Get to it, shake it off already. . .

Shook off my annoyance over The Briefcase by stitching out one of the dozens of new designs I’ve downloaded for free or paid 50% or less for this month. Yesterday’s choice was an unintentional freebie – it’s the one KM Embroidery resized for me when I complained a bit about the Beauty and the Beast one I bought not being available in the advertised 4x4 format. Since they fixed the error (although the B&B design is still labelled as 4x4, they told me the design might not stitch out well) and resized this second one I liked not listed as 4x4 for me, I figured I owed it to them to test stitch it and post the results, especially if they were good. They were. True, I don’t get the detail the larger sizes have, but that’s to be expected. Design itself is solid, and I’m happy with it. So it’s already on their Facebook site, which is only fair. 

Of course, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned using an old needle, scrap fabric, and pieces of previously used stabilizer pieced together, that’s what got me thrown off an embroidery message board, and honestly, who cares ? I just wanted to show that, even a resized design stitched on sub-perfect materials with a budget machine can still look awesome. And it’s not immodest of me to say that at least part of the reason it looks so good is because I have the skill to make using less than optimum materials look like I went for top of the line and stayed there. But I didn’t say that, because caring about it was limited only to me anyway. Proud of m’self, though. 

It’s funny to say, but I’m glad I took two years off from Brody and machine embroidery. If I’d have pushed m’self through out of guilt and already-spent expenses, I would have gotten frustrated and quit sooner. As things are now, I get to relearn and relax, let others teach me, at my own pace. And my output is vastly improved. Was always tense and afraid I’d ruin an expensive machine, plus pricey thread, fabric, and stabilizers before, even when I did odd experiments like balsa wood and dryer sheets. I had been feeling bad for neglecting this for so long, but not anymore. I’m just gonna enjoy ! 

Of course, I have no idea what I’m gonna use this stitch-out on. . .