the presser foot. If your machine doesn’t have that facility, you’ll likely have a small plate that clicks onto the bed of the machine to cover the feed dogs. Bear in mind that this reduces the gap between the foot and the machine bed, which makes stitching a little trickier. Fit your darning foot, and always make sure it’s the foot made specifically for your machine brand. I’ve seen so many people buy generic feet only to find they don’t fit — a Janome foot for a Janome machine, and so on.

Preparing your fabric

You can choose whether to use an embroidery hoop or to work with a medium to firm weight fabric, with or without a stabiliser on the back. Both approaches have their advantages. A hoop holds your fabric taut to prevent puckering, though the hoop itself can be a hindrance on larger pieces when you have to keep stopping to reposition it. For lighter weight fabrics, a stabiliser can prevent puckering — options include tear away, heat away, cut away, and wash away, as well as a general iron on interfacing if it won’t be seen. All have their purpose, so do check before you buy to make sure it suits your fabric. A piece of felt on the back is another option to help stabilise.

Drawing with your sewing machine

This takes practice, and maybe a little courage if you’re new to it. A good warm up technique is to start with pen and paper and doodle — continuous lines, swirls, circles, curves, zigzags — then move onto fabric.
You need to let go of the preconceptions of regular machine sewing. Imagine a friend is holding a pencil above a piece of paper you’re holding flat on a table. The pencil stays still, but you have to draw a flower by moving the paper beneath the pencil. That’s how you think when free machine embroidering. The needle goes up and down, but with the feed dogs down your fabric will just sit there — so you have to move it to stitch a line. That’s it in a nutshell. You’ll find your rhythm between needle speed and fabric movement with practice, and once you do you’re halfway there.
If you’d like help and guidance, why not book onto a free machine embroidery introduction course with Linda? You’ll find details here…

Free machine embroidery creations

Free form drawing of a flower, the bobbin and mouse are raw edge applique.

Decorative border lines round a picture. Free machine embroidery on disolvable fabric forming a bowl.

Of course there is also free machine embroidery used for quilting your patchwork, really the list is endless so lets move onto a few very inspiring artists.  Free machine embroidery spans an enormous range of styles and approaches, from bold and expressive to delicate and intricate. Here are four artists whose work shows just how far the technique can go.

Dionne Swift  free machine embroidery can hold title of thread painting, drawing informs Dionne’s practice, as her work develops abstract expressionist thread paintings of lines, blocks and colour appear, often inspired by landscape and the natural world.

Kirsty Whitlock is a Leicester based mixed media artist who uses free machine embroidery on unconventional surfaces including newspapers, plastic bags and discarded materials to make work that comments on social and enviromental issues. She is a great example of how the technique can move well beyond fabric.

Alison Holt takes a more traditional and quietly beautiful approach creating, landscapes, seascapes and flowers often intensley stitched with extraordinary details. Alsion has written quite a few books on the subject of free machine embroidery.

Meridith Woolnough‘s embroideries explore art, science and nature using free machine embroidery and dissolvable fabric, leaving the knotted threads as beautiful intricate sculptures suspended with pins on a white ground,  Her work is a reminder that free machine embroidery can be as fine and complex as it can be bold and expressive.

Well thats all I hope your are inspired to come along to a workshop and explore this fun technique. Linda X