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Original text by Lisa Prass 
Inspired by reading the websites 
Footwear manufacture, whether of sport, casual or indoor variety, always has been and always will be a promising business. The customers may deny themselves food but won't go to work barefoot. Because it is hard to imagine the embroidery without connecting it to the item (except for chevrons), footwear manufacturing is a good way of expanding your embroidery services... Buy many questions arise when the embroiderer decides to begin decorating footwear. With what to embroider? On what to embroider? And what designs to choose? And if the answer to the first question lies within the area of knowledge of the equipment and materials used in machine embroidery, the answers to the other two relate more to the business acumen and understanding of the current fashion trends. 

Embroidery on footwear: Slippers 
Embroidery on slippers may be considered the easiest. Slippers are always in demand because they are not durable, so an average person buys three pairs a year; and besides, the are designed in such a way that you may hoop them without any trouble. One of the advantages of embroidery on slippers is a small embroidery area, which allows you to quickly complete a big order. 

Embroidery on footwear: Felt boots (valenki) 
Recently the demand for felt boots increased due to the cold and snowy winter. Many people wear both the Russian valenki and the European-style felt boots with good-looking soles, modern design, an embroidered top and sometimes a zipper on the side, all of which makes them much more like fashionable high boots than the ethnic footwear and makes one wonder: can I do something like that? One should not forget the high boots. Embroidery on high boots will make them more valuable and special and simultaneously will give the others the opportunity to make some cash. 


Embroidery on footwear: Hoops 
Embroidery machines manufacturers, aiming at increasing the demand for their products and make them more significant than the rival analogs, produce various devices that allow making the machine embroidery of the complex items simpler. Shoe Clamp, manufactured by EMS/Hoop Tech for Tajima embroidery machines, may be named as an example. 

Hoop manufacturers supposed that the embroidery would in most cases be of a small size and would be positioned on the right side of the item.
Nowadays machine embroidery hoop size for embroidery on footwear is 2.54x6 cm, and the price is a bit too high for a small-scale embroiderer, but maybe sometime in the future... 
I haven't figured out for what embroidery machines these hoops are intended hope you'll be so kinds as to help me with that. 
If you don't own any modern commercial embroidery equipment, but I've managed to kindle your interest in embroidery on footwear, I recommend you to get acquainted with professionals. Among my Russian-speaking peers, there is quite a number of experts that embroider on high boots, felt boots and slippers, and I'm sure there is as much among out Western colleagues. If you are interested in how and where to use embroidery on footwear, welcome to our forum. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
Yesterday I suddenly arrived at the idea that it was impossible to make the eyelets for all the towels in the house. Yet I'd like my towels to hang, even on the hooks that are poorly adapted for use, and don't drop down. So I searched the Embroidery Library and found this method. The idea is so simple that it is ingenious — to embroider a towel topper specifically for the purpose: it is the thing that can hold your towels. 
My first sample, a test piece, turned out to be not so good-looking, but a functional one: 

For I decided not to overcomplicate things and not to pay extra attention to the design, as I now have little time for embroidery. The design, as usual, is a series of stops and color changes, for it is a double-faced applique, so it looks like that: 

Now it is time to embroider. I hoop the tear-away stabilizer: 

Insert the hoop into my machine and stitch the outline for positioning of the fabric: 

I put the fabric next, having sprayed it with temporary spray adhesive prior to that: 

I start the machine and embroider the second stitch — a zig-zag one, which I'll later use as a guideline for trimming of the applique on the right side of the embroidery: 

After that I can take the hoop off the machine and trim all of the extra fabric:
 
You can also embroider everything you want on the right side and cut the fabric later, before attending to the wrong side of the embroidery: in that way you'll have less work to do. This is extremely important as I cannot get used to the way the hoop is attached to my home embroidery machine. 
After that I embroider a simple design with the pig's snout: 

Now it's time to take the hoop off again, turn it the wrong side up and attach an eyelet to the top of the pig's head using an adhesive tape. Like that: 

I made an eyelet out of an ordinary elastic, for I had nothing else. But after having used the result for a while I arrived at the conclusion that a non-stretchy woven ribbon would be better for an eyelet. 
Then I attached the fabric I'd prepared for the back side of my pig to the wrong side of embroidery: 

And put the hoop back into the machine. I added one more elastic across the pig's belly with an adhesive tape, having stretched it slightly: 

I start the machine and sew all these layers with a zig-zag stitch, along which I later trim the elastic on the right side of the embroidery: 

I also trim the leftover pieces of fabric on the wrong side: 

All that is left is to embroider the finishing satin stitch border. Before resuming the embroidery, change an ordinary bobbin thread so that it is the same color as the upper thread: 

Embroider the finishing border: 

Detach the embroidery from the stabilizer: 


Then remove jump stitches, singe the fibers of the stabilizer, and everything is ready. You can use it now. I rotated the elastic across the pig's belly so that it was on it's back. Though you could insert towels at the front side, too. 

The back side: 

Summary may be as follows: 
It's better to use non-stretchy materials for eyelets and tower toppers, such as woven ribbons or similar things.  The elastic is better to be located on the wrong side.  In order for the fabric to maintain its shape, it is advisable to secure it with the fusible interfacing used in sewing. Or just pick the thicker stabilizer.  The size of my embroidery was 12,5х13,5 cm. But you can reduce it to 10х10, and it will look better.  You can choose from a huge variety of designs, including the ones with names, which will come quite handy in a large family.  My machine struggled over so many layers of fabric + elastics. As for commercial embroidery machines, I've never noticed any such troubles on them. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
I've been long been using Criswell catalogs as the source of ideas for machine embroidery. Criswell is a rather well-known website, where you can buy ready machine embroidery designs, mostly the FSL ones. Or, if not buy, then, at least, look at them to adopt new techniques. 
So, in these catalogs, there are wonderful holders for Easter eggs and Christmas balls. There is too late now for Christmas balls, perhaps — we'll leave it for the future. But it's about time for Easter. To cut a long story short, I decided to make something similar, not in the FSL technique so as not to spend a lot of time, but something simpler on organza, which is a lot easier in terms of design creation. 
What I got as a result was this egg suspender, which can be used as a present: 

The design is based on simple rules of geometry and is completely unpretentious. At first, I thought that I would need a particular pattern for the holder that involved development drawing of an egg, but then I tried to do without it. After all, the areas between the sections are sufficiently large for the embroidery to mold to the shape of a three-dimensional object. The size, of course, was changed in accordance with the size of my egg. Here is my sketch drawing for the future design: 

I created a design for it: 

The rest was easy — I hooped only the organza and made sure it was drum tight. 

After that, I embroidered the entire design: 

We've how come to the most boring step — trimming the organza along the perimeter of the embroidery. If I was embroidering lace on water soluble stabilizer (as in the original pattern), it would have fallen off of its own accord. But with a little patience I managed to do it: 

Then I cut the holes at the ends of columns so as to insert ribbons in them, singed the organza fibers with a lighter and sewed up the resulting ribbon manually in two places. This, literally, took several stitches. Then I cut away 2 small pieces of ribbon and passed them through the eyelets, top and bottom. I tied the bottom ribbon in a bow. 

After the it has been tied I put an egg into the holder and tie the upper ribbon as well. You can use a bow again and get something like this: 

Or do without bows at all, if you like: You can hang them on a now popular Easter tree, making an ordinary loop out of the upper ribbon. You can additionally decorate your embroidery with beads or other things. The result will look rather interesting. 
As usual, everything is very simple. A number of sections with eyelets may be increased (I have 5, but it is enough for me). But the most important thing that I noticed while choosing the image and creating the design was an understanding that the design should be very simple because of the small embroidery area. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
Once in the Stitch and Print magazine, I saw the photos depicting and interesting way of creating an unusual embroidery surface — thread cuttings are placed on the fabric and then covered with Tatami fill of a very low density, to hold them in place, and after than a design is embroidered over it. Now I've got to try it, at last. Unfortunately, there was no guide in the magazine. Therefore, I decided to reinvent the wheel on my own. 
Here is what I got as the result: 

This technique can be used for imitating water, sky or grass. You never know. Only I doubt that you can decorate clothes in such a way, for it is unlikely that this technique can endure repeated washing. 
In order to create this fish I digitized the design: the blue stain behind the fish is where the thread cuttings were to be attached to the fabric: 

The fill was nothing unusual — density value was 3 mm and stitch length was 3.5 mm. 
Then I wound old threads on a piece of cardboard, thought it would be more convenient to use knitting threads, but I didn't have any in my cottage, therefore, a piece of cardboard would do. I used 2 colors because it seemed to me that it would be better that way: 

Then I cut the threads on one side: 

And got this beautiful tufty heap: 

Then I started embroidery: I hooped the fabric and the stabilizer and loaded the design. The outline was embroidered first, showing me where to put the threads: 

Now I could create my background. At first, I just laid the threads onto it: 

But short after I began the embroidery, I understood that it wouldn't do: the foot shifted the threads, they pushed through the hole in it and got tangled. So it was downright pandemonium and not the embroidery: 

So I had to spray the thread cuttings with the temporary spray adhesive and also put a water-soluble film on top; after that everything became much better: 

Here it is with the fill securing the threads already embroidered: 

Then I embroidered the rest of the design: 

I solved the water-soluble film and ironed the ready item. 
It is as easy as it looks. And what's most important, this method can be used with any design if you wish to do so. One last thing: you can use knitting threads instead of embroidery ones, or several threads of varying thickness, color, shine, and texture, then the resulting effect will look more interesting. 
P.S. Only now a thought popped into my head: if you embroider fractal or stipple fill instead of Tatami and use multicolored threads, the effect will be even better. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
I've long wanted to create an embroidered pad for a hot tea bowl using an old CD as a basis. Now, at last, I've made it, utilizing the double-sided applique technique. The right side of the pad is full of stitches, like an expensive fully stitched chevron. 

