Have you ever had a project that you had really high hopes for and were really excited about sharing the final results...only for it to crash and burn?
Here's the story of making lemonade out of lemons. And not throwing the lemons against the wall like you really want to do.
If you machine embroider, you are probably in groups on Facebook where fellow embroiderers (is that a word?) share their projects, ask for help, and offer ideas. If you happen to be one of those people, then you have seen this Walmart bag all over those groups. I have read every post and thread about embroidering this bag. I have watched every YouTube video. I have asked questions and read what others did wrong. I bought the proper needle. I gathered my materials. I was ready to conquer. And then the fun began.
I was told to use a 75/11 needle. It broke. I used a regular one and a ballpoint needle. Both broke. I wound up only having success (as in it not breaking) with a 75/11 needle intended for leather. This is not leather, so I was not supposed to (as I read over and over) use a leather needle. I adjusted tension. I paused my machine and tried to give it breaks. The monogram was supposed to have three letters (like the black bag in this photo). As you can see, I stopped at one letter. The thread broke a few times, so I had to continually rethread the machine. I had to back up the machine a few stitches to restitch when the thread would break. I have used the font design before, so I know it's not the design's fault. It was my machine. Or me.
This bag is reversible, and all along I had planned to make a patch to go on the reverse side to cover the back of the embroidered side (to cover the back side of the threads). I made the patch and used E6000 glue to attach it to the pleather. The patch is the only thing that went according to plan.
In the end I don't really know what wrong. I know people have made these over and over on the same exact embroidery machine that I have. I followed every single direction and step. No one could have been more prepared. I guess it was one of those days and one of those projects that just simply went wrong. Thankfully these bags are affordable. I wish I would have had a comparable fabric to practice on first, but I don't have a reversible pleather laying around. I really wish I could nail down what to fix so I could successfully embroider these bags. They come in several colors and have so many embroidery options. You can find them in store or online at Walmart (use ebates for 1% cash back).
If you have success with these bags, I'd love to know your tricks!
I wound up with some tart lemonade, but that's better than moldy lemons, right? 😆
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