I think it's this design's fault I'm back into machine embroidery...

Happy February ! Say ‘white rabbit’ for good luck, and don’t forget to change all the calendars. You survived the first month of 2015 !

I am having a serious case of drag-butt, to the point where Beloved Hubby made dinner tonight. I took my sweet ole time with today's embroidery project – even though I had all the colors picked out, with several second-guessed and replaced at the last minute, I still meandered and delayed and put it off ‘til almost 3pm. Didn’t start Brody up ‘til a bit after 4pm, it took me that long to get the fabric selected and hooped. I didn’t wanna go with white, since a good chunk of the design was white, and that was also why I didn’t wanna go with blue. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with using a dark fabric, in case the design stitched sparse, it would show through. That happens a lot. But I finally decided this was a test stitch-out anyway, it’d be a bonus if I could actually use it. So I used the dark green cotton currently draped over Odyssey in lieu of an actual cover.

What it's supposed to look like. 

Since the last design puckered a bit, I researched why. Yeah, I do tug at the fabric a bit after it’s hooped, it’s nearly impossible to hold the material taut and hoop it and the stabilizer together at the same time. But evidently, I need to work on that, because I should be able to. Hmpft. I kind of cheated and tugged at the stabilizer instead, and once free of the hoop, the fabric didn’t pucker much at all. Okay then.

Had a few problems – broken thread, broken bobbin thread, jump threads that were nearly impossible to get scissors under to cut, and I had to take the hoop out to fix the bobbin thread issue. That may be why Elsa’s hairline doesn’t quite meet Elsa’s head. I also accidentally used black bobbin thread instead of black embroidery thread – the difference in weight may also have contributed to the ‘off’ quality of Olaf’s face. And, again, it’s hard to tell, but the dress and sleeves are two different colors, and her face is done in two different skin tones. I’ll try it again – I love this design ! – but I’m more-or-less happy with this one. Sixteen colors and 21 thread changes. Between that and the issues and jump thread cuts, it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to stitch out. Worth it, though, in my book !