Projects > Foot of the Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket

Projects
> Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket
Foot
of the
Our Brother Foot of the Month is the standard closed toe Walking Foot. We used the even feed action of the
walking foot to help hem the edge of stretchy fleece, making a blanket with a nice neat finish. To customize the
blanket we created a beautiful monogram appliqué using a special fill stitch background and a design included
in the Brother PE Design 10 software program. You will love the software technique shown here for taming the
nap on fleece, and you’ll see how easy it is to add a classic three-letter monogram to an existing design. Make
a blanket like this for someone you love and they will think of you every time they snuggle underneath it!
Materials and Supplies
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Brother Machine with embroidery capability, plus a Brother
sewing machine-Or a Brother combination machine
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Brother 5-inch X 7-inch hoop
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Brother PE Design® 10 Software program
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SA140 Standard Closed Toe Walking Foot
SA5906 Adhesive Backed Soluble (film type) Stabilizer
SA5931 Medium Weight Fusible Cut Away Stabilizer
Brother Polyester Embroidery Thread
Size 11 Embroidery needle for embroidery
Size 11 Stretch needle for sewing
Fleece fabric for blanket – 2-yards of 60-inch wide fleece
makes a nice size personal blanket.
Fleece for Appliqué - Cut a 9-inch wide X 13-inch long piece
from the width of the fabric, trimming the rest of the
blanket piece so it is even. Your blanket will finish at about
50 inches wide after trimming.
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Instructions for Creating Embroidery
First, we are going to create a monogram design that is ideal
for stitching on napped fabric such as fleece. Here’s how:
1. Open PE Design 10 and choose a 5-inch X 7-inch hoop for
your design page. Select the shape tool from the Home tab
and choose the rounded rectangle. *See Figure #1.
2. Click and drag the mouse to draw a rectangle with the
standard fill setting. Right click on the selected shape to
bring up the Numerical option for changing the size. Click
on size and change to equal 6.50 X 4.75. Next, select
Arrange and move the rectangle to the center.
*See Figure #2a and #2b, and #2c.
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Brother Education Department
More about the Walking Foot:
This foot is certainly popular for quilting
but in fact it is the ideal foot for so much
more than that! In this project you see that
the even feeding action of the foot makes it
useful for preventing fluffy fleece from
stretching out of shape. In addition, the
closed toe of this foot provides more
control of the fabric layers when you are
using it to sew seams or for hemming such
as the technique featured in this project.
This foot is available for many Brother
machine models. Visit the Supplies and
Accessories section of brothersews.com to
find a foot suitable for your machine.
Figure #1
Projects
> Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket
Foot
of the
Figure #2a
3. Right click on the selected rectangle to bring up the
additional menu. Click on the fill stitch arrow and choose
Net Fill Stitch to change to an open, airy fill stitch.
4. To add the frame design featured here click on Import
Figure #2b
Patterns and import SP_floral_frame01 from Floral4.
Figure #2c
5. To add the monogram click on the text tool and choose
your preferred three letter monogram style. Click in the
open area of the frame design and type your three letters.
Hit the return key on the keyboard to generate the letters.
*See Figure #4.
6. Finish the design as follows:
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Click and drag on the four corners of the letters,
resizing them to fill the space.
Designed exclusively for you from the
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Projects
> Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket
Foot
of the
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Next, click and drag the letters to center them in the
frame, or use the Arrange tab to center as you did in
Figure #4
Step 2. Adjust if necessary, nudging the group using
keyboard arrows.
TIP: Lettering often needs adjustment for a variety
of reasons. First of all each letter in combination
with another letter looks different. Sometimes
letters should be centered visually instead of using
auto center options. It is also possible to move your
monogram letters individually. Check your software
manual for more details.
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Right click on the selected letters to bring up the sub
menu. Click on the satin stitch arrow and then choose
fill stitch to change the letters from satin to standard
fill. Change colors as desired or simple change the
colors at the machine. *See Figure #5a and #5b.
Figure #5a
7. Save the design and transfer it to your machine.
8. Cut a piece of SA5931 stabilizer to match the 9 X 13 piece
of fleece. Attach the stabilizer by carefully ironing from the
wrong side, using low heat and taking care not to touch the
fleece with the iron. Layer the water soluble on top and
hoop in the 5 X 7 hoop.
9. Embroider entire design. Remove from hoop, wash out
stabilizer and let dry.
10. Carefully cut out the appliqué, cutting just outside the
satin stitched line. Set aside temporarily.
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Figure #5b
Projects
> Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket
Foot
of the
Instructions for Finishing Blanket
Figure #6
1. Set up machine for sewing with thread to match or contrast
with fleece. Place the walking foot on the machine. Select a
zig zag stitch. *See Figure #6.
TIP: matching thread gives an elegant look to your
finished blanket. Chose a contrast thread if you want
your hem to be prominent on your finished blanket.
We used contrast thread for better visibility in our
example.
2. To form a hem, turn and pin 1-inch to the wrong side of two
edges of the blanket. Pinch the corner together where they
meet and trim the fleece to form a miter. You don’t need to
be too fussy, fleece is ravel resistant and the final stitches
Figure #7
will cover the cut edges. Repeat for all edges and corners.
*See Figure #7.
3. Beginning on one side, stitch the hem in place with the
wrong side facing up. Sew from top to bottom, catching the
raw edge of the hem as you stitch. Sew all four sides from
end to end in the same manner. *See Figure #8.
4. To stitch the corners begin by changing the width and
length of zig zag to 3.0. Sew miter closed by stitching from
the inner edge of the hem to the outer edge of the blanket.
Figure #8
Designed exclusively for you from the
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Projects
> Month > Monogrammed Fleece Blanket
Foot
of the
5. Place the finished monogram appliqué piece in your desired
location of the blanket. We centered ours near the top edge
with the top of the monogram facing the top of the blanket.
Adjust the zig zag stitch and attach the applique using the
zig zag stitch. *See Figure #9.
You are finished!
Designed exclusively for you from the
Brother Education Department
Figure 9