The back side is applique. I would need something inside to hold my CD in place. I used a leftover piece of the first available sole-colored fabric — the two-thread — though now I think that I should have used a more lively color. 

The thing is very easy in making — all you need to do is to define the size of your design, making the allowance for the embroidery to envelop the CD. This is necessary for the CD not to get into the finishing stitch border. The rest is the same as in ordinary double-sided applique. 
So, the CD is 12 cm in diameter. And the alien face is 13,3 cm in diameter. Below is the preview of the machine embroidery design for this pad: 

I decided to use two layers of organza for the embroidery, which I hooped together with a perforated stabilizer that tears easily: 

I have prepared an old CD for the filling: 

Then I have almost the entire design embroidered: 

After that, I take the hoop off the machine, turn it the wrong side up, pick up the CD and stick it there with an ordinary glue pencil, trying to center it on the embroidery: 

I stick the fabric for the back side of my applique on top of it: 

Then I carefully insert the hoop back into the machine so that to not shift anything on the wrong side and stitch a zig-zag stitch to secure this "layer-cake". This is how is looks on the wrong side, after I've taken the hoop off the machine again: 

Now only a few things are left — to trim the extra fabric along the zig-zag stitch: 

And tear away the stabilizer: 

Then I change the color of bobbin thread from ordinary white to the one that matches my future border: 

I put the hoop back into the machine and finish my embroidery: 

This is practically all. After that I trimmed the organza along the edges and singed the leftover fibers with a lighter. 
Of course, there were several mistakes in my design and during the embroidery process, but they were easily corrected on the fly, and the result is sufficiently good, considering that this is my first try. But I would do the following: 
I'd increase the width of the decorative border. This is necessary for avoiding any problems with trimming of the fabric used for the applique or tearing away of the stabilizer so that the item would look neat and beautiful.  I'd also use another, more durable stabilizer.  And I'd choose better colors if I had such a possibility now. 
Original text by Lisa Prass 
All of a sudden I was struck with an idea of writing about loading the designs into the embroidery machine. Mainly because the second-hand equipment market in Russia becomes bigger every year. Users, having played with home embroidery machines to their hearts content, now move to the more sound equipment, leaving their previous ones to somebody else. And in doing that, people tend to forget a supplementary loading device and are stuck with it as the result. 
If you are going to buy an embroidery machine, inquire into the method of loading of the designs into it. This is an important question, the answer to which will allow you to understand whether you'll be able to load the designs into your machine, or will it become an ordinary sewing machine without the possibility of embroidering. As of today, there are several methods of loading the designs into home embroidery or sewing and embroidery machine. 
Direct connection to the PC 
If you buy the equipment capable of it, ask for a cable and don't forget to inquire if there is any software for it. If there is software, but the seller does not have it, hold your horses. Inquire if there is free software for it, and if not, whether it can be purchased. 
If you fail to buy the software for loading designs, your embroidery machine will turn into a pumpkin. 
3.5 floppy disc 
A relic from the past. It can hardly be encountered nowadays. Usually, machines of that loading type can be connected directly to the computer, so you can forget about the role of the floppy in all this. In our days, a 3.5 floppy disc is the least reliable loading device. 

USB Flash 
Handy and easy to use. A rather popular way of loading designs into the machine. When buying an embroidery machine ask the previous owners if they could give you their own USB Flash — perhaps, it is small. This will allow for the machine to read the information more quickly. It's hard to find a USB Flash of a small capacity, they are usually large one nowadays, and it slows the loading process. I checked it on my Janome MB-4. 

Сompact flash 
The machines of this loading type are no less popular than the ones with USB, and are as good as the latter, because of their availability. Same recommendations: the smaller the size, the quicker the designs will be loaded into the machine. 

ATA PC Cards 
It's become harder to find a device like that nowadays, but it is still possible. So, if you are going to buy a machine of this loading type, don't neglect to inquire if you will be able to buy it separately in case it is not included. 

Card Reader/Writer 
Don't buy it without the loading device and the software! It's almost impossible to find one in Russia. You can often spot the sale offers in online shops, but it always turns out that the seller has never laid his eyes on such a thing. Without it, your machine will not be able to embroider! The device should necessarily be equipped with a special card and the software. If you don't have the card and the software for it, don't even hope to buy it separately. Remember that any other card won't fit. The card and the software will cost you about $500-600. 

When purchasing an embroidery machine, make sure that you will be able to load the designs into it, and then complete the transaction! 
Original text by Yelena Kraftwork 
Broidery.ru magazine 
What is the key part of machine embroidery? If you eliminate the human factor, the first thing that springs to mind is the embroidery machine. It's only after having purchased the equipment that we immerse ourselves into the interesting world of modern technology and machine embroidery. 

Some people choose their first embroidery machine on the spot, whilst others approach it competently, having first figured out what all the terms mean. In any case, a mechanical computer device, carefully wrapped in a factory package, lands on your table. 
Let's first try and get familiar not with certain models, but with their classification on the whole. Maybe, after having made the head or tail of the main machine embroidery products on the market, it will be easier for us to decide in favor of one or other manufacturer. 
Machine embroidery equipment can be classified as follows: home, half-commercial and commercial. 
HOME EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
These machines may make your pastime better and are helpful in decorating garments. The presence of hoops and a possibility of embroidering designs without using manual labor make them attractive for a wide circle of users. 
Hoops are an important feature of these machines. Not so long ago 130x180 mm hoop was something to be envied; nowadays 180x300 embroidery area barely satisfies the needs of an embroiderer. 
Home machine embroidery equipment may be divided into two types: sewing and embroidery machines and just embroidery ones. As you can judge from the name, the main difference is that sewing and embroidery machines have sewing functions as an additional advantage. And if you want to kill two birds with one stone, this type is exactly what you need. A wonderful hybrid of the sewing machine and the embroidery machine well be at your service. 
Time of non-stop run in home embroidery machines is limited, and if you are going to embroider from morning till night, attending to large orders from your clients, you should set your eyes on the next class of embroidery equipment. 

SEMI-COMMERCIAL EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
The balance between price and quality! The queen of small business — a semi-commercial single-head embroidery machine! Ateliers and small enterprises which need the embroiderer's services from time to time are the main users of this class of machines. Higher automation in comparison with home embroidery equipment will spare you the need of constant control over the embroidery process. 
Besides the mentioned pros of this class of machines, their attractiveness is justified by the embroidery speed and the possibility of adding supplementary devices, which will take the machine a step higher toward the commercial equipment: the cording device, sequin device, boring device, etc. Purchasing a tubular hoop will allow you to embroider on caps, socks and sleeves. 
I want to point out that the manufacturers of embroidery equipment tend to furnish semi-commercial machines with as many possibilities as possible, so the boundary between the commercial and the semi-commercial is blurred more and more, making the time of non-stop run and the size of embroidery area, which in the semi-commercial embroidery machines is much smaller, two major differences. 

COMMERCIAL EMBROIDERY MACHINES 
Commercial embroidery machines may be of a single-head or multi-head variety. They also may be divided into two types: single-purpose and all-purpose ones. Single-purpose machines usually perform only one operation. Chain stitch mechanisms, which are used for performing chain stitches and schiffli machines, used mainly for mass-production of lace, fall into this category. 
Machines that perform a whole variety of operations are the part of the all-purpose equipment. As with semi-commercial machines, you can buy additional devices that allow cording, sequining etc. 
The main advantages of the commercial embroidery machines are reliability, the possibility of working in two shifts with a short stop for technical maintenance, and the large size of the embroidery area. 

Choosing this type of embroidery equipment, make absolutely sure that this "workhorse" will not be idling in your workshop. 
***
As you see, the classification of machine embroidery equipment is easy to understand. And, as any classification, is artificial. 
Today's embroidery market offers a wide variety of machines of different brands. We will return to the subject of making a decision about embroidery equipment and attempt to give a detailed review of the pros and cons of particular brands. 
 
Original text by Svetlana Yakunina 
Double-sided applique technique allows you to make a napkin without sewing and decorate it in such a way that not only the right side but also the wrong side will look neat. In this master-class by Svetlana Yakunina, you will find tips and the step-by-step making of double-sided applique. 
Materials: 
Water-soluble stabilizer  Fabric (the one that suits your taste)  Temporary spray adhesive  Machine embroidery design (download from our shop)  1. Hoop the water-soluble stabilizer, which will allow you to add beautiful edges to the napkin. 

2. Insert the hoop into the machine embroider the outline without the fabric — all of the machines are created in such a way that they could make a stop for placing the fabric and trimming the extra pieces. 

3. Cut out a fabric the size of the napkin and spray it with temporary spray adhesive. Only a small amount of adhesive should be used, otherwise, it will stick to the needle and make it unsuitable for embroidery. Sprinkle it over the fabric, directing the squirt so that it is distributed equally.

