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Original text by: Marina Belova One would think that evaluating of tension of the thread is such an old chestnut. But no, last week it came as a revelation to me. It is strange that such an essential information is practically non-existent on the internet, whereas manuals only contain the instructions on how to do the most basic things. And it is such a shame, really.  So, everybody knows (including me) that after the embroidery has been completed, the backside of a perfect satin-stitch column should look like this: 1/3+1/3+1/3 (upper + under + upper). If the column is divided differently, it means that you need to adjust your upper thread tension or the under-thread tension on your bobbin case.  I shall be honest with you, I don't see this ideal picture often, certainly not all the time. Velles 15 is notorious for getting the thread tension wrong, of which I've written many times, and was supported by the others. But there is a problem with the dial itself, which is pretty crude and, consequently, lacks the possibilities the Velles 19 dial has. But no matter how the dial was made, you have to adjust it all the time. The question is, how do you do it? Sometimes it's quite difficult a task to adjust it properly.  As it happens, you have to act wisely. First of all, I'll show you the most typical occasion which happens all the time when I use my Velles 15, and which has always puzzled me. These are my real works, not the test pieces:  As it turns out, this irregular outcome of the bobbin thread is a mark that something is wrong with a bobbin case. Is it either bent or damaged.  To check this just lay the bobbin case with the bobbin inside onto the table or any other flat surface with bobbin facing down. Then pull at the thread, holding the case slightly and allowing the bobbin to uncoil freely. It the thread is not uncoiled smoothly, but jerkily, it is the sign that the bobbin case has been damaged, so that it is not round anymore. Most likely, it was dropped on the floor in the past. I have dropped it, of course, even more that once, but I never thought about the consequences.  To cut the long story short, you must have a spare bobbin case. Sometimes the jerking like that cannot be corrected in any other way. And now I'll tell you about two of the most typical examples.  a. The under-thread is just barely visible on the underside or not visible at all: In this case you will have to find time to run your machine through all those tension tests at least once  to find out what happens with every one of your needles. Here you can also see the perfectly emblematic old photo of the old I-test from the times when I already had huge problems with a bobbin case.  It turned out, to my surprise, that there are two ways of adjustment in this situation (this nuance of evaluation of the test results is hardly mentioned at all):  •    If such is the situation with all or nearly all of your needles, loosen the under-thread tension. 
•    But if this happens only with 2 or 3 needles, tighten the upper thread on them.  b. The under-thread on the underside is more than 1/3 column wide):  Again, run your machine through all the tests using every needle and see. And again you can get two different results:  •    If such is the result produced by all the needles, tighten the under-thread tension. 
•    If you get it only with 2 or 3, loosen the upper thread.  That is basically all. I didn't know that it was so easy and used to regard thread tension tests with disdain. One should love their embroidery machine and care about it, so that it could reciprocate and minimize the number of unpleasant moment in the course of embroidery.  We have so much yet to learn.  P.S. A thought just popped in my head: what about single-thread embroidery machines that don't have a lot of needles, which can help you to compare their performance and understand what tension needs to be adjusted? How do you adjust the tension there? 
Some of my readers suggest buying a special device that helps to adjust upper and under-thread tension. And what do you think?

In some areas of leisure you will find niche markets, I have found one being able to make custom carpets for custom cars and sport fishing boats. So if you live near the water this is something you may want to offer, or if you have any car clubs in your areas. First you need to make a sample and bring it to car shows etc, or display it at your local dealers. Hi have done mats like the like the item Below, this was actually done for a young kids room.. As it was not going to be exposed to elements I was able to use some applique in the embroidery design. I have made over 20 specialized customer carpet sets for sport boats , custom cars and some other client that like items on carpets. I am also trying to break into the yacht market and embroider on carpets and seat covers. This is a niche market and I don't normally have standard pricing as you have to run your embroidery machine a lot slower it will take you twice as long to sew the designs, you will also go through more needles as once your done the job the needle are basically garbage, I would also recommend cleaning your embroidery machine between jobs the carpets give a fine dust that will get into the bobbin area when sewing. I have a small compressor right by the machine for blowing of the parts and lubricating. Most of my sets of carpets for a car go $250 to $400 and only quote on carpets for the trunk, I did one custom van and I had 5 carpets to do and I charge the customer $1200 for the job. When embroidering on carpets, you should be aware that conventional hoops will not be able hoop a carpet & that your embroidery machines arms will not support the weight on its own. I would recommend if you have a table raise it up to support the carpet. I use large clamps metal clamps to clamp it to the bottom sides of the embroidery machine arms, I found if you clamp it to the top it will stress the needle too much. I also recommend the following tips for sewing on carpets. Use a 80/12 Titanium needle with a sharp point as regular needles will get dull from punching through the carpet backing. All designs must be digitized for carpets as there are special requirements for the embroidery designs . Slow your machine down to a minimum of 400 rpm If its a Plush carpet please use topping this will prevent the presser foot from catching the nap of the carpet and or pulling out a strand or fiber of the carpet. Shave the outer edge of the carpet to prevent the nap from folding over the designs makes it look cleaner I use a Peggy stitch eraser If you want to sew you will either need to have the embroidery design made for carpets, keep in mind that you may run into problems if the embroidery design is not made properly. I purchased a used Merro embroidery machine to make custom carpets to fit the application and allows you to purchase bulk carpet for the application, If you have to purchase carpets that are customer made for the vehicle you will have to get in contact with the vendor. Another options is to sew through the rubber backing however doing this requires a great deal of patients and often frustrate you more than not however it can be done, If you consider attempting this you will need to use 110 needle and 40 weight polyester thread and slow your machine down. In addition between carpets check for needle damage and clean the needles blow of the dust from the embroidery machine. You also will need a industrial sewing machine for this option. Remember anything is possible however there is a learning curve when venturing into new areas.

