As many of you know I am working on digitizing FSL, I now have several pieces that turned out really cute, see the pictures. My question, can you add stitching like normal embroidery if the base is of FSL and I have removed all the base stitching for each of the colors?

Dolly, the only way to really know what works, is to stitch it out using WSS, wash it out, and see what falls apart.
Someone mentioned, Sonia Showalter's designs, but has probably forgotten that SS also creates, very solid, Free Standing (not necessarily lace) designs and they must work or she wouldn't keep making them.
With Free Standing Designs the important thing is that the stitching is all joined together, no jumps, and your outside angles (not Angels, angles!) need to be correct so that stitches don't fall off the ends/corners.
I just checked through my FSD folders and I have many ornaments, birds, jewellery designs, etc. that are more solid than lace so people do create them.

When you stitch them out, and you should do this yourself so you can see EXACTLY how well they stitch, if you start having problems with needle penetration, (indicated by thumping, or the needle pulling up the design as it comes out, or jamming, or thread shredding) then you know you have to go back to the drawing board and remove some underlay.

I absolutely loathe being told, "you can't do it that way" simply because no-one else has tried it before.
Imagine where we'd be if someone didn't experiment to create lace in the first place, then someone said I think I can make a machine to do that, and so on, and so on and now today.........

Just go for it, if it works keep on doing it, if it doesn't, throw it in a box with a note to remind yourself WHY you threw it there.
Hugs n roses, Meganne

3 comments

by meganne 13 Aug 2012

PS, let's start calling these what they are... free standing designs, not free standing lace. OK?

by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Many thanks Meganne, my machine comes home tonight, God Willing so I'll be able to sew these and see what they do... LOL

by joansatx 13 Aug 2012

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and being encouraging to we who have so much to learn! and I'm happy to call them FSD rather than FSL...really are two categories. Thanks for attention to detail!

I don't know about creating designs but these look great. Well done.

these are beautiful. hugs joyce

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Thank you, they are cute!

Yes you can. If you check out other designs you will see where the didigiter has added flowers etc to the fsl design. hugs Helen

1 images:[1]

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Yes, I have done many pieces of this description but I'll have to test sew my designs!! Thanks for commenting.

I don't know anything about digitizing, but I do know your designs are adorable! Keep on Stitchin', Susan

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

I will follow thru on these for sure! Thanks

Marji and bumblebee gave you excellent advice and I cannot improve on that. The digitised designs are really pretty. I hope they sew out well as they look so cute.

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

I'm hoping too!! Thanks

Hi Dolly,
I've only sewn out FSL but in my humble opinion if you do the santa completely as fill then it should be applique for its no longer lace.
On your cute ginger there is FSL and Fill but the fill is very substantial for an FSL ornament-as a sewer I would prefer if the whole thing was done in lace of different colors.
However, If you look as Sonia Showalters gorgeous angels she does beautiful artistic Satin Stitches that give dimension to the lace-results are gorgeous.
Perhaps,doing ginger on organza might give her a little more support- she is cute.
Another thing to think about is an ornie hangs and you see both sides so you would do same color on both sides and it would be way to dense in ordinary
flat fill over fsl base is digitized as regular fill
I think.
Anyhow, I'm not an expert at all just what comes to mind as think about sewing out the design as a lace ornament. Perhaps, I'm wrong and it will work.
The artwork is very cute.

2 comments

by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Thinking of tree ornaments I was hoping for something light and simple but to get into applique it changes. Now that I remember I've done those tiny nut cups that are very full base stitching with the same thread in the bobbin as well... I'll just have to try a stitch out!! Many thanks for your comments

by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

to try a stitch out!! Many thanks for your comments

They are adorable. Not a FSL expert to answer your question. Sorry! Hugs, Rachel

nice work

You can stitch a design on top of an FSL base, but I've never tried to do anything like your light bulb or Santa.
In a case like that I'd make them in FSL - base in parts in the right colours, and the features in varying width of satin stitch. That way it would look like FSL.
For a freestanding ornament I'd leave out the FSL base and use a bit of fabric, the same way you make a patch.

I'm not an expert on fsl, by any means, Dolly, but I'll give this a shot. Your Gingerbread Santa is a fsl base, and the dress and hat are what looks like a weave fill on top of the fsl. That would be pretty much like putting a design onto fsl. If that worked, then your base was strong enough. I've had fsl blank bases that you could put lettering on, like Martine's christmas ornament in DBC, and it works fine. I'm not sure about your Santa and the Christmas bulb, but it looks like you used a weave fill over top of a fsl base. If you haven't sewn these out yet, definitely test them. This is just MY definition, but I think fsl should be lacy, something you could see the light through, and those look rather dense to me. If your base isn't strong enough, you're going to get distortion from that heavy weave fill when you wash the stabilizer out. Or, alternatively, you could just dab the edges to dissolve the stabilizer there, and not put the whole thing in water. You might want to think about making that fill less dense, I think you should be able to do that in your 'properties' setting for each portion of the fill. I think if you tried to put a name or anything on top of those already dense stitches, you might have a hard time with shredding thread & breaking needles. I got a free design once, which was supposed to be fsl, of a bookmark. On the fsl base the digitizer had laid down such a heavy weave fill that the design actually made it's own fabric! Then the flowers were stitched on top of this. I really slowed down the machine, because the needle was having a hard time getting thru all that. Besides which, the silly thing took an hour and a half to sew. I won't do that one again. I didn't notice, because the thread color was white, and I wasn't paying enough attention when I looked at it in Digitizer. I could see the fsl base, but not the weave fill. I think fsl should be light and airy, not bulletproof. What program are you using, Bernina? If so, I'm not much help, Janome & Bernina aren't on speaking terms. Hope this helps, hugs, Marji

2 comments

by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

I did lessen the density and in close up there are just straignt lines of color fill. My idea was to not need felt or other material as the base, but silly me! I forgot about organza, I'll have to try that if these don't work as FSL.
I am using Embird and Studio, they are on speaking terms he he
Many thanks for your comments!

by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

and Studio, they are on speaking terms he he
Many thanks for your comments!

Really cute designs!

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Thank you

Great work, they are so cute.

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by dollygk 13 Aug 2012

Thanks

I forgot to say that my machine is in the shop so I can't try a test stitch out LOL, again thanks.

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by basketkase 12 Aug 2012

I am trying to do some digitizing on fsl too, Dolly, it looks like you got the hang of it and looks terrific...my baby is in the shop too...boo hoo for us both!

by basketkase 12 Aug 2012

Thanks for asking that ? as a newbie to fsl I wonder the same thing when adding a design on top of fsl......