4. Then leave it for a minute or so for better fastening. 

5. Put the fabric on top of the stabilizer, smooth it down by hand and start the embroidery. Again, after having embroidered the outline, the machine will make a stop. 


6. Now I should trim the extra fabric along the outline, pulling it out a bit and cutting close to the stitching. 

7. After completing the embroidery, the machine will stop once more, and I take the hoop off and turn the embroidery the wrong side up. I spray it, too, and stick to the hoop on the wrong side. 

8. After having embroidered the outline, take the hoop off and trim the extra fabric along the outline on the wrong side. Finish the embroidery, remove the stabilizer and tear it away along the edges. Remove the stabilizer leftovers from the edges with the help of the wet brush (it will solve). 

Original text by Larisa Krapivina 
Broidery.ru magazine 

The windows of the shops that sell embroidery paraphernalia are full of Cross Stitch charts, which spare the embroiderer the laborious task of tracing the images onto the fabric and planning the design. Nevertheless, there are people who love their work so much that they prefer creating their own unique charts to embroidering the ready designs. For those who engage in this extreme sport, software was created specifically for the purpose of converting the images into designs. At the beginning, this software was aimed at those loving manual labor, but as the machine embroidery became more popular, almost every embroidery software manufacturer added a Cross Stitch module for the cross stitch embroidery. 
These days there are lots of software products for creating cross stitch designs, able to save the project in a file format recognized by the embroidery machine. When choosing the software for cross stitch I rely on the user-friendliness and also the product's capabilities. One of the products I've chosen was the Pattern Maker. In our next issues, we'll go into the details of the design creation process, learn all the nuances of image processing and particularities of embroidering cross stitch designs on the embroidery machine. Before we delve into the subject, let's learn a bit about the software features. 
LEVELS 
Pattern Maker comes in two versions: Standard and Professional. The standard version has a limited number of capabilities compared to the professional one and is intended for home users. The professional one has a full range of the designed capabilities. We'll examine the Professional version in our lessons. 
MAIN CAPABILITIES 

Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
Theater begins at the cloakroom, and the software begins with the interface. The user-friendly interface — this is what ensures the usability.
The software developers who created Pattern Maker paid much attention to the interface, so we got a visually pleasing and intuitive application as the result. The software has seven main types of stitches and the whole lot of specific stitches (73 types). 
If you haven't found the one you need, you may create your own stitch and save it under the unique name. 
The main advantage of the software is that it is capable of saving the designs in the formats recognized by the embroidery machines. This software can save designs in the following formats: PES, HUS, PCS, EMD, JEF, SEW, CSD, XXX, DST, EXP. Only seven main types of stitches can be saved in machine embroidery formats.

Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
Besides the possibility of saving the file in different formats, Pattern Maker knows how to split a created design into several pieces in case the size of the design exceeds the given size of the hoop, and save them under different names. 
There are 240 colors used in design creating; color charts from various brands, are included for the convenience. Among the well-known brands you will find the names of companies manufacturing threads specifically for machine embroidery. If you are not satisfied with given colors, you can make alterations or create your own. 

Credit: Irina Muravskaya 
The maximum size of a design is limited by 999 crosses on both vertical and horizontal sides. You can create and change the designs by mouse clicking, which is something that even beginners are accustomed to. 
The software allows for merging different projects, which means that you can join different designs in one file. 
You can create a design out of your head or use a ready image. The software recognizes vector and bitmap image formats. Designs are created under the care of the watchful Load Master that guides you during image conversion. If you possess a ready photo and some knowledge about the software capabilities, you can please yourself or your friend with a machine embroidered photo. 
Having created the design, you can decorate it with an inscription. The software has 50 inbuilt fonts. The only disadvantage is that these inbuilt character sets allow for adding English-texts only. Nevertheless, if you know how to use the software, you can create your own character sets. 
One of the software advantages is a possibility of creating a supplementary sheet containing all the necessary data (like the size or the number of colors), in a quick and easy way. 
Among the useful features in the software, one should point out the OLE technology, which was created by Microsoft Inc. for object implementation and linking. Thanks to it, a design created in Pattern Maker can be imported into a Word Pad file. 

I hope that this short guide will kindle your desire to know more about the software so that we could learn about it in details. 
Original text by the Elfort company (Irina Seden, Rita Yermakova) and Broidery.ru portal 
If you have an empty chocolate box of a peculiar shape, don't hurry to get rid of it! Use your imagination and give the box a new lease of life... Pieces of bright fabric, a sewing machine, some spare time and such a seemingly unnecessary thing will become original and significant. You'll get a creative handmade patchwork box for storing your jewelry or embroidery minutiae out of a plain chocolate box. 
A handmade patchwork pillow: Materials 
Janome 3160 sewing machine  Leftover pieces of colorful fabric  Cut-away stabilizer Chocolate box  Temporary spray adhesive  Measuring tape, scissors  A handmade patchwork pillow: Assembling process 




Create the pattern (trace the box onto the fabric), not forgetting the seam allowance. Cut out the strips of fabric 6 cm wide. Tack them. Iron them out. Decide in what order you will sew the prepared strips of fabric. Sew the strips together a chaotic fashion. 




Stick the stabilizer to the wrong side of your prepared fabric. Select one of the decorative stitches from your machine's memory. Place the stitch where the pieces of fabric are tacked. 




After having stitched all the decorative stitches place the pattern onto your patchwork. Trim it (don't forget to leave some for seam allowance again!) Sew up the corners (you'll get a jacket for your box). 
Put the jacket onto the box and with the help of textile glue attach the turn-ups to the inner sides of the box. You can neatly sew on the fabric in the corners. The upper part of the box is ready, now cover the lower part of the box in the same way. You'll get a wonderful box for your fancy work. 




Or do it the other way. Cover the lid of the box with your patchwork. Secure the corners with pins. Trim all the extra material. Take the box out. Sew up the corners (you'll get a jacket for your box). Put the box into this jacket. Fold the hem over to the inside. Mark the length of the hem and trim the extra fabric. Glue the fabric. 


It's done!
Original text by Marina Belova 
My satisfactory experiment of making a passport holder inspired me to try and create an item of a similar type — a wallet for various small things, like credit cards and discount cards. For it is so simple to make something without extra effort using this method — of course, I that does not include creating a design. What is especially good is that all the seams are located inside and nothing sticks out, so the item looks very neat. 
Here is the resulting wallet with a snap: 

And this photo shows it from the inside: 

The design was very simple — running stitches and satin stitches + a row of stops for positioning and sewing the parts together: 

I chose the plainest fabric for the right side, linen for the lining and calico with a bright flower pattern for the inside. Before starting I cut out all of the embroidery parts from these fabrics: 

Two of them — the pocket and the divider — I folded in half with the right side facing upward: 

Now I could start the embroidery. As usual, I hoop the stabilizer only: 

Embroider an outline: 

Then I take a piece of fabric prepared for the right side of my wallet (linen) and stick it onto the stabilizer: 

I should point out that Gunold temporary spray adhesive leaves non-erasable stains on linen, so you should use it with care. 
After I have positioned my fabric, I additionally secure it with a basting stitch along the edges, and only then embroider a small design, which is a stylized flower: 

Now it's time for the placement of the divider and the pocket. I position the details in accordance with the embroidered horizontal marks, which are located on the vertical side. First, I need to position the pocket (it is made of the same fabric as the right side of the wallet), adjusting the fold to the lowest mark. Thus, the level at which the pocket is situated will be lower than the divider: 

Then I place a divider matching the fold with the upper mark: 

After that, I attach the fabric to the stabilizer with a paper adhesive so that they don't shift during the embroidery: 

I start the machine and sew the parts together: 

Now I take a piece of fabric for the lining and place it with its wrong side up over the parts that are already sewn together: 

Then I stitch the parts of the item together, save for the one small opening below for turning it right way round: 

Now I can unhoop the whole thing and, having turned it out, trim the extra fabric along the perimeter in accordance with the outline: 

I didn't remove the stabilizer, but instead kept it for the item to maintain its shape. 

I regret that I didn't have a casing wheel — it is very handy for cutting such items. 
Now I turn the item the wrong side facing upward. So that the right side is yet on the inside and the lining is on the outside. 

But now I need to sew up the opening: 

I sew it up manually: 

And after that I turn the item the right way round and iron: 


All that is left is to attach the snap. I used an ordinary one with a smooth upper surface. 
This is all, in a nutshell. 
The process of creating Cross Stitch designs in the Pattern Maker software can be based on the image that you've created or found on the Web. Learning how to load an image into the editor will be your first step towards creation of the design. 
Working with images is a pretty complex subject, so during this lesson, probably, some additional questions will arise that we don't cover here. We'll try to answer them in our next articles. 
1. Open your editor, move the cursor over the File — Import Images and select one of the suggested options in the drop down list: 

Import Into New Pattern — import the image into the new document. 
Import Into Current Pattern — import the image into the current document. 
If you have an open document with an unsaved project, it's better to choose the first option. Otherwise, when importing the image, your previous work will be lost. 
2. At the next stage, the Image Improrting Wizard will suggest choosing a way of importing the image. To choose one of the options check the box to the left of the name. 

