Your sewing machine can do much more than just sewing. These possibilities, in fact, can often surprise even some of the most advanced seamstresses! So join us here as we take you through the basics of free-hand embroidery!
LET’S GET STARTED!
STEP 1
Fundamentally every sewing machine can do this – regardless of whether it’s a new state-of-the-art or vintage model. First you have to mount the embroidery foot. The foot itself does usually come equipped with a spring, so you can push the embroidery frame under the foot. 
STEP 2
For most sewing machines, you can adjust the feed dog. This will enable you to direct the course of the fabric yourself, therefore maintaining free movement under the sewing machine rather than having to work against the feed dog. On a vintage machine, there is often a screw that can be turned to lower the feed dog. However, there are also machines which have a needle plate; i.e. you place a small plastic plate on it that covers the feed dog. 
STEP 3
Now you take an embroidery frame, place a woven fabric over it and push it into the closed ring. The frame can be tightened nicely with a screwdriver, thereby enabling you to achieve a goodtension. In the case of woven fabrics, make sure that the thread is not twisted – otherwise you’ll have to clamp the fabric again. If the voltage is not correct, a distorted image will appear afterwards. 
Tip: If the fabric is quite thin, you can place a sticky backing underneath to provide even more tension. 
STEP 4
Now lift the embroidery foot up and push your embroidery frame under it. In order to practice and get the hang of it, you can try doodling so that you get a feeling for the art of free-hand embroidery. 
STEP 5
We’d recommend using an erasable pen to begin with when drawing your motif, which can be easily embroidered upon. The correct setting on your sewing machine is the straight stitch. There is no specific stitch length or width – you provide this as you see fit. Begin slowly and try to follow the recorded line as closely as possible. If you find that it’s going well, then keep going! This exercise is not designed for you to create the most beautiful motif on your first attempt – rather it’s a means of you practicing and becoming better acquainted with the technique. 
STEP 6
It’s important to go around each seam at least twice, in order to make the embroidered motif more pronounced. And there you have it! Original Article: https://www.makerist.de/magazin/naehen/freihandsticken-mit-der-naehmaschine-das-sind-die-basics
