In my previous post Sewing a Stitch Book With Decorative Stitches- Part 1 

I wrote about getting to know my new  BERNINA 790 PRO & making a stitch book to see all the amazing decorative stitches it can stitch out. Today, I’m moving on with Part 2, a deeper dive into this subject matter. Sewing a Stitch Book With Decorative Stitches- Part 2.

Decorative Stitch pages from Menu 100-600 shown with the BERNINA 790PRO

A Recap of Part 1

 In part 1 the highlights of making a stitch book included:

• why sew a stitch book
• 100 to 600 menus
• how to make a stitch book
• understanding stitches in actual size, an amazing benefit
• familiarization with icons, menus & presser feet
• greater knowledge of working with a machine and understanding it’s potential 
• stimulating creative thoughts regarding future projects
• supplies needed for making a stitch book
• sharing a video of how to make a stitch book:

Lessons Learned in Part 2 ( 700  to 2200 menus)

• The start /stop & speed buttons helped to keep the stitches consistent & improve efficiency
• The magic of the “i” icon for information about the stitch, allowing the sewist to mirror image the stitch, determine number of pattern repeats, triple stitch etc.

The i icon or information icon will bring up the menu to manipulate the stitches

• Contrasting thread to fabric is an effective way to see the stitches and show off their individual beauty. For example, the orange thread with black fabric as illustrated below:

1400 menu tapering stitches , the contrasting thread is very effective and the stitches are lovely

• Size of the fabric is important. For example; I recommend 6” x 10” pieces of stabilized fabric instead of smaller pieces of fabric because some stitches are large ( especially 9mm & multidirectional stitches). This helps to see repeats clearly

The Importance of Tension for Quality Stitches

• Some stitches needed less tension or more depending  on the fabric used,  thread type, needle & speed of stitches.
•  If the bobbin thread comes up from the bottom and shows with the top thread, lower the tension number. Alternatively, if the top thread loops down  on the bottom, increase the tension number.  To see the adjust tension icon on the machine, see arrow below:

Tension adjustment is in the upper left as shown, very helpful in making a stitch book

And There’s More

• Use light hand placement & pressure. Especially with  multidirectional stitches, only a gentle required to guide the fabric, allow the feed dogs to form the stitch, see quilt  stitches below:

1600 menue sideways motion stitches, require a light touch to guide the fabric

• Recommended- draw chalk lines on the fabric for the guidance of  stitches
• Pressure foot selection is important. Utilize the recommended foot & best results will be achieved. Most stitches require BERNINA Reverse Pattern Foot #1C.

Reverse Pattern Foot #1C

• You will find hundreds of creative stitches that surprise you and the machine will stitch out
• As a tactile crafter and sewist, the  making of  this book is exciting 

Labelling the Stitch Books

• Labelling  your books/ binder is very important so you can find stitches quickly.  As an effective way to label I used the machine font menu and stitched out a decorative stitched line under the numbers as shown:

Front of the stitch book labelled with 700 to 1000 menus for easy reference

Front of stitch book with 1200 to 2200 labelled

• In addition, labelling the vertical end of each binder  to find a particular stitch book quickly once they are stored on a shelf. As you can see pinking shears were used to make the label look tidy and intentional

Vertical ends of stitch binders labeled with stitched numbers for easy reference

Some Inspiration from Sewing a Stitch Book with Decorative Stitches

Stitches from the 700 menu – White Embroidery

* Note: there are 8 pages of white embroidery, so many stitches

800 menu – one full page of stitches . White embroidery with sideways motion

900 menu children’s stitches

* Note – there are  6 pages of children’s stitches and a page of children’s stitches with sideways motion as shown below:

Children’s stitches with sideways motion

Filigree Stitches with sideways motion, big and beautiful

Be inspired to Make a Stitch Book With Decorative Stitches

I have concluded that making a stitch book will give you a reference of  stitches to use for years to come. Recently, the making of this stitch book has inspired me to make many decorative stitch projects as shown :

Many quilting & sewing projects like cards, book marks, Ipad sleeves, project totes, block books, gift bags & totes, circles with decorative stitches & ruler blocks enhanced with decorative stitches

If you wish to see more of my decorative stitching, head on over to my website Quilting in the Loft . Another great resource, this blog article at we all sew Make a Stitch Sampler Book

Sewing a Stitch Book with Decorative Stitches -Part 2 means I’m finished with this task. This was so much fun to do, it was time consuming however well worth the effort. As a result, I highly recommend that all new machine owners do it.
However, I want you to be the judge by stitching out your own decorative stitch book to discover the unique potential of your amazing BERNINA sewing machine.

Prepare to be amazed and happy stitching !
Robin