Use an existing image — you can use the image stored on your hard drive or some other device. Click Browse and select the image in the window that opens. 
Scan a photo — when choosing this option the Scan button will become active, and you will be able to launch an image scanning program. 
Use the image on the clipboard — use the image from the clipboard. 
Having figured out how to load images, click on Next and move to the next step. 
A footnote: 
The format — Pattern Maker recognized bitmap and vector image formats. The main bitmap formats you are going to encounter are *.bmp, *.jpg, *.gif, and vector ones are *.emf, *.wmf, *.eps. What do the words "bitmap" and "vector" mean we'll explain in our next articles. Meanwhile, you should remember that the file name consists of two parts: the name of the file and its format. The format is a sequence of characters added to the name and intended for recognition. 
The software recognizes the following formats: *.bmp, *.jpg, *.tif, *.gif, *.pcx, *.wmf, *.emf*.eps, *.tga, *.png, *.ras, *.pct, *.pcd 
Clipboard — the part of RAM memory where data in various formats can be temporarily stored for further copying or moving them to the other applications or to another part of the same application. 
To send an image to the clipboard just open it with any image viewer and press PrtScn. As a result, everything that you just saw on the screen, will go to the clipboard. 
HOTKEYS 
To make a snapshot of the screen: PrtScn.  To copy selected objects to the clipboard: Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Ins.  To cut selected objects and move them to the clipboard: Ctrl+X, Shift+Del.  To paste from the clipboard: Ctrl+V, Shift+Ins.  3. At this stage, you'll define how the software will process your image. 

Convert the image into full cross stitches — the whole image will be converted into full cross stitches. 
Include image as an underlay for tracing — to use this image as a background for the further manual image conversion. 
The choice between the two options suggests that after completing the import the cross stitch version will appear on your desktop as well as the original image. 
Make your choice and on Next, to proceed to the following step. 
4. Tone and color corrections. They are necessary for correcting the minor image flaws. At this stage the Image Importing Wizard will suggest process the graphics image, to change its saturation, brightness, change colors, crop the image, cutting off all the unnecessary bits. 
Before we go into details I want you to notice that the adjustment sliders are now at level 0. Dragging any one of them to the left, you will be decreasing the parameter value, and moving it to the right — increasing it. 

Brightness  Contrast  Saturation  Hue  Cropping — trimming the unnecessary bits around the edges. This tool is essentially scissors that cut along the perimeter.  Choose the Crop tool, hover your cursor over one of the image corners, left-click and hold, then drag it to the opposite corner. Having selected a rectangular area, release the hold and click on Crop. 
After having completed the cropping, click on Next. 
5. This step will be useful to you only if your image is covered with a grid. 

For convenience, the cross stitch chart is covered with 10x10 grid. To specify the size of this grid click on Grid Tool. In the Mark Spacing field specify the number of crosses between the points 1, 2 and 3. Move your cursor over the upper left corner of the 10x10 square of the loaded picture (1) and left-click. Repeat the operation with the upper right (2) and the lower right (3) corners. Click Align Grid for confirmation. 
Show Grid — show the grid.
Mark Spacing — the distance between the corners of the grid. It defines the number of crosses between points 1, 2 and 3. The default number of crosses between these two points is 10. The maximum number is 1000. 
Click on Align Grid to apply. 
Undo Alignment — reverse all the changes. 
Usually, the grid is used for processing designs in hand cross stitch embroidery. If you want to alter your image without using the grid, skip this step by clicking on Next. 
6. At this stage, you can select those areas of the image that don't need to be converted into cross stitch. 

Before choosing the are you can adjust the Magic Wand sensitivity. 
Select the Magic Wand tool, left-click on the colored area of the imported image, which you want to exclude: To select several areas at once press and hold Shift on the keyboard. Tool Sensitivity instrument is used to change the Magic Wand color sensitivity. Having selected all the areas, click on Next. 
A footnote: 
This part is not entirely covered in the English version of the user guide, as is everything concerning colors. Therefore, you'll find some explanations and recommendations on the Magic Wand adjustment below. 
To explain how this tool works we'll use the color wheel. 

Remember system of coordinates you've learned at school. You can define the location of any point in space if you know its projections onto the X, Y, and Z axes. Now imagine that our space is the color space and that any point in this space can be defined if we know its RGB values.
Thus, knowing the locations of any two points in space, we can calculate the distance between them. The distance in color space is the similarity between these two points, and the shorter is the distance, the more alike they are. Excluding points of any color depends on two things: on the color of the point selected with MW tool and Tool Sensitivity options. 
The options determine how similar is the point we're going to exclude, to the one that is selected in each of the color channels or in all of them at the same time. 
Having adjusted the tool and clicked on one of the points in your image you'll define what color will be excluded from image processing. 
When doing the adjustments we recommend not to do one component at a time — it's too complicated — but use the All slider instead: it will measure the similarity between the points that will be excluded and the one selected without any deviations from that particular color. 
7. This step in image processing will allow you to select the least significant area of your image and specify how many percents of your palette you'll allot to it. If you are processing a portrait, where the colors of the face and clothing are the most important, and the background is a unified dark area, you can mark the face and the clothing as the significant color areas. 

Choose the Foreground tool, move your cursor over it and, holding the left button, outline the perimeter of the selected area. If there is more than one significant image area, press and hold Shift, and continue selecting. Having finished, specify how many percents of the color palette you'll allot to this area. Click on Next and proceed to the next step. 
8. A new window — and we're close to completion. Now we need to figure out the size of our image. 

Select the size for the new design — define the width (W) and height (H) of the design. There are three ways of doing that. To choose one of the options listed below, check the box to the left of the name. 
Size specified in — select which measurement units will be used: inches or millimeters. Select the desirable size in the W by H field. Setting just the width value will be sufficient, after that the software will automatically rescale the image. 
If you want to enter the arbitrary values of width and height, deselect the Preserve aspect ratio parameter. You should bear in mind that entering the arbitrary values of width and height you may distort the image. 
Size specified in stitches — determine the size of the design in stitches. Like the first time, it is sufficient to set the width value. 
Size corresponding to the selection region — measuring the size of a randomly selected area. 
The next group of options: 
Preserve aspect ratio — keep the existing aspect ratio when changing the image size. 
Square Stitch — the stitches that have a square shape. Untick to determine the size of the cross stitch in the Stitch Size window on the left. By default the cross is square-shaped and its size is determined by the #14 canvas (which means 14 crossed per inch). 
Pay attention to the fact that changing the size of the design in stitches you automatically change its size in inches or cm. 
Having set all the necessary parameters, click on Next. 
9. Defining the color scheme. It's impossible to picture the embroidery without threads. Besides, it is advisable to select the color scheme in advance. There are lots of manufacturers that produce the threads for both the hand and the machine embroidery. Originally the Pattern Maker was aimed at hand Cross Stitch embroidery — perhaps that is the reason for mouline threads predominance in the selection. 

Color Palette to Use — all the colors available. There are three ways of choosing a palette. To choose an appropriate one tick the box to the left of the name. 
Use the color of this floss/thread type — use a palette from the given list of manufacturers/according to the thread type. 
Use the colors in this palette file — use a palette stored on your computer. 
Use only the colors already in the palette — use the color palette loaded previously. 
Having figured out how to choose your color schemes, let's proceed to the next option. 
Maximum Number of Colors to Use — allows determining the number of colors desirable for image processing. Press Advanced to adjust the color sensitivity. 
Keep all colors already in the palette — use all the colors from the loaded palette. If you have already used some color palette before processing the image and choose this option, only the colors from it will be used. 
Having decided which palette you're going to use, click on Next and proceed to the next step. 
10. This is all, in a nutshell. The process of loading the image into the editor with the help of the Wizard is now complete. 

The editor makes you aware of it and suggests clicking on Import for completion to see the result of the work you have just done, which will be displayed on the screen. If you are not satisfied with the result, click on Back and correct the mistakes. The Back button will allow you to return to any of the image processing stages listed above. 
If you're satisfied with what you can see on the screen, you can easily finish the process of importing the image by hitting the Close button. 
Now it's time for us to say goodbye. See you in our next articles! 
Original text by Lisa Prass
Original text by Marina Belova 
I've long wanted to write about machine embroidery on corduroy. Though it's not the most typical kind of fabric for embroidery, but it's nevertheless interesting why it was ill-fated as a "tricky" one. 
If you want to summarize this fabric in several sentences that are relevant to the machine embroidery, you can say the following: 
Corduroy has a strongly pronounced surface texture — the ribbing on it is formed by alternating stripes with and without pile. These stripes may be of highly varying width — from the narrow ones with a short pile to the wide ones with the high pile. 
The corduroy can be made of 100% cotton. And in this case, we have an almost perfect non-stretchy fabric. Or — and this is the most common situation nowadays — it consists of the variety of different fibers. Besides everything else, contemporary manufacturers like to add lycra. As the result, the fabric becomes stretchy and can be arranged in folds in one direction — across the ribbing. At least, I've never seen the examples to the contrary. 

