Birth Announcements

Our birth announcements have been very popular since their release and have been selling like crazy.  We get asked some common questions about the designs which we hope to address here and show you a few of the designs in use!

Our birth announcements are available both as machine embroidery designs at https://www.bunnycup.com/embroidery-design-Birth-Announcements and SVG cut files at https://www.bunnycup.com/svg-cut-file-Birth-Announcements-SVG.

We are often asked what fonts are used in the designs which we will list below.  We do actually recommend mixing up fonts and not necessarily using the same fonts for added charm - you will often see we mix up different fonts in designs and it does add additional design interest.  We do not sell all the fonts used and some may not be available for use as embroidery designs due to font licensing restrictions. Some font foundries will not allow an individual letter to be sold or be the focus of the end product for sale (where is is okay to create words or sayings out of the font because the individual letter is not the sole focus of the end product but the individual letter may not be sold under some font foundries licenses).  So it is not always possible to create an embroidery font from the fonts used for this reason.  

Fonts used:

Princess Birth Announcement - Smoothie Shoppe Font - we do have this available for sale as an embroidery font at https://www.bunnycup.com/embroidery-design-smoothie-shoppe-alphabet

Floral Birth Announcement - Paper Daisy Font

Ballet Birth Announcement - Smoothie Shoppe Font and Paper Daisy Font

Rainbow Birth Announcement - Smoothie Shoppe Font

Train Birth Announcement - Paper Daisy Font

Dinosaur Birth Announcement - Beneath Your Beautiful Font - we do have this available for sale as an embroidery font at https://www.bunnycup.com/embroidery-design-Beneath-Your-Beautiful-Font

Cars Birth Announcement - Beneath Your Beautiful Font

Rocket Birth Announcement - Paper Daisy Font

Forest Birth Announcement - Paper Daisy Font

Moon Birth Announcement - Beneath Your Beautiful Font

Modern Birth Announcement - Shoreline Font and Paper Daisy Font

Camping Birth Announcement - Pacifico Font and American Typewriter Fonts

Layout:

We have also been frequently asked how they should look when completed, for example, where to place the name, the date etc. 

Here is a guide as to how the designs were envisioned when completed with name and birth details:

How Do I Add Details?

How you add the birth details will depend on the resources you have.  Some embroidery machines will allow you to edit the design directly in the machine and add letting on the screen.  However, if your machine does not allow you to do this, you will most likely require an embroidery software to customize the design.

If you do not have a customizing software, we recommend Embrilliance . Embrilliance is a unique product in that you can use BX fonts (a format unique and only usable by the Embrilliance software) which can be dragged and dropped into the program and then you can use the keyboard to type in your name or words.  This can be done to an existing design such as the birth templates or you can create your own words on their own that are not incorporated into an existing design.  If you use other embroidery software you would need to open each letter individually and place it as required into the design, letter by letter.  So Embrilliance's unique functionality is a huge time saver and makes the process of adding or customizing designs a breeze.  Most new fonts offered by digitizers (including Bunnycup) will have BX format available.  Not all of Bunnycup fonts are available in BX format though and this is because we have been in business since 2004 and Embrilliance started up quite some years later - so we do have some fonts that we created before the inception of Embrilliance and the BX format that do not have BX available (if BX format is included it will be stated in the font description, if no mention of BX is made, then it will not be available for that particular embroidery font). Both the Smoothie Shoppe and Beneath Your Beautiful embroidery fonts include BX files.  If you purchase a font with BX available at Bunnycup, just choose your regular embroidery machine format before adding to the cart and the BX files will automatically be included in your download. 

If are using the Birth Announcements SVG cut files you will need to have a suitable graphics program to add text though there are online sites where you can add text to a JPG file as well if you do not have a graphics program. Text can also be added with your Silhouette or Cricut software (Silhouette Studio or Design Space). 

