DIY Network

Sweet Memories: Vinyl Photo Album Covers Simple designs are embroidered on crisp white vinyl album covers. From "Uncommon Threads" episode DUCT-139

Sarah Neuburger uses an embroidery machine to create super-cute photo album covers.

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Vinyl Photo Album Cover

Materials:

white Floridian vinyl, 1/4 yd.
nonrefillable hardcover photo album (our measures 4-3/4"x6-3/4")
Coats & Clark All-Purpose Dual-Duty Plus Thread in white
Premium Sulky 40-wt. rayon thread in teal
22" ribbon
transparent ruler
pencil
pinking shears
fabric scissors
embroidery machine

Please note: If you are unable to purchase the above vinyl, keep the following in mind when finding a substitute. You don't want to use one that has a tablecloth-type backing, nor do you want a vinyl that has a slightly sticky or oily texture. This vinyl will leave a residue on the sewing needle and is very difficult to feed through a standard machine.

Photo album note: You can find a number of very inexpensive photo albums in various craft-supply stores. Sarah Neuburger encourages you, however, to use one that has a hard cover to give the album added stability. If you use a different photo album, just be sure to make certain the dimensions are the same before following the cutting and sewing directions below.

Figure A

Cutting:
Start by cutting out a rectangle that measures 8" wide by 22" long (figure A). This will ensure that you have plenty of extra room for cutting and embroidery placement. (If the album dimensions differ from those above, give yourself at least an extra 2" both vertically and horizontally from the actual album size.)

Machine Embroidery Design

Editor's note: To obtain the bluebird design, please contact Sarah Neuburger; you can find her contact information in the Guest section at the bottom of the page.

Download the embroidery design
The bluebird design is available as an .art file. This type of file is supported by Bernina Artista embroidery machines; it will not be supported by other embroidery machines, however. It is assumed that you are using a compatible machine and, unfortunately, we cannot provide additional file types for all machines. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on downloading design files to your machine. (If you are familiar with digitizing files and you have the software capabilities to do so, you may also download the .gif file and digitize it to be compatible with your machine type.)

Sew embroidery design:
To determine the correct placement of the embroidery design, measure 2-1/4" down and 8" from the right side of the vinyl rectangle and make a small dot with the pencil. Next, place the vinyl into the embroidery hoop for the machine, trying to keep the center dot of the design in the middle of the hoop. (Be aware that you do not need to add interfacing or other support material when embroidering vinyl.) For this design on our machine, we used the 130x100mm hoop. Next, center the sewing needle to the center pencil mark according to your machine's instructions. Thread the teal Sulky thread into the machine and start sewing the design (figure B). (The bobbin thread should be white.) This design will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Clip threads and remove from embroidery hoop (figure C).

Figure B

Figure C

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