FSL Spiral Galaxies Doilies

These are instructions on how to embroider the FSL Spiral Galaxies Doilies. The designs are available for mega hoop only! The size of each pattern is 193 mm x 223 mm. The embroidery area of your machine should be not less than 8" x 10".

The finished size of the doilies is about 180 x 340 mm ( 7 1/4" x 13 1/2").

We offer 2 versions of the doily. Each doily consists of 2 parts.

Stabilizers: We recommend to use water-soluble mesh, such as Vilene. Vilene D0102 is a non-woven dissolvable stabilizer which is imported into the US, is sold in large rolls and is sometimes packaged under different brand names. Some of these brand names are Fabri-Solvy by Sulky, Avalon Plus by Madeira, Wash-Away, and Aqua Magic.

Film-like water soluble stabilizers, such as Solvy by Sulky, Avalon by Madeira and Badge Master are not suitable for Free-Standing Lace embroidery.

Threads: Embroidery Polyester threads are used in the needle.

We recommend to use cotton, or cotton/polyester blend thread in the bobbin of 50-, 60-, 70-weight.

Needles: We use size 80/12 embroidery needles and 80/12 metallic needles.

Most Importantly: ALWAYS make a test stitch-out and wash away the stabilizer. This helps you to select the threads, needles, stabilizers and settings of your machine correctly. It's very important to select the correct thread tension!

Rinsing away the stabilizer is an important step, because the lace can be stretched or distorted if this is done incorrectly. We recommend to use a foam board and stainless pins.

Cut away the excess stabilizer close to the stitches. Take your time and carefully pin every single loop on the lace's outer edge to the board.

Now place the board into a bowl with luke-warm water. Leave the board in the water for at least half an hour. Change the water a couple of times.

Take the board out of the water and leave to air dry. Do not unpin the lace until it's completely dry.

Making the Doilies:

We offer 2 versions of the doily. Each version consists of 2 parts. You get 4 files in all.

The first version has 13 colors, the second - 8 colors. It's very important to keep the order of the colors while embroidering each part, otherwise the colors of the spirals will not match up.

Embroider each file once. Wash out the stabilizer. Let the parts air dry. Place the part together, so the color stripes coincide. Using thread of the last color, sew the parts together by hand.

Happy embroidering!