Embroidery Library Projects

In-the-Hoop
Tissue Holders

Click on the image to the right
to see the free video tutorial, or
read below for written instructions.

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To find the in-the-hoop tissue holder designs, visit www.EmbLibrary.com!

When you download a tissue holder design, you'll find three files (applique tissue holders have four files).

Two of the files are marked with a "DL" -- that stands for "dieline".

Applique tissue holder designs have three "DL" files. "DLFront" for the front pieces, "DLBack" for the back pieces, and "DL" files for the inside elements (gift packages, etc). We'll use the dielines to cut the fabric to the shape for the tissue holder.

If you have embroidery software, print the dielines. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the dielines to help with placement.

Before we embroider the design, we'll pre-cut the fabric for the front and the back of the tissue holder.

We'll work on the top piece first. Take the printed dieline for the front and cut out the shape.

You can use any kind of fabric to make the tissue holders. We're using lightweight canvas for the front, and lightweight denim for the back.

Spray the wrong side of the fabric for the front of the tissue holder with a bit of temporary adhesive (we use KK100).

Fold the fabric in half, wrong sides together.

Place the template for the front of the tissue holder on the fabric. Along a long side of the template with the folded edge.

Cut out the shape.

Do this twice -- once for the right side of the tissue holder, and once for the left side.

Place the template for the back of the tissue holder on a piece of fabric, and cut out the shape.

If you don't have embroidery software to print the dielines, you can actually embroider them onto paper.

Hoop a piece of paper.

Load the DLFront dieline file to your machine, and embroider it right onto paper.

Repeat this for the back dieline file, too.

Then, follow the same steps as before:

Cut the dieline from the paper.

Fold the fabric for the front of the tissue holder in half, and place the dieline on top.

Cut out the shape. Do this once for the right side of the tissue holder, and once for the left.

Then, cut a piece of fabric for the back of the tissue holder with the other sewn dieline/template.

Once the fabric pieces are cut to the correct size and shape, it's time to embroider the design.

Hoop a piece of tear-away stabilizer.

Load the full embroidery file to your machine -- that's the file that begins with the numbers "24."

Embroider the design. The first thing to sew will be another dieline. This traces the area for the right front of the tissue holder.

Take one of your folded fabric pieces and spray it with a bit of temporary adhesive.

Place that fabric on the stabilizer, right in the shape from the dieline. Place the fabric so that the folded edge is facing in, the cut edge facing out.

Continue embroidering the design. Another dieline will sew. This traces the area for the left front of the tissue holder.

Spray the second folded fabric piece with a bit of temporary adhesive.

Place that fabric in the sewn dieline, with the folded edge facing in, and the cut edge facing out.

A tack down stitch will sew next. This binds the fabric pieces to the stabilizer so that they stay in place during the rest of the embroidery.

Other elements of the design will sew, and you'll really start to see the tissue holder coming together now.

If you are embroidering an applique tissue holder design, watch for a note on the color sheet that says �dieline�.

After the dielines sew, stop the machine. Use the �DL� files to cut out the shapes from the fabric of your choice. We backed the fabric for our tissue holder with cutaway stabilizer to make it more rigid.

Spray the backside of the fabric pieces with adhesive and place them right inside the dieline shapes.

Continue with the design, a tack down stitch will sew next.

Watch for additional notes that say "dieline" (another "package dieline" for example).

After the dielines sew, stop the machine, spray the backside of the pieces with adhesive, and lay them right inside the shapes.

Continue with the design, more tack down stitches will sew next.

On the color change sheet, look for the note that says "finishing seam." When you get to this step, stop the machine and remove the hoop.

Spray the corners of the right side of the back fabric piece with a bit of temporary adhesive.

Place that fabric on top of the embroidered pieces.

Continue embroidering the design. The last thing to sew will be the finishing seam.

Once the design has finished, unhoop the stabilizer and gently tear it away.

Remove the stabilizer from the backside of the embroidered area, too.

Trim the corners, being careful not to cut through the seam. Trimming the corners means that your tissue holder will have a crisp and finished look.

Turn the tissue holder right side out and then, insert a pack of tissues. These holders are sized just right for the Kleenex pocket packs.

When you feel a cold coming on, stock up on chicken noodle soup, vitamin C, and these pretty tissue holders, made right in the hoop!

Click here to find the in-the-hoop designs to use with this project.

Click here for a printable version of these project instructions.

You'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you don't have it, you can download a free copy by clicking on the icon below.