- Using a pen, On a piece of fabric draw several straight lines, a corner, a curve, and a circle. Lock your thread as described above, then set the machine for zigzag stitching. While running the machine, slowly move the hoop so that the machine forms satin stitching up and down some of the straight lines. Move sideways across other straight lines and observe how this line of stitching is different. Follow the curve without turning the hoop (move it ONLY from side to side) and observe how the line formed gets thicker and thinner as you follow the curve.If your bobbin thread is showing through to the upper surface, reduce the upper tension until it doesn’t. Move on to the circle. You’re going to fill the circle in. You fill area by moving the hoop from side to side while the machine runs zigzag stitches, coloring in the area with the side-to-side lines. Watch the color thread being stitched down by the machine. Think of it like a magic-marker – it’s putting down color while you move it (or in this case while you move the fabric under it) but you want to keep moving so it doesn’t put down too much ink (thread) in one place so you don’t form a spot (or in this case a tangle or lump).
- If you notice open areas in your coloring, go back and fill them in. You can get across filled-in areas by moving the hoop quickly so as not to put down too much thread and cause a lump.
- It takes practice to evenly fill an area and to make nice satin stitching, but once you get it right you’ll find it very easy.