Customer Projects:

Now all your questions have been answered, it's time for some show and tell - here are a few creations some of our talented customers have made with the birth announcement designs!

Kathy added square to one of her amazing quilts.  We love this!

Trudy made one for a frame for this adventure and camping loving family. So sweet!

Lisa made a darling cushion with the Forest Birth Announcement.

We hope this blog answers any lingering questions you may have had about the birth announcement embroidery designs and inspires you in the many ways you can use them!

Gaps Happen

Gaps happen, and they send us a little nutty right?  Why do those gaps in outlines happen and how to go about fixing them is the real question.  We get so many emails saying why do I have a small gap in my design between the stitching and the outline. So this blog is to run through why and help you stop them happening.

You want to be able to turn this 

 Into this:

Successful embroidery is a real science.  So many factors come into play.  How you hoop the design, how you stabilize the fabric and design.  The thread, the machine, the needle, the surrounding environment (bumps happen), I swear even the weather in China comes into play (just jokes).

With gaps, the main reasons are how you stabilize the design/fabric and how you hoop the fabric.  One assurance we can give you though is that the issue is not in the design.  We test stitch every single design prior to release (and I promise you not ALL digitizers test their designs) and ensure the design quality and a design you can rely on.  We use mostly stitchouts as our images on our website so you can be assured of how a design stitches out before you purchase.  

The method of stabilization can be different for each design and each fabric you use.  Below is a guide on what stabilizer to choose for your fabric:

Type of Stabilizer	Ideal for:	Comments
Tear-Away	Light to medium weight woven fabrics	Typically used on cottons, canvas, satin and corduroy. Usually considered a light weight, soft stabilizer, though does come in may thicknesses. If using a large filled design (ie lots of stitching) it is recommended to use two layers of tear-away to improve stabilization. I personally use two layers most of the time. On completion of design slowly and firmly tear away fabric as opposed to pulling too quickly. Redwork and some appliqués should only require one layer of stabilizer.
Cutaway	Stretchy, unstable fabrics	Typically used for knits, fleece, stretch denim, velvet, toweling, corduroy. Consider a medium weight stabilizer. If using a larger filled design, it might be necessary to use two layers of cutaway. Need to cut away excess stabilizer upon completion of stitching.
Iron-On	Most fabrics – especially lightweight fabrics	A paper based stabilizer which has a waxlike film that you iron onto the back of the fabric. Can be used in combination with a layer of tear-away if you require further stabilization. Helps ensure proper hooping. Excess can be torn away or peeled off upon completion of stitching. Try to avoid iron-ons with too much glue which will gunk up a needle and cause stitching problems.
Water-Soluable	Free Standing Lace Designs and topping on toweling, corduroy, velvet and knits	Can be used on top of or underneath fabrics. Great to use on top of toweling to ensure fabric nap does not poke through embroidery designs. Good for intricate designs where it is impractical to tear away or cut away a stabilizer. Excess washes away in water.
Sticky-Back	Fabric or quilts that can not been hooped	Stick on one side (and covered by protective sheeting). Typically used where fabric can not be hooped including quilts, shirt collars, cuffs, socks. Place stabilizer in hoop with sticky side up and place fabric on top of hoop/hooped stabilizer.
Heat Removable	Unwashable fabrics/projects and delicate fabrics	Removed with the application of heat. Use only on fabrics that will not burn.
Spray Adhesives	Appliqués	Not a true stabilizer and can be used with tear-away. Attaches fabrics and can be used on back of stabilizers.

With filled stitch designs that are larger, you may even find you require two layers of stabilizer to properly stabilize the design.  When we test our designs, we don't have time to get it wrong due to the volume of designs we create and test, so on larger filled stitch designs, we use two layers of cutaway hooped with the fabric.  It never fails us. Please note that Water Soluble on its own is typically not recommended as a stabilizer for normal embroidery as its purpose is to prevent embroidery sinking into the nap of fabrics. We often use tearaway or one layer of stablizer with appliques (as we don't have outlines to worry about) and tearaway or water soluble with in the hoop projects.