It was the texture that earned the fabric its nickname "tricky". Not only can the elements being embroidered sink into the pile, but they can also get lost between the piled stripes. Also, the outlines of the elements are in danger of becoming ribbed in places where they are crossing the stripes. This defines our objective, which is not at all difficult. 
Machine embroidery on corduroy is a rather simple technique, and if you stick to it, it most probably will not disappoint you. 
Hoop the fabric together with the stabilizer. You may use either a heavyweight tear-away stabilizer or a middle-weight cut-away one. Which one to use, depends on the quality of the material. For further stability, you can secure your fabric on the stabilizer with the help of temporary spray adhesive.  If the pile is very high, then, as in cases with all piled fabrics like terry cloth or velvet, you can use a water-soluble film on top. There are numerous recommendations on what type of film to use, from the thinnest variety to the extremely thick one. I've even read somewhere that you should use a dense water-soluble film on the rough ribbing. In my opinion, it can be used indeed, but how does one remove it out of the corners? I dare to add that you can replace the costly film with the cheap locally improvised material that is present in every household.  For crushing the pile, you can also use a heat-away material like thermogaze, advised by the manufacturers, for example. But if you don't want to damage the pile, you'd better put the food wrapper or a plastic bag on top.  You should use sharp needles. The needle thickness is chosen in accordance with the thickness of the corduroy and the width of its ribs. When embroidering on the fabric with the very narrow ribs, the needle should be #70/10, and for very wide ribs use #80/12.  You can use any type of threads for your embroidery.  The rules of creating or choosing a design for corduroy are the following: 
Any kind of design is good for the fabric with very narrow ribs, from the simplest one like redwork to the most complex ones that are completely filled with stitches.  Dense designs that are filled with stitches and do not contain small elements are preferable for the fabric with the wide ribs.  If there are letters in the design, it's better to make them no less than 6 mm, in order for preventing them from sinking into the pile. In case the letters sink into the pile anyway, you should put the Tatami fill of a low density under them so that the small elements are not sinking into the ribs.  You should increase the understitching.  And place a full grid at 45 and 135° under the fills instead of the grid at 90°. Choose the stitch length that allows the embroidery surface to be smooth.  Put 2 edge runs with 2—2,5 mm long stitches under the satin columns of middle width.  Put the central underlay under the thin satin columns.  Put 2 edge runs + a zig-zag stitch under the dense satin columns.  Increase pull compensation by at least 0.1mm compared to the standard.  Set the density value at 0.4 mm or slightly more.  As usual, all the settings for creation of the design are approximate. You'll have to find the right parameters in accordance with the particularities of the fabric type and the chosen design. 
I embroidered all of this on the fabric for the first time, so I created a test design, as I usually do, with the usual dense values (in my Sierra it is 5 lines per mm, which roughly equals to 0.4 mm). The only thing that was changed were the underlays under the letters: I made 2 runs in order to give them more strength. And I also increased pull compensation for 0.1 mm. 
I embroidered the same design both on corduroy with narrow ribs and short pile: 

And on the one with wide ribs and high pile: 

I didn't use any film on top in any case. Lower-case letters in the lower line were 4.6 mm high, and in both cases the result was good and nothing sunk into the pile. And if you don't count some general digitizing mistakes, like too small pull compensation on the leaves, and the fill showing from under the satin outlines here and there, everything is very good. 
I've also embroidered the design on the wide ribs with the running stitch, and it sunk a bit, but the general look is quite decent, in spite of the absence of the film. 

Everything is possible. 
 
Original text by Lisa Prass 
Photostitch is the technique that helps to create realistic machine embroidery designs. The designs look like photos and are filled with chaotically organized stitches. What do you need for digitizing designs in this technique? Not so much, only the editor, some Photoshop skills and, of course, the desire. 

Photostitch — what do you need? 
Among editors able to create machine embroidery designs, I can name, perhaps, two that will help you with Photostitch: Embird and PE Design.
Both of them allow to automatically create beautiful designs. 
One of them (Embird) generates Sfumato fills, and the other one (PE Design) imitates the free-motion machine embroidery. 
PE Design. Photostitch 
This design creation module offers hardly any customization and image processing options. It is designed for users that know how to work in
Photoshop-like software. If you want to create Photostitch patterns in PE Design, be prepared to study how to work in the aforementioned image editor.
You won't need too much knowledge because a large part of image processing is removing some of the details, lightening and darkening problem image areas, and also removing the background. You may continue studying Photoshop, of course, but for our purpose the knowledge of these basic tools will be sufficient. 
In order to make Photostitch designs that not only look beautiful but can be embroidered as well, you should bear in mind one crucial aspect: when creating Photostitch embroidery designs, don't add too many changes of color. Not only this will result in the time-consuming embroidery process, but in excessive density as well. Try to figure out which colors among the ones you've chosen to turn your ideas into reality may be spared. Be wary about finishing your work on a design after getting the first, not altogether bad, result. Create several designs and compare the stitch count, number of color changes and their look. Find the balance. 
Embird Sfumato 
A full-scale module for creation of Photostitch designs. The name, Sfumato, the manufacturer borrowed from the great Leonardo. There is no discernible connection between these two technologies. This method of making stitches is often vulgarly called "brains" or "worms". 
Unlike PE Design, Embird has plenty of tools, customization options, and an additional image processing module. This software is not the easiest to master, and in order to learn how to create Sfumato embroidery designs, you'll not only need a basic understanding of Photoshop, but also the profound knowledge of histograms, brightness, saturation and so on. 
Despite the difficulties awaiting you on the learning path, you'll quickly grasp the basic rules and working methods. It's a funny thing: despite the software being somewhat difficult to understand, most of its users manage to create beautiful and neatly-looking designs without going deeply into the way it works. 
Taking all the aforesaid into consideration, we may say that you'll need: 
Photoshop user guide  PE Design software  Embird software  The desire to learn all of this.  FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE: THE BETTER THE SOURCE IMAGE, THE HIGHER THE QUALITY OF MACHINE EMBROIDERY DESIGN. 

P.S. Read how to split a Photostitch machine embroidery design properly. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
About two weeks ago I saw a cap with a 3D embroidery of a very high quality at my work. The distinctive feature of that embroidery was that it hadn't been done in the usual way 3D embroidery design again — covering the 3D Puff with satin stitches. Instead, the 3D Puff was covered with the ordinary Tatami stitches because the design didn't allow doing it any other way — the shape of the embroidered object was too intricate. Nonetheless, the embroidery looked puffy enough. 
Of course, I've been familiar with this method for some time now, yet I haven't seen any examples. Moreover, I haven't even seen a single photo of an item embroidered in this way. For this reason, I used to think that Tatami fill with its abundant needle perforations would break the 3D Puff and the embroidery would be flat. I couldn't be more wrong. 
Of course, seeing a real-life example of an embroidery of that kind, understanding that someone managed to do it, one cannot help to become eager to do something like that, too. Having considered it for a while, I chose a design and digitized it:

It turned out that there was not the slightest difficulty in making a machine embroidery design that would work. All of the rules for digitizing a design with satin stitches over 3D Puff could be applied here: increase the density and secure the open ends (provided that they are present). I didn't use any understitching, except for the edge run. You can read here why I did so. I used the standard flat Tatami pattern that can be found in any editor, with needle penetration offset at 33 and 66%. 
The embroidery process goes as follows:
First, we mark the place on the fabric where the 3D Puff will be located with a guide stitch. I do it only because 3D Puff is quite expensive, and I'd better not squander it:

Place a piece of the 3D Puff onto it, having previously sprayed it with an adhesive: I used Gunold solid 3D Puff because it was the only one I had:

Embroider:

Give the embroidery design the finishing touches:

Tear off the Puff. Everything looks very, very good.

3D Puff under Tatami pattern was nearly as high as under the satin columns: 

All I have left is to remove the 3D Puff leftovers that stick out.
And this is how the boundaries are destroyed. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
This is another one of the educational articles on the subject of embroidery machine maintenance and solving minor problems without the help of a service engineer. 
Does your underthread break often? I've only had some isolated cases. Consequently, I didn't gather any data on the subject and I never knew the reason for a situation like that. 
But it turns out that if this happens you should do some checking. According to the official recommendations of the tech service you need to do as follows: 
Apparently, you should check whether:  The bobbin thread is not old  The bobbin thread is of poor quality  And if so, then, of course, you need to replace them. How do you personally rank bobbin threads? Which ones do you use? I've tried many different kinds, and now it's clear to me which ones are good (bad) and which ones are cost-efficient or not. 
You should also check if any of the units that touch the underthread does not work properly.  Whether the thread has been inserted into the bobbin case in the right way. In case any of you is unfamiliar with the subject, you can read about it here.  Whether the bobbin case tension is too high. I touched the subject slightly it in my article on the thread tension adjustment. But it appears that some information about the Drop test there was not entirely true because I've just seen another, slightly different version of that same test.  Whether the thread had been properly wound: not too loose or lopsided etc. For example, if you wind up too much thread as it often happens on my Velles 15, the bobbin gets stuck inside the case and loses the ability to spin.  There may also be less obvious things that should be checked as well: 
Scratches in the throat plate opening.  Scratches on the bobbin case tension spring.  Whether the bobbin case is round in shape at all. Click to read how the case being not round can influence the embroidery what are the ways of checking it.  I'll also add — not from my own experience, but out of the variety of sources which I've studied thoroughly when delving on the topic: 
Check the point of a hook for scratches and polish it, if that's the case: 
Also check the retainer (also called hook support, finger) — whether it is not scratched. I'll write about the retainer some time: 
I hope that there will be people that will find this article of any help. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
Dealing with sequins is one of the blank spaces on my map of machine embroidery. And as I have to deal with them more and more often these days, I'm pushed into learning many new things. All of this because this topic is of the less researched. Nevertheless, our colleagues from China are ahead of the curve — as indeed is their custom — in using sequins in their designs. They of all people know how to digitize them properly.
And I look on them with admiring envy for I haven't yet mastered this particular skill. 
But as it is time for me to learn how to do this, I'll proceed to the theory. 
It turned out that round sequins with a hole exactly in the center — you can see an ordinary Chinese-manufactured reel with such sequins on the photo below — are not the only ones: there are other varieties. 

