Brother Sewing UK

Hello sewists! I am thrilled to be back on the Brother blog. This time I am bringing you my latest make – and a very special one at that. As summertime started to peek it’s sunshiney face round the end of Spring, it got me to thinking about all those exciting summery things to come. Including the return of wedding season!  An invitation to a wedding is such a wonderful opportunity to start planning a fancy frock. I just love a wedding – the excitement of getting ready, seeing the happy couple tie the knot, ohh and the flowers, the food, the drink... so many things about weddings that have me all excited! So, when a very beautiful wedding invitation from my friends landed on my doormat earlier this year, I wasted no time in dreaming up this little beauty. The pattern I chose for this make is a Deer & Doe Magnolia Dress (maxi version), and the fabric I used was one I had been eyeing up for some time – a bamboo silk in this stunning ‘saffron’ yellow colour...

Another of the many projects I’ve made on my Brother 1800QC in recent months is this colourful coat, made from fabric I had sitting in my stash for many years. I decided I wanted a new winter coat but couldn’t find what I was looking for – a hooded A-line coat with front zip  –  so I raided my stash, unearthed this colourful wool coating with couched yarns, and set to! The pattern is McCall 7848 which is an easy design to construct with princess seams in the bodice, a waist seam and A-line bottom.  Using fabric from my stash meant I didn’t have enough for the sleeves and hood, but this wasn't a problem as I had some fur fabric left over from a fleecy blanket I made for my son. That was another fun project, made using his old Band T-shirts – I cut the motifs from the fronts, stabilised them with strips of interfacing down the edges and then joined them in a jigsaw for the front, with occasional strips of fabric between as sashing to make the different sizes fit. I b...

I am completely new to PEDesign Software, but want to learn to take full advantage of my Brother embroidery machine. As an introduction, I decided to pick one feature to focus on to allow me to become familiar with the layout of the program. My inspiration came from the Background Fill feature, available on the XV. I will explain the process and options within the Background Fill Wizard to complete a quick and easy mini quilted pillow project. I have ensured I have the current version of the Software, inserted the Software Key and opened the program. First, you need to design a template by selecting the hoop size appropriate for the project.  The ‘fill’ will completely fill the hoop, so be mindful of your design size and project requirements. I have selected hoop size 200mm x 200mm as I want to make square quilted blocks.  From the home tab, select the Shapes button and choose your desired shape. I’m using a square with inverted rounded corners. Draw the shap...