Some other things that help are to baste the fabric or stabilizer prior to embroidery and or using spray adhesive to adhere the stabilizer to the back of the fabric (this prevents less movement in the fabric during stitching.

Additionally, consider using a hoop close to the embroidery size, this allows less slack in the fabric, meaning it will move less during embroidery.  The more the fabric id pushed and pulled or moves, the higher the risk of gaps.  

Generally speaking cut-away provides the most stabilization and we recommend using it where possible on filled stitch designs. 

Also remember, stabilization keeps the embroidery firm upon completing the project and increases the longevity of your embroidery.  It serves multiple purposes, stopping the fabric moving during embroidery (thereby reducing gaps and puckering) and keeps the embroidery looking nice and it's ongoing longevity.  If you have ever seen a design without stabilizer after completion and after it has been washed, you will often see the embroidery loses it shape and get all wavy (let alone any gaps, puckering and other quality issues that occurred during the embroidery).  

There's a lot to learn with stabilization and lot of it comes with trial and error but it is one of the most important things to focus on when you start embroidery as it does provide the foundation of successful embroidery!

What is an EMB File and Why Is It Included In My Download?

Today, I would just like to explain what EMB files are and why we include them in our downloads.  Let me start with the information that we digitize in the Wilcom Professional Digitizing Suite.  The Wilcom digitizing software is the leading professional digitizing software used by professionals. 

When a design is digitized, it produces an output file which is an EMB file.  The output file differs from the stitch or format file that is used by an embroidery machine.  The output file holds all the precise settings for stitch type, density etc and from this file stitch files such as PES are then exported. 

The stitch file which is exported and used by branded embroidery machines is a representation of the object file, however, does not hold all the settings.  So if you are to resize a stitch file in an independent embroidery program, the resizing performance can be variable because the mathematical formulas held in the object file are not transferred to the stitch file.  When it resizes it will not necessarily adjust settings such as stitch density and this is why it is often said to not resize more than 10%.  If you resize with the object file, the mathematical basis behind the design is stored in the object file and when it is resized it will adjust precisely for the settings such as density.

Wilcom offers a free program called Wilcom Truesizer to the public so that customers of digitizers using the Wilcom digitizing suite can resize EMB files to their needs (there is also a paid version but the free one allows customers to resize the files and is all that you need).  The Truesizer program allows you to open and view a file, resize an emb file to your needs, has a thumbnailer so you can see your files in explorer, and allows you to some very basic editing such as rotate and mirror the design and to export your resized design in major stitch file formats (eg PES).  Resizing in the Truesizer program will allow you to have better results with resizing and allow you to resize to a greater degree more reliably than if done in an independent embroidery software. The resize in theory should be the same as if the digitizer did it for you themselves.

If you have Wilcom Hatch, you can also use EMB Files with Hatch.  Hatch is paid Wilcom product for home embroiders and is a customising and editing program priced just right for the hobbyist.  It is a modular program that you can build up but you can also do home digitizing with the Hatch full package. 

To download the free Wilcom Truesizer program, you can do so at https://www.wilcom.com/en-us/products/truesizerproducts.aspx

Wilcom also have some great instructional videos on how to use Truesizer for resizing at https://www.wilcom.com/GetHelp/VideoGallery/VideoPlayer/TabId/1251/VideoId/142/language/en-US/Design-Resizing.aspx. This video is specifically done with the paid version, but it should the same for the free version.  You can find a handful of other videos on Truesizer at https://www.wilcom.com/en-us/gethelp/support/trainingvideos.aspx and just choose Truesizer as the category.

I hope this helps explain why EMB files are included and what a great benefit they are to you as the customer. 

Getting To Know Ashlea – Where Did Bunnycup Begin?