Sequins come in all shapes and sizes, from square to star-shaped ones. Besides, there are also sequins where the hole isn't centered. Just think about it, how much creative freedom this allows you! The main question is where to buy them. 
Wilcom 2.0 sequin collection proves that they indeed come in a variety of shapes: 

Later I'll photograph and show you how sequins of various shapes and sizes look in reality. 
In theory, sequining is not at all difficult. You'll need a special device for it. What is extremely important — you should know how to adjust this device. Standard #40 threads are used for sewing sequins onto the fabric in most cases, and if you don't want to accentuate the sequins, select a monofilament yarn. 
Machine embroidery design with sequins is easy to make — you'll only need to adjust several parameters, the most important of which are as follows: 
The main parameter is sequin size. 
The first adjustable parameter is the fix type. I.e. the way in which sequins will be attached to the fabric. The classic method is using the Y-stitch, which firmly holds the sequins and the fabric together: 

Other ways of attaching sequins: 

Which type to use depends on your embroidery software. In the Stitch Era editor there are the following types: 

Which one of them to choose depends on the goal you want to achieve: you can create one design and change the fix type only, but not the thread and get different color when embroidering. The more threads cross the sequin, the more it abandons its own color, adopting the color of the thread instead. 
The second adjustable parameter defines how far the next stitch will be from the sequin: 

It is generally thought that if the distance will be excessive, the sequin won't sit tight. But I haven't found out what value is considered appropriate. Looks like I'll have to experiment a little. But if the next stitch begins right at the edge of the sequin, the resulting embroidery will be too stiff because such a short stitch will hold the sequin and the fabric together sure as death. 
The third parameter determines the sequence of the sequins overlapping each other in the neighboring rows. 

For example, Bonnie Nielsen considers the upper way incorrect and bad-looking. For me, it is a matter of opinions. 
The fourth and the fifth parameters determine how far the sequins will be from one another in a single row and between different rows. 
As for the sixth parameter, it determines which side of the sequin will be stitched down. When using the ordinary embroidery machine, the sequins should be stitched down on the north side, in order for preventing it from being shifted by the thread. Meaning, if you look at the sequining device from the top, you'll see that a sequin is situated below (south), the needle on top of it (north), and you sew it down from the other side, towards the feed. Wilcom even allows the users to adjust the angle at which the sequins will be attached (Set maximum allowable angle): 

You can use the sequins in the following ways: 
Set them along the line: 

Fill the space with them (I can do in my Stitch Era along a straight or a curved line or in spirals): 

Usually, you have almost no influence on the way the software transfers the contours onto the fabric. It will be as luck will have it. 
You can add the sequined border to give the embroidery a nice finishing touch: 

But some embroidery editors allow setting the standalone sequins in the places you need them. 
This is all for now. But I have plans for the future: I'll show you how I did adjust the sequining device on my Chinese-manufactured machine, and the problems I encountered on the way. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
Have you ever considered what exactly can you do on the embroidery machine? What can one do, which techniques and devices are known to us? After you begin to systematize your knowledge, you find out that machine embroidery has manifold possibilities. One cannot overlook that. 
So, here is the classification of machine embroidery (the one that can be digitized), how I see it: 
1. Ordinary machine embroidery — the embroidery without using any special devices or techniques: 
Sole-colored embroidery — it has lots of varieties, from the cross stitch and to the redwork.  Multi-colored embroidery — from the simplest one to the cross stitch and color blends. 2. Employing a variety of embroidery techniques and with the help of our consumable materials: 
Applique — no less than 10 varieties (raw-edge, free-standing, reverse, etc.)  Openwork embroidery (cutwork, pulled thread embroidery, and so on).  Free-standing embroidery — the one can function as an independent item — there are several types of it. Everyone's favorite FSL is also here.  Three-dimensional embroidery — no less that 5 variations, with and without the additional consumables (3D Puff, fillings and so on).  Quilt and trapunto  3. The kind of embroidery that requires extra machine embroidery devices or even the embroidery machines of special variety: 
Boring — punching holes  Cording  Embroidery with ribbons  Chenille on special machines  Sequining — sewing on the sequins  I would also add the possibility of embroidering on caps, socks, pockets, ribbons and other ready garments with the help of additional devices. 
Embroidery with beads — requires a special machine  Not so little as one might think. And that not to speak of the possibility of applying all the techniques on various fabrics. So there's a lot that could be done in terms of digitizing and technique. You can see the machine embroidered garments, kindly donated by our visitors, executed in various techniques in our Gallery and shop. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
And again I will bore you with technical details  
I'm gradually drawn to the conclusion that no two machines are alike: each has a unique aspect. 
For example, my Velles 15 is known for two troubles: 
The upper thread comes out of the needle after trimming. This does not happen every time, but often, especially when I embroider with polyester threads, which is very unpleasant because you have to stop whatever you're doing and run to the machine. 
The upper thread is not always trimmed. The lower thread is trimmed all right, but not the upper. My machine has had this problem from the very beginning: sometimes it's not so bad and sometimes it can reduce me to tears. 
I like a lot about Velles 19, but it's supply-failure detector is not working properly: it signals when the bobbin thread is long gone. So the design may go many stitches ahead before the upper thread won't get twisted and break as the result, and the detector signals at last. I will still have to see about that, all the more so because I've peeked into the books and understood that you don't have to call a serviceman for the preliminary diagnostic operation and troubleshooting. We can do some things by ourselves. As always, the most important thing is to know what you're doing. When I figure out what causes the trouble, I'll by all means write about it. 
But back to performing the diagnostics on the Velles 15. There are more problems here, therefore, they are of greater importance. 
So, according to the whole bunch of materials I've studied on the subject, it comes down to this: 
First, we have to check the following possible reasons for the thread coming out of the needle, for they are the most obvious: 
a. The upper thread tension being too tight. Check and adjust in case that this is it. I've written about it here at much greater length. But I dare the following: adjusting the upper thread tension on the Velles 15 is some fun. I even think of buying a new set of knobs so as not to wonder anymore why some are winding and some aren't, and why I can adjust this but not that. 
b. Compensation spring is out of place. Not every machine has this tricky thing, I've written about it here. There are still no clear instructions on how to use it, to my profound regret. 
c. Too short a thread tail after the trimming. I won't give instructions on that, but the length of the tail must be adjusted somehow. 
If this didn't help, you need to check and adjust more complex units and mechanisms: 
1. Picker
In case somebody does not know, a picker is this thing marked by an arrow on the photo: 

This is how it looks from the side: 

Judging by the ancient Toyota machines guides, which, as rumor goes, were the first Velles progenitors, you need to check three parameters — that is if you find out that it works at all: 
a. The clearance between the picker and the bobbin case should be about 0,5—1 mm in a stop position: 

The "funniest" thing is that there is no such clearance in my Velles 15. The picker bumps up against the bobbin because there is nothing there to stop it. I delved into it. Basically, there is nothing so complex about this unit. In this case, a platform was provided for setting the gap correctly, which is held in place with these screws (circled in red): 

Supposedly, when the machine makes a stop and trims the thread, the picker should bump up against this metal groove (circled in red) with its tip (a blue arrow) — correct me if I'm wrong: 
I believe that this platform should be adjusted in some way (raise of fall) so that the user could set the gap correctly. BUT! As my husband said, those hands that made all this should be torn away. Broadly speaking, the problem is that the picker in the machine cannot be adjusted at all, there are no means of doing it. We have screwed the detail loose and tried even to turn it upside down, but it didn't work. Thus, in the way the machine is assembled now, the clearance between the platform and the tip is 1—1.5 mm! The tip doesn't bump up against anything, the bobbin itself restrains the picker: 

The metal plate that was botched by the "professionals" cannot be neither turned nor shifted — in fact, you are not able to do anything with it. A replacement is needed. 
This is how the things are: You solve one problem… and encounter a new one in the process. 
Out of curiosity, I went to see how this thing was handled in Velles 19. It turned that everything was in order: there was a clearance between the picker and the bobbin, which could be adjusted, and everything was done neatly: 


b. Then, by reference to the various sources, the picker position against the main shaft is usually checked — to see whether it hasn't shifted right or left. Or whether the shift didn't exceed 1 mm (my picker is off the center, you can see that with the naked eye without checking): 

c. Then you should check the picker height in relation to the center of the bobbin at the same time. The height between the center and the upper point should be 7—9 mm. 

