I really enjoy the Craftsy classes. And one of my favorites is Stupendous Stitching taught by Carol Ann Waugh. In the course you learn great techniques; including both hand and machine embroidery.
One of the first things you do is develop a Stitch Bible. And this is mine:
It is actually a sampling of every decorative stitch available on my machine. I've had other quilting instructors recommend something similar. One that I saw looked like an old fashioned sampler that could have been framed it was so beautiful. In my case, you can see that I was going for the 'utilitarian' look rather than a piece of artwork!
It's not difficult to do; just be sure you use a stabilizer with each page. That is very important so that the stitches lie flat. In my case, I knew I wanted to use striped fabric so that my stitches would be straight. (As you'll see, I still wasn't totally successful, but trust me it looks better than if I had winged it!) After you get all of the pages done, you can put them in those clear notebook pockets if you like. In my case I just stacked them up, stitched from end to end and then added a fabric binding to hide the stitching.
Oh, and one other thing you can do...you'll see in the example below that I tried some of the stitches with different stitch lengths/widths just to get an idea of what I could customize.
As I mentioned before, putting something like this together isn't difficult, but it is certainly tedious. I had over 100 stitches to sample! But, I have to say, in the end it was definitely worth it and I'd recommend everyone give it a try. I've used my little book on many occasions and I'm not sure I'd have turned to my decorative stitches so often if I only had that little card to refer to that came with my machine.
Give it a try and I'll bet you'll be glad you did!
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