Hi,

I am Ashlea and I am the primary owner of Bunnycup Embroidery.  I am going to write a number of blog posts over the coming months about me, the origins of Bunnycup, the embroidery business and so on just so you can get to know both Bunnycup and me.

To start, this is long overdue.  I have become a pretty humble and shy being, so I don’t tend to talk about myself much, so this is a little out of my usual nature.  So bear with me!

Today, I will start off with where Bunnycup begun.  Once upon a time, a long time ago, I use to be a Chartered Accountant, a senior auditing manager.  It was that stage of life where I was expecting our first baby and had just gone maternity leave.  A very lovely neighbour of ours gave us a baby gift for our first baby, Bailey.  It was a precious embroidered quillow. 

For those of you who do not know what a quillow is, it is a quilt that folds up into a pillow.  If you google it you can find lots of videos on how to make one.  It is basically a quilt with a pocket on the back that the quilt folds up into the pocket so that the quilt becomes the stuffing of the pillow.  A wonderful versatile project. The below image is from http://acuppaandacatchup.com/2011/05/quillow-tutorial/, where there is a great free quillow tutorial.

So my neighbor was telling of how this amazing machine does all the embroidery in the touch of a button.  I was completely fascinated. And let me tell you, this surprised even me.  I had never really sewn, my mother never really sewed or had much interest and I really had no artistic flair (accountant and artistic are usually not two words that go together).  So I was delighted to find that something could do this and perhaps I could do something fun with no knowledge of sewing.  Because of my fascination, and the fact I suddenly had free time because I was on maternity leave and intrigued I might be able to make little things for our coming baby, I went out and purchased a second hand embroidery machine.  It was love at first sight.

I still chuckle over my first attempts.  I had a baby singlet and wanted to embroider a tiny little rose on it.  Excited, I hooped up the singlet (a challenge for a beginner).  I was overconfident and thinking, just how easy it was.  I put the singlet on the machine and stitch out this perfect little rose.  I can even remember I was on the phone to a friend talking about it and how easy it all was.  Then……… I went to take if off the hoop.  Well, wasn’t that most interesting………………  I didn’t even know enough to think through what I was doing and had embroidered the rose through both the front and back of the singlet and I could not get it off the hoop!  Scissors – a beginner’s best friend (and a bin!).

Needless to say I was not discouraged and learned a lesson and kept at it.  I was soon making all sorts of little basic things.  I even put my hand to sewing some basic cot quilts.  I am still not great at sewing – but I got to know a thing or two about embroidery quickly.

What shocked me most of all though was accessing designs.  Back in those days, designs were on cards and there were only a few online resources (this was back in 2003/2004).  A card of designs could cost up to $120 and might only have 10 designs on it!

My father, who was a kind, humble and interesting man always taught us that there is very little someone else can do that you can’t do.  Given the price of designs and my father’s teachings, I figured there must be a way to create my own designs.  So I embarked on a new interest, learning how to create designs.  It has been a long journey from there – one of passion and love.  I have never gotten enough of digitizing and I am not sure I ever will.  But let me tell you, the first designs were not smooth sailing.  I remember my very first design, the needle kept breaking and it would not stitch out.  I had to go to the dealer I purchased my machine from and ask them why the needle was breaking and I was told the design was likely too dense.  Also bearing in mind, that embroidery programs have developed a long way too since then.  They too were in their early days of development. At this point, I would like to give John Deer (https://ultimatestash.com/) credit as I did purchase his training videos and they were the corner stones of my early learning.

From there, the internet also was only in its infancy stages and I figured if I had these designs then I should be able to put them up on a website.  So my next learning curve was how to create a website. Fortunately I am married to an IT professional, and a fine one at that.  So I got to creating the very first versions of Bunnycup where I uploaded my very first designs.  I just asked if someone who downloaded them liked them, that they consider donating a small sum to help cover costs.