But the servicemen persuaded not to check the last two things, but to confine myself to the clearance. This is easier, and more so because I can't even imagine with what to check this last parameter. But it seems clear how it can be adjusted. All you need is to loosen up the screws shown on the photo and set the necessary height — there are grooves for moving up and down: 

There you have it, an important unit in the machine may cause problems with the thread coming out of needle. 
2. The next unit to check is the thread take-up lever. Here it is in case somebody is not familiar with it: 

Here you should make sure that: 
a. The lever has not been damaged. 
b. The lever puts the thread into the thread holder (the throat behind the needles, marked with an ordinary sticker). 
These two options, too, were advised to me by the service engineers. Having read the materials from various sources (naturally!), I found out that I can adjust the hook myself, too. But this I haven't tried yet because it seems to be working properly. 
Summary: I didn't solve the problem. But we have already thought what could be done in order to repair the picker and see where it would take us. 
The more I embroider, the more I think that everybody should know their machine inside out. But who could teach us? 
Original text by Marina Belova 
Sometimes I embroider portraits. I usually do that on the Velles 15 because I have this little flat frame from the Tajima machine that cannot be inserted into Velles 19. Therefore, I do not have a choice which one of the machines to use. During the embroidery process 3 problems always occur: 
Trimming (the machine does not trim the threads, and there are so many trims that I sometimes don't know what to do). 
After the trimming, the thread comes out of the needle. Taking into account the number of trims, it is a disaster.  About 50 or 60 thousand stitches (the machines stops correctly with the main shaft at 100°) the presser foot does not raise anymore. On the photo below I encircled the control panel together with the main shaft indicator and thread take-up lever (I believe that's the proper word for it) in the same position, and the foot is at the bottom, only slightly raised above the fabric surface:  The funniest thing is that when I take the portrait out and embroider something ordinary, nothing like that ever happens, even if there is a lot of trims. 
I don't try to solve neither first nor second problem. The first because I haven't yet got to the trimming knives and the information on how to adjust them. About the second I tried to tell in my previous article. Just now I was meddling with the options on the control panel, and things seem to have improved, but I'll just observe for some time before rushing into battle with the picker. In order not to be preoccupied, I just switch off the automatic trim and remove all the jump stitches manually. It's dreary but quicker than having to deal with trimming troubles (some of them are rather nasty — one day I'll tell about them) and keep inserting the thread into the needle. 
The third problem is easily solved (I discovered it by trial and error): I lubricate this part of the machine two or three times during the embroidery — with the ordinary oil, not one or two drops but much more: 

Though the 2 paragraph the user guide says that it should be lubricated once in three months, I pour oil into this opening at least once a week, even when there is no photo stitching. As the result not only the needle bar raises all the way, but there is much less noise, too. So, this brings up the question: is there something with the oil that it takes much more to lubricate the machine, or am I doing something wrong? 
I am now looking at my Velles 19 and beginning to think that if there is no such opening there, problems like that surely won't occur? 

If somebody has embroidered the designs with a huge number of trims on it, could you please share your opinion with us? 
Actually, the information on lubricating the machine in both user guides is so scarce, and the pictures are so small, that this makes me uneasy.
Especially when it comes to lubrication the machine with thick grease. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
If one examines closely all the information on the subject of machine embroidery on the Web, one could notice that nearly half of it concerns creating and embroidering the designs on baseball caps. You can read so many things about them that one can but marvel how open people are about their work, how they just go ahead and share their experience with others. Therefore, I abandoned embroidery with sequins for a while. After all, a not very successful experiment must work itself out in my head. So I decided to turn my attention to caps instead. All the moreso, I've already begun to take steps in that direction. 
There are more that a few places for embroidery on baseball caps. Traditionally they are as follows: 
front panel  back panel under strap  side  peak  on the strap that serves to regulate the cap size  From all appearances, one should approach embroidery on baseball caps from afar. First, you need to find out what types of caps are in existence, and what are the key differences between them. 
Surprisingly, it turned out that there is a huge variety of caps in the world. It is because I myself don't wear them, I've remained in the dark until now. But when you start working with them, this kind of knowledge will be of great importance not only for hooping, but for choosing the right kinds of needles and stabilizers, and creating the designs as well. 
Caps differ in the number of panels of which they consist. The most popular is the 6-panel cap with a seam at the front. But at the same time it is the hardest to embroider because of that seam. 
This is how it looks from the side: 

This is how it looks from the front: 

Some 6-panels are easier to embroider. They differ from the traditional cap in that the panels on it are twisted, and there are 2 seams at the front — to the right and to the left from the center: 


This type of 6-panel is preferable because most of the designs are embroidered in the center so that if its size is not big, nothing will prevent it from being embroidered correctly. 
But the easiest to embroider is a 5-panel cap with 2 front panels joined into one so that there is no seam, so inconvenient for embroidery. 

All of the caps have a sweatband on the underside, which helps to join the panels together, and that is usually being folded back and out of the way during the embroidery so that it does not get stitched. 



Some caps are also reinforced from at the front with the help of special materials (you can see that on the photo above). Such a material can be hard or soft. Some models don't have any reinforcement and don't have anything on the underside except for the band tying the panels together. 
One should also pay attention to the thickness of the seams between the panels. Some of them are so thick that you don't know how to embroider on them at all. 
Additionally, the caps differ from each other by the look of their back side, where the adjustment strap is located. Some models don't have any strap at all. 
An embroiderer should pay close attention to the cap height. There are the following types: 
High-profile caps are the easiest to hooping. The gray cap on the very first photo is an example.  Mid-profile caps — see the second beige cap in this article.  Low-profile caps can be seen in the photo below: 
I've even read that the low-profile caps call for the special hooping devices that are of a lesser height than the ordinary ones. But I haven't seen any of such frames — the ones that come with the machine are almost of the same in height. 
Besides the cap appearance, you should also look at the fabric of which the cap is made. A variety of materials can be used, from the hard and coarse ones to the soft and stretchy. There are caps made of woven fabrics (cotton, linen, polyester, wool and so on), including knitwear, and even fabrics with the padding, and the ones made of non-woven fabrics (leather and its substitutes). The surface can be smooth or piled (velvets, velours). 
All of these parameters will determine how to work with baseball caps. After all, not everyone has the possibility of embroidering on the cap parts prior to sewing them up, there are occurrences when you have to embroidery on the ready item. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
About a year ago, one of the first visitors to my blog, Tatiana, asked me about embroidery on biflex fabric (also called Spandex). Back then I frankly said that I'd never encountered such a thing and didn't know anything about it. So, I am finally ready to try embroidering on this knitted fabric that has interesting characteristics. 
Who does not know and use Spandex? Everybody knows it: swimsuits and trunks, sporting shorts and other sportswear are made from this material, it being able to assume any shape. Spandex is well-known for its ability to stretch up to 500% in any direction! And, no matter how many times you stretch it and then let go, it never fails to return to its original shape, always retaining its characteristics. One can thank the Du Pont company that more than half a century ago bestowed upon us a possibility of using this distortion-resistant material. 
But, owing to the very same ability to stretch in all directions, Spandex is thought to be one of the most difficult fabrics for machine embroidery, and rightly so. It seems to me that even knitwear's famous proneness to be a tricky embroidery material fades in comparison with this fabric.
Meanwhile, almost everyone uses it — here and there you can see logos and designs, I even saw sequins once. This means that any embroiderer, whether having sufficient experience or not, will be able to embroider a design upon this fabric. I have a strong belief in that. 
Technically, but only at the first glance, the embroidery process and preparations are rather simple. 
The criteria for the high-quality embroidery on Spandex are exactly the opposite to the ones for all the other kinds of fabrics — here we pay attention to how good the design looks on a stretched fabric. In its relaxed state the fabric can even pucker around the embroidery and between the objects, but in the wear these problems go away and everything looks just right. 
On the assumption that every garment made out of this material is worn in a stretched state, we arrive at the conclusion that even Spandex should be hooped together with the stabilizer and stretched — you can use a medium-weight cutaway stabilizer or an invisible spunbond, agreeable to the touch (if you manage to buy one). 
Use knitwear needles (ball point, SES or SUK), #75. 
And the ordinary threads (#40) or threads of any other kind. 
So, how one creates a design for the ordinary threads or the threads chosen from the ones intended for Spandex? 
The most important thing is to avoid filling patterns. Those that cover small areas can be used, but the big-sized ones are not recommended.
They won't allow for the fabric to stretch in a natural way when in wear, and the design will look distorted. The best designs are inscriptions, embroidered with satin stitches and images, formed by satin stitch columns, not connected to each other. The ones that allow for the maximum free space between the elements. Stitch lengths should be between 5 and 6 mm. Small elements and details are better to be avoided. 
The stitch density for the ordinary threads (#40) is 0.3—0.4 mm. Here you are bound to some experimenting in accordance with the way of stitch count algorithms in your particular embroidery editor. 
Pull compensation is set to the standard value. In my case, it's pretty always 0.2 mm. 
I follow the example of John Deer who wrote that a design for Spandex/Lycra/elastane should be created in the same way as for pique. I.e. you should secure the outer layer of stitches with the underlay. 
For satin stitches under 3 mm use edge run.  For satin stitches over 3 mm use edge run + double zig-zag.  For filling patterns use a grid at 90° in respect to the finishing layer of stitches or a full grid at 45° and 135° + edge run. This layer has a low density — about 2—2.5 mm.  All of this is obvious and understandable, so I created this logo: 

The design contains all stitch types, including both recommended and not recommended ones: And also satin stitch columns and filling patterns of varying density, and even letters stitched with a running stitch. I tried to embroider it the familiar way: 
with the same kind of stabilizer that I use for everything (which was sold to me like a tear-away, but turned out to be more a cut-away one)  employing the same hooping method where it is also important for the fabric not to be slack.  And of course, hooping became my first problem. The fabric is potentially extremely elastic, and no matter how much I try, it will always be slack in the hoop; and what's more, it could be easily lifted off the stabilizer: 

My second problem was that I, while realizing that I should stretch the fabric in the hoop, didn't make any markings, not even the little cross to show the center, and the result was that I couldn't grasp in what direction and to what extent I should stretch. But I embroidered the design anyway and saw that the edges of satin stitches, especially long ones, became jagged, and that 4—4.5 stitch length and 0.4 mm density were not enough (the stitches became slack and the fabric showed through), even if there was an underlay formed with double zigzags under it. 

