Hope you find this tutorial helpful. I have learnt so much creating these designs.

I like the heat and gone stabilzer technique. Suggestion - try using a stencil cutter to cut the stabilizer away. It has a fine point tip you can just move around the stitching without using a cutting motion. You can get nice and close to the stitching and reduces the risk of snipping the stitches. Just a word of caution - a stencil cutter gets very hot so be careful not to burn the stitching.