I don't really remember the names of the stitches. Did I say I was rusty? LOL. It's a name, so whatever stitch you use to write a name.

Well, you could use any of a number of stitches to write a name; I generally use stem stitch but back stitch is vey popular as well. For thicker letters you’d use satin stitch.

It is good that you are doing the embroidery on a separate piece, in case it does not work out.

Satin has very fine thin threads in it and is likely to not be very sturdy and to pull and run.

There are tear away and wash away stabilizers that you can buy and I would recommend that you experiment with that first. Your feelings that you need something to make it stronger is real. If your embroidery stitches are closely done it may create some pretty big holes in the fabric.

Maybe you need to use a finer embroidery thread, too, if there is such a thing.

I never did much embroidery other than the fun things that I did as a young girl using those old iron on transfers.

How sheer is the satin? I've embroidered on some really sheer stuff without problems, and other stuff has been nightmares.

Use a finer needle, and use less threads for the embroidery if you are worried about creating holes. Try using a silky floss instead of a cotton floss. Make sure you use a frame/hoop for proper tension of the fabric and thread to prevent puckering.

Since it's going to be a stocking, you are probably going to want to use an interfacing anyway if the satin you are using is light- otherwise you will end up with a draping stocking that just droops instead of a stocking that retains a shape when hung. Choose an interfacing that is close to your satin, a fusible silk organza might be what to use. Stabilize the whole fabric piece, not just where the embroidery will be.

Test embroider. Stabilize, hoop, and try some stitches on a pice to decide how the fabric and floss is working or not before proceeding on to working the stocking. I like stem stitch, but I really like using split stitch for monograms. The directional quality of the stitch subtly controls the flow of the letters.

The tear away/wash away things are only OK for larger patterns IMHO. As you get smaller and smaller, the pattern tends to tear.

I agree with all of the above, but personally, if hand embroidering, I wouldn't choose silk.

I'm no pro, but I have been hand embroidering for 50 years on and off, and the silky type fabrics are difficult.

Good luck! Nancy

Oh yeah. Does anyone know what carbon paper is? ;) It's very helpful!

So, how did the embroidery turn out?

Nancy, what used to be used in sewing was called tracing paper and it came in different colors of light and dark. I remember using that with a tracing wheel when I was young. My goodness! I haven't thought of tracing paper and a tracing wheel for decades. I found other much easier ways to mark sewing registers.

Carbon paper is something different and I dont even know if it is still avaialble, or sewing tracing paper, either.

Anyone remember those old iron on embroidery transfers? I learned to embroider when I was a kid by using those old iron on transfers.

Wednesday I forgot about the tracing wheels! I might have to hit the sewing stores to find one (or the thrift stores!)

Carbon paper is still available at office supply stores, but you might want to go in with several friends on a package! Hubby luckily had some left over from his furniture designing desk.

wednesday morning, I gave it to my daughter to do, as she's better at embroidery than I am, and she volunteered. I ironed interfacing on one part of the satin, and left the rest plain, telling her she might need to try both to see which works best.

Because it's for next Christmas, she can take her time. Hopefully she won't misplace the supplies! Tracing the name on was very time consuming.

Heh, tracing wheels, transfer paper (and transfer pencils), and iron on embroidery transfers are still available at the stores.

Yes. on Amazon there are still those Aunt Martha transfers. And there is another brand that seem to be more modern in concept.

Some of those old transfer themes centered around "woman work", household chores and silly sayings.

I have a set of days of the week dishtowels that I believe were embroidered by my grandmother. Each one depicts a household chore for that day of the week, with the theme being that a women's work is never done. They are so antiquated and were never meant to be actually used.

I cant imagine this theme being popular anymore.

I don't know about popular, but embroidering kitchen linens and using them is still done by some folks. I'm one of them. I've got a few sets embroidered by my mom for me, and I use them on the regular. A couple sets flour sack towels of women's work ones, and a couple sets of cute animals ones. I also have a few Kutch work and redwork ones in the towel stack.

Since a some of them are getting mighty used to death ant aren't long for the rag pile, I have pulled together the stuff to make a couple more sets- garden veggies, fruits, and herbs/spices. I'll start on those once I get my current embroidery project of a new set of napkins done. I still use embroidered cloth napkins too, and some of them are showing their use to the point where those will go to the rag pile soon and get replaced with fresh linens. Those I"m not using a transfer for, just running a simple vine and flower work along one side before I cut and hem them up.

bees needs, you are much more fancy than I am!

All of my kitchen linens need to be battle ready, ready to take one for the team and to die in battle, if needs be.

These are old, so I wont be using them.

How different the world can be for women now, as opposed to sometime mid century, last century.

My embroidered towels are battle ready, and a few of them have worn out or died in battle. They were made to be used. That's why I'm planning on making more.

I suppose if they were old grandmas or something like that, I probably wouldn't really use them for regular kitchen duty. Probably more like use them for the bread basket at dinner. But they would get used in some capacity, and not just sit.

I hear you about using things rather than letting them just sit, and I do agree, usually.

But, the number of occasions that I might have to use these is really slim. I already have enough modern and practical things to use.

I have no real use for them and dont find them very practical.

They are old.

What a life of servitude to home making they represent with a different chore each day.

Generally, I think you are right to make something and to actually use it. I dont know where these had been all these years, but someone had kept them as show towels, which I have no use for.

Are show towels still a thing? My MIL tried putting show towels in her only bathroom on the only rack that was there and put a little hook on the side of the sink for a real towel. The whole family complained but she persisted to do this in the one and only tiny little bathroom. I guess it was her idea of having "nice things".

Right now they are folded and stacked in a glass cabinet that holds most of anything that is being saved for sentimental reasons. Just one narrow glass cabinet that I got from Ikea.

You can buy small quantity of satin and do embroidery on stockings. Firstly, you need to make sure which pattern look you want to sew on the stocking, then tell store owner, they will know the quantity you need to buy.

Fast forward,, and Christmas is fast approaching.....

Best way to press out these puckers on satin, around hand embroidery?

I gave this project to my daughter to do, as she is better at it now than I am at present. It is stem stitch. Much as she endeavored to avoid puckering, it still happened. She did have it stretched very tightly on her hoop. I think it’s just the nature of satin.

The floss is all cotton, and the satin is all polyester. When I pressed the satin in the first place before giving it to her, I sprayed it with water, since I assume my iron steam setting might be too hot for polyester.

What do you think - spray til pretty damp, then try stretching the stitching?

Or do you think puckers will press out without that?

I could iron interfacing on, but I’m not sure that will flatten it.

The ultimate plan is for me to cut it out as a rectangle, then hand stitch it onto my granddaughter’s Christmas stocking.