Original text by: Marina Belova I have once written a guide to all sorts of embroidery stabilizers (fusible interfacing materials) for manual embroidery. As we all know, the market is full of such auxiliary materials, which can be helpful to an embroiderer. Nevertheless, in these days I often think that not all of them are useful for me in my day-to-day work.  In the past I used to buy a lot of stabilizers of various brands, to see if they could be really helpful. I liked some of them and disliked the others; there were also certain products that I didn't know how and where to use even after having read the manual. In the course of time, after I gained some experience, it turned out that 3 or 4 types of stabilizer were sufficient for me to make a good embroidery. They really are enough for everything I embroider lately.  I'll show you what stabilizers I use for all routine projects and all types of fabric. I must specify though that the projects I do are rather simple: standard promotional designs on knitwear, terry cloth, occasionally caps, also ordinary materials like diagonal, coarse calico, two-thread cloth, sometimes the materials used in interior design, fore example silks and velvets of varying quality.  So, here's my basic embroidery stabilizer kit: 1.   Heavy-weight cutaway stabilizer (I wouldn't call it tearaway, like most of the sellers, because it doesn't tear that good), made in China. Density circa 60 g/m2. This stabilizer has a strongly pronounced fiber orientation, which isn't always good. Works fine for knitwear. Here it is: 2.   Medium weight cutaway stabilizer (some consider it tearaway) made in China or Turkey, density 35-40 g/m2. In my kit there is a cutaway stabilizer of 2 different brands, with and without fiber orientation (the last is my personal favorite). I use them for medium-level projects and ordinary textiles. Photo: an example of a stabilizer with single fiber orientation: And this is the one without any orientation: 3. A tearaway paper-like stabilizer, density circa 60 g/m2. It resembles recycled paper because it looks just as specked and non-uniform. I also have a punched-out variation of this paper, which also tears away easily. As it turned out, it comes in very handy when embroidering a design on terry cloth. But this paper-like stabilizer (and not only this one), as experience has shown, may be replaced by ordinary printing paper, which I sometimes do when it fits the size of design.  I rarely use other types of stabilizers, and usually as supplementary ones. 4. Thin water soluble film — a stabilizer topping for pile textiles, prevents the problem with pile piercing through the stitches. Nevertheless, I rarely use this film, too, but instead replace it with a stretch wrap or a plastic bag. I tested all the these materials in order to find a substitution for the expensive water soluble stabilizers, as I have already written. Water soluble stabilizers are used for lace and cutwork. There are also other types of auxiliary materials I use from time to time: Temporary spray adhesive Paper adhesive tape Double-sided adhesive tape And that's all there is to it. I don't keep a large variety of stabilizers. No spunbond, no heat away backing, no sticky backing paper-like filmoplast or other sticky embroidery stabilizers — I don't buy or use any of those. And even if I did buy some of them in the past, it was only for the purpose of examining them, because all these stabilizers can be replaced by their less expensive analogs. You can' have them all. Besides, if you embroidered on velvet using filmoplast as a stabilizer, it would turn out a real disaster, because filmoplast has a habit of taking the pile out, and it peels off easily, too. You have to be extremely careful with the projects that require a great number of stitches. Double-sided adhesive tape also tends to peel off the fabric.  Sometimes I think that everything new that pops up on the market is made with one goal in sight, and that is to induce customers to buy more and more materials. This happens because stabilizers become more and more differentiated, and not because they work better. It seems to me that the resulting embroidery is not always in connection with the price of a stabilizer and the innovations used in its making. What it depends upon is the quality of the design and the accuracy of hooping. Generally speaking, the resulting embroidery will be in strong connection with your experience in design making as well as handling different types of fabric and the embroidery machine.  Remember the general rule: the thinner the fabric, the thicker the stabilizer, however strange it might seem. You will get very soft lace using thermogaze, but it leaves residue which does not come off easily.  What stabilizers do you use in your work?