headgreen

Newbie Machine Embroidery questions

Recommended Posts

I just took the plunge and ordered my first embroidery machine - a Brother PE-770.

I know very little about machine embroidery other than you need special thread and stabilizer; so off I went "a googling".

Well, now I'm so overwhelmed!! Just the needle, type of thread, type of bobbin thread, hoops, stabilizer, and thread alone has my brain like noodles.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand what to use with what or why.

They make it sound like you'll totally ruin everything you do (and your machine) if you don't use the right stuff with the right stuff.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book and/or a simple website of basic info and charts on the topics?

I was even going to start looking at digitizing software, etc., but I'm wondering if my brain is just too old for this stuff. I had no idea it was so complicated. It didn't look this hard when Sewing with Nancy did it!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, headgreen said:

I just took the plunge and ordered my first embroidery machine - a Brother PE-770.

I know very little about machine embroidery other than you need special thread and stabilizer; so off I went "a googling".

Well, now I'm so overwhelmed!! Just the needle, type of thread, type of bobbin thread, hoops, stabilizer, and thread alone has my brain like noodles.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand what to use with what or why.

They make it sound like you'll totally ruin everything you do (and your machine) if you don't use the right stuff with the right stuff.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book and/or a simple website of basic info and charts on the topics?

I was even going to start looking at digitizing software, etc., but I'm wondering if my brain is just too old for this stuff. I had no idea it was so complicated. It didn'
t look this hard when Sewing with Nancy did it!

any help will be appreciated 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Doing a quick Google search, there are embroidery forums out there.  I saw several. Majority of people here have vinyl cutters and cut vinyl. There is only a couple handfuls of people who answer questions here, and we all cut vinyl.  I didn't look, but maybe youtube videos.?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Although we're not embroidery folks here, there is something we all know that can help you.

Designing.

Once you have all the usage of equipment & materials sorted out, that leaves you with the prime element of sending your design into the sewing machine. You mentioned 'digitizing software' and I'm assuming that refers to "vectorization" of existing logos or designs ---

As it happens, you are going to have to start learning the process of taking an image and converting to a vector file. From what I'm seeing with Google, the software that communicates with your embroidery equipment is called 'PE Design'

If you are daunted by computer usage, and are unfamiliar with designing ----  that might present a larger challenge than the hardware issues of the machine.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think you necessarily have to have your design in vector format, but you do have to program the stitching. Some older machines you had to do this manually, newer software can automate it, but my understanding is you often still have to go in manually edit the stitches to get exactly what you want.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 5/27/2022 at 8:37 AM, headgreen said:

I just took the plunge and ordered my first embroidery machine - a Brother PE-770.

I know very little about machine embroidery other than you need special thread and stabilizer; so off I went "a googling".

Well, now I'm so overwhelmed!! Just the needle, type of thread, type of bobbin thread, hoops, stabilizer, and thread alone has my brain like noodles.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand what to use with what or why.

They make it sound like you'll totally ruin everything you do (and your machine) if you don't use the right stuff with the right stuff.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book and/or a simple website of basic info and charts on the topics?

I was even going to start looking at digitizing software, etc., but I'm wondering if my brain is just too old for this stuff. I had no idea it was so complicated. It didn't look this hard when Sewing with Nancy did it!

I added an embroidery machine to my operation several years ago. It is a bird of a different color and takes some practice and learning to get going. Plan to make a lot of mistakes as you learn. If you have been around any kind of sewing machines previously it will help since a lot of the overall concept is the same. 

Your machine will have specific needles with either a round base if it's a full on commercial machine or will have a flat side if it is more home/hobby built. If it is a round base you have to set the angle of the hole and there are a couple ways to do that. One is to drag a thread through and hold both sides so that the thread is angled according to your machines design. I use a small magnet and it will sit nicely on the flat side of the front of the needle and you can see where the hole is oriented from that. I also use a cheap set of doctors pliers that have the locking ratchet grabbers in the middle that clamp and hold it tight on the needle as they probably are designed to do on blood vessels or sutures. The standard size most people use is usually a 75 and if you are sewing tougher things like hats or canvas sometimes jump up to 80. I have occasionally ran 70 on really light material. Most people run 40wt thread but you can also run 60wt but again you are going to be messing with your tensions. I run poly/neon thread but some run rayon. You can read up on the pro and con of each. I tend to the poly because it is known to resist sun fading better and most of my work is for clothes that will be outdoors or washed a lot. I have not tried rayon but I have heard that it runs at different tension so bouncing back and forth will lead to problems. My machine runs L bobbins and I buy pre-wound bobbins. I have been told that the consistency of the rewound helps with overall machine tension staying consistent. 

As to embroidery files, I have some software but I almost always hire out the digitizing to pro's. It is far more complicated than I would have thought.  I am a wiz on graphic arts and through it would be simple. Not even remotely. Plan to spend $35 a logo for a decent job. There are some cheaper people that do them for $10 or thereabout but some are crap so you get what you pay for and a crap file will not run well and being new you will be trying to decide if it's the file or your machine messing up. I recommend using the Wicked Stitch of the East. There are plenty of others but they are good and actually sew them out once they build it to be sure it runs good. They take a few days to get back to you so you have to plan ahead. 

You will find more questions the more you get into it. Hoops and hooping aids are all important too. Thread stabilizers are varied and there are topping materials for fuzzy stuff. Good luck and I have felt your pain. I would consider finding a commercial shop in your area and go ask if you can hang out. They may consider you a threat (probably not if you just have a single head machine) and not let you but you will learn more in a day at a pro shop than months of trial and error. (same goes for vinyl cutting!)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now