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Freestanding Lace and Faux Leather Earrings (In-the-Hoop)

Freestanding Lace and Faux Leather Earrings (In-the-Hoop)

The combination of freestanding machine embroidered lace and faux leather stitched with delicate details is a crafty and modern wardrobe accessory that is sure to be a hit at craft fairs and for gifts. Project instructions below will show you how to make your own.

Supplies & Materials:

Project Materials and Supplies:

- Embroidery thread

- Tearaway stabilizer

- Water soluble stabilizer

- Earring hooks

- 6mm jump rings


- Temporary spray adhesive

- Iron and pressing cloth

- Scissors

- Awl

- Needle nose pliers

The designs used in this tutorial include:

- EMP82925-1, Leather and Lace Flower Earrings (In-the- Hoop)

Prepare Materials:

The faux leather portion of this design is specially digitized to sew on a hooped piece of tearaway stabilizer. The freestanding lace portion is stitched on water-soluble stabilizer. Once finished and the stabilizer is removed, these become cute trendy earrings for your wardrobe.

Pair of teardrop-shaped earrings with silver hooks, featuring blue floral embroidery and swirling lace patterns on a white background, displayed on gray fabric.

Before embroidering, cut out four squares of faux leather in your color of choice, making sure that each piece is bigger than the finished embroidery area for each file. You can find the size of the individual embroidery files by opening them in embroidery software or on your machine. We cut each fabric piece into a 3" square. Two fabric squares will be the front and back fabric pieces of file "A". The other two fabric squares will be used for the front and back of file "B".

Four small, square white fabric stabilizer sheets layered on a dark gray textured surface.

Start Embroidering:

Once all the fabric pieces are cut out to the correct size, it is time to embroider the design. Hoop a piece of tearaway stabilizer. Madeira E-Zee 1.5 oz. or Floriani Tearaway Medium are good choices. Those brands are more fibrous, less like paper, and will tear more cleanly.

Embroidery hoop with white stabilizer fabric stretched and secured inside, placed on a textured gray surface. No stitching or design visible.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load embroidery file "A". Use a 75/11 sharp sewing needle instead of an embroidery needle. The sharp sewing needle has a finer point and it will make smaller perforations in the stabilizer. The first thing to embroider will be a "fabric dieline" (or outline stitch). This marks the area on the stabilizer where the fabric piece will be placed.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a blue oval shape on a white fabric stabilizer held in an embroidery hoop. The machine needle is in motion.

After the fabric dieline has sewn, remove the hoop from the machine but do not unhoop the stabilizer. Spray the wrong side of the front fabric piece with temporary spray adhesive. Place the fabric on the stabilizer over the sewn fabric dieline.

Hand holds peeled white fabric backing revealing blue stitched teardrop shape on white stabilizer inside a rectangular embroidery hoop on a light surface.

Next, place the hoop back onto the machine and embroider the "front piece tackdown." A tackdown holds the fabric piece in place for the remainder of the design.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a dark thread oval shape on a white square piece of faux leather held in an embroidery hoop.

The next step to embroider will be the "cut line." This marks the area on the leather where the finished design will later be cut out.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching two overlapping oval shapes in dark blue thread on a white piece of fabric held in an embroidery hoop.

Follow the color change sheet to embroider the inner details of the design.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a dark blue ornamental leaf pattern with swirls on a white fabric square hooped in the machine.

A small circle near the top of the design will also embroider. This circle is the "hole punch guide." It marks where a hole will be punched later for a jump ring.

Close-up of a white paper with an embroidered design featuring blue thread in a teardrop shape with intricate floral and swirl patterns inside.

Before sewing the "back piece tackdown," remove the hoop from the machine. Do not unhoop the stabilizer. Turn the hoop over so the back side is facing up. Spray the back fabric piece with temporary spray adhesive. Then, smooth the back fabric piece over the shape on the back side of the hoop.

Hand holding up fabric to reveal blue embroidery of a floral pattern on white faux leather, secured in an embroidery hoop with stabilizer underneath.

As all the bobbin stitching from here on out will be seen from both sides, wind a bobbin with the same thread that is being used in the top needle.

Spool of royal blue thread and a matching bobbin on gray fabric background, showing thread texture and spool label in detail.

Reattach the hoop and embroider the "back piece tackdown."

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a blue lace-like leaf design on white fabric, showing the needle and presser foot in detail.

Once the embroidery is finished, carefully tear the excess stabilizer away from between the two leather pieces.

White square fabric with a blue freestanding lace embroidery design featuring swirls and curls, placed on a gray textured background.

Then, using scissors, carefully cut along the inner edge of the "cut line." Cutting along the inside of the cut line will remove those stitches from the leather piece, leaving a clean and smooth fabric edge. Once you've trimmed away the excess fabric, repeat the above steps to finish the other faux leather portion of your earring set.

Gray-handled Fiskars scissors rest on a textured gray fabric surface next to a small, teardrop-shaped white piece with blue intricate scroll embroidery.

Next we will sew the freestanding lace portion of the earrings. For this you will need water-soluble stabilizer. There are different kinds of water-soluble stabilizer: one is soft and fibrous this is vilene. The other is more plastic-like, called Sulky ultra solvy. In this demonstration we used the vilene.

Two square pieces of fabric on a gray background: one is transparent plastic, the other is white non-woven stabilizer.

To start the lace, hoop a piece of water-soluble stabilizer.

White embroidery stabilizer fabric secured in a rectangular white plastic embroidery hoop, set on a gray surface.

Match the bobbin as stitching will be seen from both sides.

Spool of dark blue thread and small bobbin of matching thread on gray textured fabric background. The spool is white plastic with a label on one end.

Attach the hoop to the machine and sew out the lace part of the design.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a small, circular blue lace design on white stabilizer fabric inside a hoop. The needle and presser foot are visible.

Match the bobbin as stitching will be seen from both sides.

A hand holding a small piece of white stabilizer with a dark blue embroidered freestanding lace flower, held above circular ripples in water below.

Trim away the extra stabilizer, then soak the lace.

Close-up of an iron pressing a white fabric with a narrow hem over a small blue embroidered lace flower on a silver ironing board cover.

Next, using an awl, punch a hole in the center of embroidered "hole punch guide" on the faux leather pieces. Be careful not to rip or tear any of the embroidery.

Close-up of a teardrop-shaped white faux leather earring with blue freestanding lace swirls, held by metal tweezers over a gray fabric background.

Using a needle nose pliers, open a jump ring and loop it through the hole made by the awl and add the earring hook. Use the needle nose pliers to close the link.

Hand holding a single white teardrop-shaped earring with intricate dark blue swirling lace embroidery and silver fishhook earring wire, on a gray textured surface.

Now use needle nose pliers to loop one jump ring through each of the two freestanding lace flowers.

Close-up of metal tweezers holding a small blue embroidered lace flower with six circular petals and mesh centers on a gray textured background.

To finish, use a final jump ring to attach the flower to the ring holding the earring hook. Do this for both earrings.

Single earring with white faux leather base featuring blue freestanding embroidered lace floral and swirl design, silver metal hook on textured gray fabric background.