Layer light and delicate cameo backgrounds behind bold embroidery for a beautiful, lacy effect! These combined designs make lovely embellishments for throw pillows, purses, and more. We'll show you how!
Project Needs & Notes:
- Printed templates of all designs
- Air-erase pen
- Fabric
- Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
Designs featured in this tutorial include:
- M18574, Delicate Daisy Cameo
- L9193, Blue Rose Butterfly in Watercolor
- F8068, Fancy Flourish Capital Letter K - 4 Inch
Special notes:
Designs with filled-in areas or satin stitch columns will work best when paired with the cameos. Light-stitching designs like redwork or vintage stitch designs are not the best choice as they will get lost in the background stitching.
Choose overlay designs with dimensions slightly smaller than your cameo background to create a well-proportioned effect. In this example, a 4" x 4" butterfly is stitched on top of a 6" x 10" cameo background.
Designs Used
To get started, print templates of the cameo background design and the design (or designs) you are adding on top. Open each design file with an embroidery software, and print it at full size.
If you do not have embroidery software, Wilcom TrueSizer is a free program to use.
Cut around the edges of the top design and place it within the cameo shape where you want it. Make sure the top design fits well within the cameo. Then set the templates aside for now.
Hoop a piece of fabric with medium weight cutaway stabilizer (I used linen). Attach the hoop to the machine, and embroider the entire cameo background design. When the design has finished, remove the hoop from the machine but do not unhoop the fabric.
Position the top design template where you want it. Using an air-erase pen, mark the center point of the template.
Remove the template and attach the hoop back onto the machine. Load the top design then move the needle directly over the center point on the fabric.
Embroider the design. Since the cameo background is so light, this butterfly design stitches over it perfectly -- like they were made for each other!
After the design has sewn, trim away the excess stabilizer on the back side of the embroidery. And your design pairing is finished!
You can add multiple designs to the cameos by following the steps above. However, be careful to not overlap any of the top designs, as this would get too thick for the machine to sew.
These cameos are also perfect for monogramming. Add a letter from one of our alphabets for stunning effects!
