This week we’ve been sharing some of the
embroidery collections that coordinate with our fabric lines. Today, we’re
going behind the scenes. We talked with two experts at Oklahoma Embroidery
Supply & Design: Tony Warriner, Design Center Manager, and Christy Burcham,
Product Manager.
How are motifs from
fabric lines chosen to become embroidery designs?
Christy: There are some artists who we have an established relationship with. Those
artists have an idea of what motifs they’re drawing that they’d like to use for
embroidery. That makes our job easy. Other times we go ‘shopping’—we look at
new fabric lines and see what might add value to our embroidery lines.
Do you typically choose
the focal motifs from fabrics?
Christy: Usually, though our digitizers can see things in fabric artwork that the
average customer might not see as a motif. They pick out those pieces—even out
of the background of a fabric—and make a really interesting piece.
Tony: There are a lot of really awesome background designs that work well for
what we need.
Is there a range to the
number of designs, or the complexity of designs that you like to have in a
collection?
Tony: We try to cover a bit of everything. On average with a fabric line, we are
looking for 20 designs to round out a collection. We’ll have 5 or 6 main focal
point designs. Then we’ll have smaller elements that go with the main designs,
as well as borders, corners, line work, and appliques.
How does a motif become
an embroidery design?
Tony: We’ll start out by looking at the design. If there is a large open area of
one color, we’ll decide we want to make that motif an applique. We’ll choose
colors that match, and put some additional shading into it. We try to look at
the embroidery from the perspective of the end user. We don’t want to have too
many colors, which leads to lots of thread changing, but we use our techniques
and a limited amount of colors to create what looks like twice as much. I think
we do a really good job at keeping the colors and the amount of sewing time to
a minimum.
What are some easy ways
for a quilter to get into embroidery?
Christy: Getting your hands on it is where you want to get started, and there are
lots of opportunities to do that. Many of our dealers offer classes where
they’ll provide a machine. We do that too—we’ll go into a store and do a
hands-on workshop. The customer doesn’t have to have used a machine before; she
can come in and make a project during the class. If you have a friend with an
embroidery machine, ask to try it. I think people will find it’s far less scary
than they think it is.
How has embroidery evolved?
Tony: We used to actually
lay out the artwork—as big as poster—and
take a ruler to mark off angles and points. Everything was so manual. It was
done stitch by stitch by the digitizer. Now it’s all done on the computer.
Christy: The other thing that
has changed dramatically is that the type of designs is so vastly different.
Embroidery used to be industrial focused—mascots, logos, things you’d stitch on
the chest of a shirt. Now our focus is heavily involved in what the creative
user wants to do. It’s not about making clip art, it’s about the experience of
a customer making something. It’s about what’s going to inspire someone to make
something beautiful. Our biggest customer group is quilters. A lot of times
people think that embroidery is a different sewer than a quilter. Embroiderers
love to make quilts. Our most popular collections, our most popular products,
are quilt-related. Quilting is big time.
Thanks, Tony and Christy, for taking the time to talk to us.
Click here to see all Oklahoma Embroidery Supply & Design has to offer.
Click here to see the OESD designs that coordinate with our fabric lines.
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Announcing our four winners from Cherry Guidry's pattern giveaway last week:
Chickasaw Lake:Natalie F
Dogwood Star:Alesha Klein
Lakeside Ride:Quilter
Sunday Ride Minis:QuiltShopGal
Congratulations, ladies! You'll be hearing from Cherry via email about getting your pattern prizes.