Before too long I saw there was an interest, I was learning more and more and getting more and more confident with the feedback on my designs, so Bunnycup started selling designs. But let me say, and this will be covered in future blogs, embroidery digitizing is a time consuming occupation.  It has left me little time to actually play with embroidery – but  I am holding onto that for retirement.  By the time I create designs, manage the testing, package them up for website release and do all the website administration, marketing, social media, customer support, there is little time left over to play with embroidery.

And one little more thing – where did the name Bunnycup come from………………………..  Well, it was my husband’s (Quentin who many of you have received IT support from) nickname for me.  If I recall correctly, it was the cross between a bunny rabbit and a cupcake. Why he called me that, I can barely recall now – young love I would say. Until next time, thank you for taking an interest in me and Bunnycup x

Social Media Spotlight – May 2019

We love scouting social media and finding many of the wonderful creations you share which inspire so many others.  It’s been awhile since we have posted a social media spotlight, so it’s time to share some of those great pictures we have recently spotted.  But be sure to join our facebook group where many ladies are posting up inspiring pictures of our designs (and it is also a great place to chat with other customers and ask questions).  We can’t post every picture we see on our blog (I wish we could but it will a mammoth post), but you will find many of them on our facebook group and also check our gallery for even more inspiration.

Unicorns EmbroideryDesigns

Unicorns have been incredibly popular over the last few years and our customers have been loving our unicorn embroidery designs and unicorn applique designs. 

#akishugei on Instagram is enamored with our Be A Uncorn applique designs and they frequently appear in her adorable creations.

Who wouldn't want to be a unicorn with this cute onsie!

The Be A Unicorn set includes a variety of adorable designs including a unicorn topper embroidery design, a unicorn cake embroidery design, unicorn head applique design, rainbow unicorn applique designs, unicorn doughnut applique design, a unicorn face mask in-the-hoop project, and unicorn word art and so much more. It is great value with 15 designs in multiple sizes.

Mamala Boutique is a fan or our Magical Unicorns embroidery designs.  These also come in an applique version.

This adorable embroidery cushion and towel would be the pride of any little girl.


Bear Embroidery Designs

#valeri.z08 on Instagram shared this stunning embroidered coffee pot holder featuring an embroidery design from our Daisy Bears set.

I absolutely adore her use of color which really makes this pop.  And I don't know why, but the Daisy Bears always warm my heart!


Embroidered Quilts

Many of our customers are incredibly talented at making quilts.  And we just can't get enough of seeing their amazing talent!

Kathy is a long term customer of Bunnycup and I have always been in awe of her creative talent.  See one of quilts inspires me no end.

This is particular quilt she has used elephant embroidery designs from our Little Jumbo set.

Karla really showed great creativity too with her use of color and piecing with this eye catching quilt using our Forest Animals applique designs.  This set is also available in a filled stitch version.

Donna made this bright and adorable quilt using dinosaur embroidery designs from our Dino-Rawhs set.

Camping Embroidery Designs

Camping embroidery designs are always popular, especially as Summer approaches.  Trinity Creations on Instagram has been getting in the mood with this fabulous towel using a camper embroidery design and convertible embroidery design from our Move It set.  Also available as applique designs.


Birth Announcements

Fran made this absolutely adorable birth announcement using an embroidery design from our Floppy Dog set.  Fran is a frequent contributor at our facebook page and has an amazing talent for color and fabric selection.  Keep your eyes posted out for customizable birth announcement embroidery designs soon at Bunnycup - we have a great set of artwork to get moving on based on popular request!

If you want to inspire our other customers and share your creations why not join our facebook group now.  Or if you prefer Instagram be sure to tag #bunnycupembroidery so we can see your projects!

What is an SVG File?

What is an SVG file?

Since we have started selling SVG files, we have had lots of emails asking what an SVG file is.  So I wanted to write a little blog post about them.

