Mary, they are so cute! Tell me about the mylar. Is it similar to the stuff you use to make gift baskets? I generally use organza but I'm thinking mylar is easier to snip off

Mary those are awesome! Love them all especially the snowmen. I follow Krystyna on the question how is it to work with mylar?

There is more info on the "Charming Station Embroidery" website
about washable mylar.

But here is some brief info.

[h=2]Where can I get this mylar? [/h] This is the most tricky question. If you are using the design on a craft item that will
not be washed and dried in a dryer (or ironed!), you may be satisfied with the kind
of gift wrap that you can get at a dollar store. This kind will not stand up to heat like
from the dryer or from an iron.


There is, however, a type of mylar that is washable and can be dried in the dryer
(on low settings). You can buy in packs of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 200 sheets or try out sample
packs of various colors and sizes.

US customers: http://www.heirloomsbysharon.com/ (Sharon)

UK and Europe: http://lucysmachineembroiderygallery.../c1884316.html(Lucy)

Either of these ladies would be happy to answer any questions you might have! Sharon ships
to other countries (including Australia).

[h=2]What "color" mylar should I buy?[/h] We used "Opal Translucent" on almost all of our sample sew-outs. This is actually almost
transparent and it simply reflects back the color of the thread that is used. That means you
can use one piece under an entire design and see all of your colors (as long as your background
fabric is white). If your background fabric is not white, we recommend that you purchase White
Mylar so that the background colors or prints don't show through your embroidery. To see an
example of a use for a colored mylar, look at the picture for the Autumn Fancy set below.
We used a bright orange for this sample.


Both Sharon and Lucy carry sample packs of various colors if you would like to try some out.

The web site quilty-louise posted are great source of Mylar info. Our teacher always brings our supplies. Yes, you need the special mylar and it can be washed and ironed. I have always used patterns special for mylar and just lay it on top of fabric and let the machine do it's work and yes it is very simple to take off the extra. I loved the way the orange and red mylar looked in the designs. I have also made greeting cards using the mylar patterns. Are really cute.

Very pretty. I'm just beginning to work with Angelina and since it's like angel hair before you iron it you can pull threads to make a mixture of colors which is great. You are just in time for the holidays.

I have a Babylock Ellissimo. Has anyone used the 7 in 1 frames? It may also be called the snap frame for the embroidery hoop. It looks good, but would rather talk with someone who has it.
Thanks, Jo Ann

OMG almond, those are darling!!

Mary; your table runners are absolutely darling!! Love each and every one of them!! Sewwww cute!! You mentioned Charming Station in one of your subsequent postings, are the designs from there??
Thanks for sharing!!

My sister & I just became proud owners of a Brother Pacesetter 8500D, it's an older used machine, but in excellent condition. We have never had anything but basic Singers so we have LOTS of questions :)

Can we do basic cleaning/maintenance ourselves or do we have to send it out to the repair shop! (they want more than I paid to clean it!)
If we can do it ourselves is there a 'how-to' somewhere?

A friend of a friend suggesting getting our first sets of thread off of eBay cheap, and moving up to more expensive threads as we go along. Anyone buy thread off eBay?

I need to buy the PED Basic set as we were unable to find the card reader or any cards(it was an estate sale and the family knew NOTHING about any of the stuff they were selling) I'm guessing they were stored in the sewing table that they sold separately before calling me.

Are the cards re-writable? or will I have to buy a new one every time I want to load something new onto the machine?

I'm so excited to get this up and running lol just wish I would be able to pick up the PED Basic as bit quicker, but I'll survive another month :)

I use a lot of thread purchased from Ebay. I like rayon, but lots of other prefer polyester. I would buy a small amount of whatever you get - small spools and a limited number of colors, just enough to do the type of designs you have in mind. Then if you don't like the look of the way the thread handles or the way your machine uses the thread you haven't spent a $100 or so in thread - which isn't at all hard to do. I would pick out the design(s) I wanted to do first, then buy the colors I needed to make the designs. In fact that is how I buy my thread even now. When I get a new color it is always because I need it in a design, not because I just think it is a pretty color.