Shadow Embroidery by Embroidery Machine

Catching up with my must-do’s so that I can write a new post has been nearly impossible. I won’t bore you with ALLL the details, but one obstacle is time spent supervising 7 year old grandson Robert as he works on the book he has written, Football Frenzy (which soon I HOPE and expect to be for sale @ $7, at least until Amazon or BooksAMillion pick it up ). After I printed up two copies for his perusal, he decided that it is too short. So he is back to composing, adding a chapter on recipes for football watching snacks and more.

Additionally, I have been substitute teaching Sunday School for 1st-5th graders, a satisfying but time consuming task.

So until I finish the little popover pinafore (Pini-4) which is almost done, I resort yet again to putting up a post from the past.

Shadow embroidery by machine continues to be of great interest. Though you probably have a greater chance of winning the lottery than of laying hands on any one of Suzanne Hinshaw’s to-die-for collections, you just might get lucky. There are other designers mentioned below with sets or individual designs.

So here is the old post, with a few photos of projects done since putting this one up. A real, new, fresh post should be up very soon.

grandson’s Easter outfit with shadow embroidery from Southern Stitches™ Shadow Work Baby Collection

pillowcase hem with shadow embroidery from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Shadowed Bows, Madeira applique scalloped hem and pinwheel roses from Fil tire’ and Fancywork by Suzanne Sawko and me.

Again and again, I have sung the praises of Suzanne Hinshaw’s shadow embroidery designs for embroidery machines. Suzanne’s artistic hand has drawn the beautiful designs and her digitizing is impeccable. But, sadly her designs are almost impossible to purchase now. A few collections are still for sale at Allbrands.

another Suzanne Hinshaw design on baby pillowcase hemline

Suzanne and I have roomed together while teaching at Martha Pullen’s school in Huntsville and have enjoyed other good times tailgating at UF football games and visiting when we got the chance.

Now, I cannot reach her. When I first started this blog, she posted an encouraging comment but since then, she has not answered e-mail and her web site is down. I know she is an incredible grandmother and dotes on those children. So perhaps she has given up designing and is just sewing and enjoying the grandbabies. I hope so. Does anyone know anything about where she is or what she is doing?

shadow embroidered bear from Hinshaw’s Teddies and Toys

Meanwhile, her designs continue to charm me. This pillowcase is the project for a class I have taught all over the country. The shadow work design is from Suzanne Hinshaw’s collection Shadowed Bows 2. The web roses between the feather stitching and at the peak of the Madeira applique’ hem are from Fil Tire’ and Fancywork Elements by Suzanne Sawko and me. I think it shows very well how much this machine technique looks like hand work. For details for the technique, check earlier posts featuring shadow work.

Visit this site which gives some background and details of Suzanne’s design career and techniques.

my granddaughter’s Christmas collar with shadow embroidery by machine from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Charming Embellishments collection

Other designers are now marketing machine embroidery designs for shadow work, though I have not tried any of them. Upon close inspection, many are actually shadow applique’, a technique in which colored fabric is applique’d beneath a sheer fabric and held in place with a pin stitch or even a satin stitch.

Laurie Anderson of Southern Stitches has a new web site for machine embroidery featuring shadow embroidery and bullion knot designs.

I’m really saddened by Suzanne Hinshaw’s absence from the machine embroidery design world. If anyone knows anything about her, please let me know. And if you have found more shadow work designs, let us know that, too.