SVG files are a scalable vector graphic which is a graphic that be resized with suitable software without loss of any quality.  But in terms of craft, they are typically used with cutting machines such as the Silhouette, Cricut or Brother Scan N Cut (some of these machines may use different formats – but the formats are included in our SVG range).  These machines do many things from cutting fabric, cardstock and heat transfer vinyl, etching, printing, drawing and so much more.  But largely they are used for vinyl and making things like t-shirts and decals and also for cardstock (making cards, scrapbooking etc).

As one can image, this is a very complimentary craft to machine embroidery and many of our customers have both an embroidery machine and a cutting machine. 

Our SVG range include multiple formats including JPG and PNG – so can also be used for printing and other crafts, they do not just need to be used for cutting machines. So they can be used in many ways. 

We only introduced our SVG range this year and we are working very hard on increasing our range of designs this coming year - but we do have a few examples of how some customers have used our designs so far. 

Rhonda made this shirt using a design from our Music SVG bundle:

SVG's can also be incorporated into advertising, logos, websites and so much more as they are just another graphic.  Elizabeth created the following incorporating our of our Easter Sentiments Five SVG files:

If you have not investigated SVG files or cutting machines, you may just find that the cutting machines are a wonderful accompaniment to your crafting needs.  You could use our SVG files to make matching gift cards to your embroidered gifts, use them to cut fabric and so much more.  They are reasonably affordable (typically far less expensive than an embroidery machine) and lots of fun to play with!

Social Media Spotlight

Our wonderful customers have been busing sharing all their amazing creativity using our embroidery designs on social media, inspiring each other.  And we just love to show some of them off and inspire you in our blog!  

Ruth's Raggedy Bears Qult

This stunning rainbow quilt was made by Ruth using teddy bear embroidery designs from our Raggedy Bears and Raggedy Bears Too Collections.  Inspiration can also be found from Marilyn's What A Hoot Quilt Blog Post

Wanda's Knock Down Shapes Sherpa

We were requested to make a police badge knock down design, so we made a full set of different Knock Down Shapes, including regular shapes and badge shapes.  Wanda embroidered a gorgeous sherpa using a police badge shape.  If you like our knock down shapes, you may also like our knock down frames set.  

Marilyn's Love My Llama Quilt

Marilyn, who owns Lindy Lou Kidsword, is our guest blog and one of the most creative sewers and quilters we know.  She got straight to work on a quilt using our popular Love My Llama Applique set and made this stunning quilt.  Llama embroidery designs have been a big trend in embroidery recently!

 

Mariflore's Elephants Applique Cushion

Mariflore made this beautiful cushion using our elephant applique embroidery designs.  Our Elephants Applique had an adorable array of gorgeous elephants, including princess elephants, dancing elephants, birthday elephants, bathing elephants and so much more.  Don't you just love Mariflore's adorable cushion?

Fran's Critter Face Applique Towel

Fran is one our loyal customers in Germany and she has a very creative flair for color combinations and bright beautiful fabrics.  She submits lots of wonderful creations to our facebook group. Here is an adorable towel she made using one of our Critter Face Applique embroidery designs. 

Sonette Baby Boy Sentiments Burp Cloths

Sonette made these adorable burp cloths using some of our baby boy embroidery designs from our Baby Boy Sentiments set.  If you love these designs, you may also like our Baby Boy Sentiments Too set!

We have so many more pictures always being posted on our social media pages (facebook groups, instagram etc) - so be sure to sign up using the social media icons under our logo at the top of the page or join our facebook group.  

Also, just an update - we will soon do a blog about this - but we have recently started a range of SVG files for use with cutting machines like the Silhouette, Cricut or Scan and Sew.  Not only do we include SVG, but they can be used as clipart and printables.  Formats included in the downloads are dxf, eps, jpg, pdf, png and svg.  If you love our embroidery designs but have longed to use them with your cutting machines, you will love our SVG and Clipart range.  But keep an eye on our blog for more updates soon!