This is how the embroidery looks when out of the hoop: 

Not so bad for the first time. Low-density filling patterns easily arrange in folds and even stretch, but I'd rather not overburden the design with the high-density ones. The embroidered rows of letters look pretty normal — I haven't noticed anything peculiar, so they can be used. 
But I immediately began to wonder: just how much the fabric should be stretched in the hoop so that it looks good in wear? How does one keep it under control? I looked it on the Web, and found these wonderful tips from Pat Williams — she tells that when hooping such fabrics it is sufficient to stretch them 10—40%. 
The reason for the jaggedness of the satin stitches is obvious — the understitching settings were wrong. I placed long zig-zag stitches under the satin stitch columns, but had I split each of the long stitches into several shorter ones, the problem would be solved. 
For my second embroidery sample not only did I mark the Spandex with a cross signifying the center, but also inserted a 10x10 square so that I could control the quality of the hooping and the degree to which the fabric would be stretched. I managed to stretch the fabric for 15% (a square about 11.5x11.5 cm) when hooping. And it was not a very easing hooping process for me: 

I now embroider the edited design; it looks somewhat better, but a higher density for the thick satin stitches wouldn't be unwelcome. 

This is the fabric out of the hoop that puckers all around the design: 

And this is the same fabric, but stretched along the leg, so the embroidery looks splendid: 

You can embroider on such a material, and therefore, you should test the results and change your design in accordance with them. Besides, you'll need to explain to your clients, why the embroidery on these kinds of fabrics looks like that in its relaxed state. 
P.S. Gunold USA has published the video on how properly stabilize such tricky fabrics as Spandex and knits containing a lot of elastic fibers.
Original text by Marina Belova 
Sometimes the striving to save on machine embroidery consumables becomes utterly absurd. You read what people use, with what and on what they embroider, and cannot help but wonder. But occasionally someone's bright idea makes you eager to try it yourself. 
Once I have read that you can embroider lace using gardening spunbond as a stabilizer. Though it cannot be torn out or solved with water, ironing was recommended as an effective measure, if you didn't mind the extra hardness of the material. The cost is much lower than that of the professional consumables. And so I saved this idea for the future times when I would be able to spare an hour or two to give the method a try so that to decide whether it could be used, and if yes, where one could use it. 
Once, quite a long time ago, I came across a not so new product on Youtube — an automatic frame system, AFS. Judging by the video clip, it is something taken our of your dreams because it allows you to make chevrons of intricate shapes without having to trim them afterward, sweating all over, and sew them directly onto the garments: 
There are such systems available on our markets, too, but they are not advertised or explained in any way. 
I think, they cost a substantial amount of money because of the automatics and everything. Such a device is well above my means. But I'm occupied not just with automation, but more with the material itself, the film on which they embroider. What an utterly wonderful thing it is. I want to use it even without the device itself; I agree to hoop this film so that to take the ready garment out of it afterward. 
I remember Madeira having a puffy stabilizing MadeiraAS Film that came in rolls; this film was dissolved with an iron after the embroidery, and you could embroider chevrons on it like you do in the AFS. I tried it, and if I tweaked the design a little, it did all right. But now the money problem is especially acute, so I definitely won't buy this film — after all, Madeira consumables have never been cheap. 
Therefore, I found time at last and decided to test the alternative stabilizing materials in order to embroider full-scale chevrons on one of them in future: 
The gardening spunbond I mentioned above.  I added the building spunbond (vapor-proof).  And, aiming to go the limit, I bought one meter of thick greenhouse plastic sheet (perhaps one can embroider on it, you never know!) for cheap.  You can, of course, use a classical coarse stabilizer as I did here. But my task is to manage any intricate shape, even the one with the openings. 
So I created a very simple chevron design with a carved edge. It won't be a very easy and pleasant job to cut a chevron shaped like that out of the fabric: 

I hooped the film first: 

The embroidery went well: 

And the unhooping was even better. But after you unhoop the design, it shrinks across the direction of the stitching, which is only natural.
Besides, my design has flaws that need correction — I haven't set the pull compensation right: 

So I made some alterations, taking the distortion into consideration: 

It turned out almost splendid — the result satisfied me, though further corrections could me made still. 

At the second stage I hooped 2 layers of the building spunbond: 

The stitch ran splendidly smooth, even and looked beautiful: 

Of course, you cannot remove all of the spunbond — it won't tear away. 

I place the embroidery between the two sheets of paper and iron it at the maximum temperature, hoping that the leftover pieces of non-woven material along the perimeter will be singed. Ironing takes a long time, and I begin to envy the owners of the Heat Press Machines Spunbond begins to singe, after all, leaving a transparent layer of solid plastic along the perimeter (it will keep the layer from disintegrating): 

But the temperature makes the spunbond shrivel, so the chevron shrinks about 3 or 4 mm across the direction of the filling stitches, and assumes an oval shape. And I don't like this at all. 
Then I pick up the covering material used in gardening, a spunbond, too, but a thinner one, and hoop two layers of it: 

The embroidery goes smoothly: 

I trim it along the perimeter: 

Iron it between the sheets of paper, and get a result similar to the one in the previous case — singed plastic edges along the perimeter and a chevron shaped like an oval: 

Here are all three chevrons for comparison: 

Summary: the filling and the edges of the designs are of a higher quality on spunbond, but the chevrons get distorted, and it instantly catches the eye. Besides, you need to iron them. As for the film, I will keep it in mind, for the sheer simplicity of its use. You can even try to make chevrons with a woven background. But you'll have quite a job creating the design and setting the right parameters. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
I think everyone knows that you can supplement your embroidery machine with additional devices. I don't mean the standard options that everybody knows, like cap frames, cording device, sequining device or similar staff. I mean the devices designed for more specific tasks. For example, the ones meant for embroidery on socks or on ribbons and belts. 
I myself have seen such devices on the on the exhibition stands. Now I realize that you only need devices like that if you specialize in embroidery and have a consumer flow. In any other case, you can always make do with some simple techniques that will allow you to embroider a small lot of specific garments without having to invest money into a costly piece of equipment you may only need once or twice a year. 
Today I will dissect an utterly non-secret method of embroidering on a ribbon or a strap, which was described by Jimmy Lamb almost 10 years ago and can be found on the Web for free. 
Everything is very simple, as always. Though I tweaked Jimmy's method a bit for my own convenience. The gist it as follows: 
We hoop the stabilizer. 
Measure the width of the item to be embroidered. 
In the editor, we digitize two parallel lines with simple runs, the distance between them equal to the width of the item. 

Make two vertical marks in the middle of each line, facing each other. These marks will allow us to properly position the item on the stabilizer — they will indicate the center of the design. 
We insert the stop command after that. How the machine will do it, depends on its type. 
Digitize the design of your choosing. An inscription, for example: 

Now it's time to embroider. We stitch the lines right on the stabilizer. 
Then we stick the item to be embroidered onto a temporary spray adhesive or a double-sided adhesive tape or something else like that, aligning the center of the item with the marks on the lines. 
Now we switch the machine on and do the embroidery. 
Generally speaking, it is possible to embroider on a more expensive stabilizer instead of a usual one — with the Filmoplast sticky paper, which I once used to show how to embroider the corners of the handkerchief. Or you can use the "embroidery on the hole" method, which I've also described. 
Original text by Marina Belova 
I continue to ponder over the chevron making techniques, comparing the ones produced in Canada and the ones I produce myself. Of course, as I don't own a serger, what I'm most interested in is a proper border in case I accidentally cut the satin stitches while manually trimming the fabric. 
After all, I can only dream of a laser cutting machine. And besides I'm so far from it that I hardly imagine how the process of cutting the ready garments out of the fabric looks like, how high is the defect ratio and how much profit comes from having such a device. The moment the laser devices exhibition commences, I'll go there and boost my knowledge. For those technologies somehow went past me. I've often heard though that the defect ratio of the laser cutting machines is rather high (up to 50%). 
So I will concentrate on an old available method of digitizing an edge of the chevron to be trimmed with scissors. 
This is the how I make the borders for chevrons now: 

This is an ordinary satin stitch border with an understitching inside. The underlay depends on the border width. 
This is how Bonnie Nielsen suggests securing the edges, using 2 runs: 

In this case, the border consists of 2 layers. The first layer is a narrow satin stitch border with the density 2 times lower and the width 2 times lesser than those of the finishing border: The second layer is a standard satin stitch finishing border. 
And the third way of doing that is very much like Bonnie's, only here everything is vice versa. From all appearance, this is the one that was used for the Canadian samples: 

Here the narrow border runs over the wide one and has no understitching (I've painted it brown to make it visible): And the stitch type used in it is not a satin stitch, but instead a zig-zag stitch, which is considered more reliable for holding various things in place — an applique fabric, for example. For those who don't know the difference between a satin stitch and a zig-zag, here's my article. 
It appears to me that the third way is the most logical and right. The only trouble with it is that it increases the stitch count in the design indefinitely. Nevertheless, it will be definitely easier to cut the fabric with a double border because of the additional perforation. 
Perhaps, somebody will share their own experience and tell what other ways of securing the finishing border for the chevrons are there, besides the ones mentioned in the article? 

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