Stitch Swatch – for decorative embellishments

I can’t believe that I didn’t think of this sooner.  I like to sew.  (the sewing machine is never put away)  But I usually just use a straight stitch, like when I’m making placemats.

I’d made a stitch swatch for the larger more solid stitches years ago:

Stitch Swatch-large stitches

When I’m going to add an embellishment to a new set of towels, I can just look at the swatch & know exactly what it’s going to look like.  I don’t have to experiment every time I want to sew.  It’s right there in front of me. (Adding embellishments to inexpensive towels, gives them a more expensive look without the extra $$$)

Embellished Towels

But I never made one for the smaller decorative stitches.

I was making some new napkins for a tablescapes & wanted to embellish the edges with some decorative stitches.  And I couldn’t decide which stitch I wanted to use by just looking at the pictures on my sewing machine.

I got a long piece of cotton fabric and started to sew each stitch on the fabric.  I marked the number of the stitch next to sewn stitch so I wouldn’t get confused later on.  It also gave me the chance to mark which stitches need a little tweaking for the tension.  I just marked it right on the swatch. (as you can see for #38)

Stitch Sample Swatch

Now that I’ve made it, I’ll have no trouble choosing which stitch to use when I’m in the mood to decorate something.  This is how the napkins looked before I added the decorative stitches:

Napkins before adding decorative stitches

This is the stitch that I finally chose for my new napkins.  I really like the way they turned out.  I just may be adding a lot more embellishments to my napkins in the future, now that I can see how it will look!

Finished Napkins with decorative stitches

I hope this gives you an idea or two to help you use the stitches that your sewing machine comes with.  I know that I’ll be using them more often in the future.

Happy creating everyone!