Jean Littlejohn and The Baby Lock Embellisher

I bought myself a Baby Lock Embellisher and it’s all Jean Littlejohn’s fault!

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Baby Lock Embellisher Class with Jean Littlejohn

Whoa! Today’s class with Jean Littlejohn was a mind blowing experience. I feel like I have been opened up — something has been sparked and my mind is racing with ideas and projects! What an amazing experience. I am going to show you a sample of what we did in class, but it’s not finished. I still need to do some machine sewing and beading. A lot of both, actually. But, here are photos:

This sample is made from felt, gold leafing, fibers, chiffon, and a bit of machine stitching. But, it is primarily made on The Embellisher by Baby Lock. Really A-M-A-Z-I-N-G stuff!

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What is The Embellisher Machine?

The Baby Lock Embellisher is basically a felting machine for fabric and it’s a little magical if you like texture.

• It uses multiple barbed needles (like felting needles) that move up and down very fast
• Those needles push fibers through layers of fabric
• This tangles the fibers together, bonding them without thread

So instead of sewing with thread, it physically meshes materials together. These videos from Dale Rollerson demonstrates a bit about what The Embellisher can do:

What The Embellisher does NOT do:

• It does not sew seams
• It does not use thread
• It’s not precise in a “tailored garment” way

Think organic, gestural, layered, not crisp construction.

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What Can You Use it For?

Here are just a few ideas:

• Attaching wool roving to fabric
• Fusing fabric to fabric (especially loose or textured fabrics)
• Adding texture and dimension to cloth
• Making painterly or collage-like fabric surfaces
• Creating backgrounds for stitching or mixed-media textile work

This landscape sample is from a beautiful blog post full of examples by Artygirl2010:

The Embellisher machine is especially beloved by art quilters, textile artists, and mixed-media artists who want fabric to behave more like paper/paint because the Baby Lock Embellisher offers:

• Low-stakes experimentation
• Great for scraps
• Encourages play and process
• Lets you “draw” with fiber
• You can work fast or slow
• Mistakes just add texture

It’s closer to collage + drawing + felting than traditional sewing. This video from Anni Hunt encourages you to think more expansively about what the Embellisher can do:

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Looking Forward

The class was described as follows:

“Students will create a patterned fabric combining bonding, layering, hand and/or machine stitching. Two new embellishing machines will be available for students’ use. The enormous potential of this machine has yet to be explored.”

I can’t wait to do that exploring! I bought one of the embellishing machines today and eagerly await its arrival this weekend. I’ll be sure to share my journey as well as the finished version of today’s sample.

Thanks for stopping by!