Turn Simple Machine Embroidery Into Your Me-Made Gifting Superpower

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When you’re making handmade gifts for holidays or other occasions, your embroidery machine can be a huge asset. Even simple embroidery is a great way to elevate a gift and make it even more personal to its recipient. Read on for some gift ideas featuring machine embroidery.

Machine-Embroidered Garments

One great way to add embroidery to a gift is to add embroidery to a gifted garment, whether store-bought or handmade.

You’ll find a great example of this in the Winter 2020 issue of Creative Machine Embroidery, which features the Golden Tone Swing Jacket. This gorgeous tone-on-tone creation adds a pretty scroll design to the Salzburg Jacket pattern to create a perfect party look.

Or add a design you know your recipient will love to a purchased woven or knit top — just make sure you use the right stabilizer for the fabric type! You can even add embroidery to outerwear, like is featured on the Night Sky Coat from CME Jan/Feb 2018. You can recreate this striking piece using the Starburst Trio Embroidery Design Collection.

Embroidered Accessories

Accessories are another great place to add some fun embroidery. One of my favorite projects is the Pug Life Slippers from the July/Aug 2018 issue. How cute are they? And they’re super easy to personalize, especially because a 4×4 design fits very well on the slipper top of the Log Cabin Slippers pattern (note: a slight amount of resizing may be necessary depending on the size!). Any of the Puppy Love designs would work great, but we also love the Fancy Felines and Forest Friends Collections. Or anything, really!

The sky’s the limit for embroidered slippers. You can also use the Cozy Toes pattern, like we did for the cover of the Winter 2020 issue.

Embroidered Decor

And of course, the eternal go-to for embroidered gifts is décor. The great thing about this is that you can pick up ready-made items like tea towels or napkins, do a little embroidering, and you’re done! But you can also make some really great projects yourself with just a slight added time investment.

Take the placemats and napkins that graced the Summer 2020 cover — the
construction is very basic, but the result is something really special. Find the instructions in the issue, or add designs from the Succulent Chic Collection to your favorite placemat project.

Don’t forget about pillows! A nice throw pillow is the ideal canvas for a pretty embroidery design. If you happen to have a big hoop, this is a great place to play around with large designs, like the ones in the Tropical Foliage Collection. I adore the leaf-covered pillow that we used to show off these designs. Keep in mind, though, that large designs can take a long time to stitch, so it’s not ideal for a last-minute gift! If you’re short on time or only have smaller hoops, try stitching border or corner designs around the pillow edge or placing a single motif in the corner or the center of the pillow.

More Inspiration

You don’t have to stick to traditional embroidery, either. Why not try out a alternate machine-embroidery technique like appliqué? You’ll learn everything you need to know in the Artistry in Appliqué with Sulky Interactive Workshop. The expert instructors will take you step-by-step through five unique projects, each exploring a different type of appliqué.

Whatever you make, consider putting your mark on it. It’s easy to do with the Maker Label Collection. Just add your name using built-in lettering, or write on the labels with a permanent marker after they’re stitched out if you prefer. Stitch them to your gift or attach using fusible web.

Find more great embroidered gift ideas in the Sew Daily shop!

Happy Sewing (+ Embroidering!)
Kate

Header Image Left to Right: Pocket Full of Poppies Pagosa Pants by Stacy Schlyer from CME Summer 2020, Cork Cuffs by Bianca Springer from CME Spring 2020, Leather Petals Tote by Michele Mishler from CME Spring 2020.

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