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Introduction to Embroidery Blending Colors. In this blog we will introduce you to some terminology the you will need to understand to make blends possible. We will also explain the different methods for creating blends in your embroidery software. Terminology Density The density is a value of how close the stitches are to one another, there are few ways to measure it depending on the units you use. The three units are Stitches Per Inch (spi) Points (pts) Millimeters (mm) the standard is listed below. Standard density is 63.5 spi = 4 pts = .4 mm Absolute Density Is similar to WYSIWYG the value is a true value. With this option checked your density would be 63.5 spi , if you lower it , 55 spi it will show that. If you do not have this option checked your starting point will be 0 and if you want to go to 55 spi you would have to put in -8.5. Traveling lines this is the line that connects part of a fill, often fills will divide at some point and re join you can manipulate this using your start and stop points. These lines often go through the center of the design, their is an option to force the to the outside I recommend using this option when blending fills. Blend Tool Depending on your version you may have an option to blend colors this is called the blend tool. This is standard in the TAJIMA Maestro Level Density Line Tool In version Tajima DGML by Pulse Version 14 and DG15 depending on the level you may have a icon called density line tool. This allows you to control the embroidery density at different increments of the blend. As you may know blending is a technique of layering two or more colors to get an effect of a blend, the digital world has been using blending for years however its not as common in embroidery. There are several different methods of blending that I am aware of. Blending with embroidery threads, or by layering one or more fills over each other. Another way to create an effect of a blend is to use the multimedia approach and add a image or vinyl behind the embroidery., which we covered in past blogs called multimedia designs. Blending with Embroidery Threads This technique is not new, it has been used in the home embroidery field for hundreds of years, and it allows you to create depth to a design. One option is to blend a heavy thread as a fill and covered by a top layer with a smaller thread. Another way to blend thread types is to have the blue fill going horizontal at 35 spit and the red fill going vertical at 25 spi when you sew them out like this it will blend the two colors creating an illusion of a third color, The Irish embroidery design use layers to blend the two colors together to get the effect of a pattern with the leaves, there is a light green background and a dark green layered on top. This technique can be applied to a wide range of designs and works best with similar colors. Samples of Blending Here are some samples, of types of blending that is available .. you can see the layers when zoomed in but remember the machine embroidery design is only a quarter of that size below. Blend Tool ( Maestro Level only ) For some of us we have a tool that allows us to create blends. This is a great tool for making the sunset fade into the water.. However it can be done manually its rather simple with this tool. Below is the Automatic tool for making blends. 1. Start a NEW document 2. With the eclipse tool draw a circle 5 inches You could also add greater depth by using two different weights of thread by doing this it will cause the top stitch to sit on top of the bottom stitch. 3. Convert the circle to a complex fill , right click or CTRL E to bring up the menu to convert too option appears. 4. Right Click on the fill and choose Auto.. and then select color blend and you will see the following . 5. Change the above setting to match the image and then click OK to save the settings 6. Then right click and choose Break up Note I change the colors so its visible to blue and orange, as red and orange will be hard to see on the screen. There are a couple things I would recommend is - High light each segment and goto properties, - Goto complex fill effects and change the travelling route to the edge, this will get rid of the lines going through the middle of the embroidery design. Tips for embroidery digitizer When working with blends they work best on contrasting colors that are closely related to each other, like light blue and dark blue, oranges and reds, orange and yellows, I recommend everyone make a blend and try different densities, angles and colors to experiment with the tools and develop and understanding how it cane be used. Author: Frank Prokator

A question we have been asked many a times on our blog and via our audience. However, we were keen to poll the community and find out exactly which brand you find the best, what better place to do it than here. Please vote on your best embroidery machine and we will update the results to our recent guide to share with our embroidery fanatics! Happy Voting!

Printing of labels requires that materials be of the right label and the one that suits the customers and specification. The materials need to have long-lasting and quality prints, with amazing number of colors you need and with the right layout or barcodes. There are numerous number of ways in which labels can be produced, some of which require great equipment although others are just easy, reliable and very convenient to use. These methods or technologies include; DIRECT TO GARMENT PRINTER. It involves printing on textiles using a certain amazing technology of using ink jet. The DTG printers hold the clothes at a constant position, the specialized ink jets smear the ink on the garment using the print heads, and they directly absorbed by the fibers in the garment. It generally used in printing of T-shirts, canvases, bags among others. The most attractive features about the direct to garment printer is its incredible features which include high quality printing which actually requires low cost per print, its vast24 by 16 printing area and eventually its removable platen system. These features ensure that this printer stands out from the others and hence preferred by most people. DIRECT GARMENT INK. It offers an exclusive simplicity of the fixation process and an eco-friendly way of printing on natural fibers. These inks are largely suited to fabric materials and they are mostly used in printing of garments.DTG Ink is made in such a way that it can highly improve performance on fabrics and its associated blends. These inks can bring about fantastic results especially due to their color strength. This in turn will bring about excellent results of the DTG printer. Before the process of printing begins, the garments should coat with a pre-treatment liquid with the sole purpose of enhancing color reproduction so that the color can appear on top of the fabric. KEY FEATURES OF DTG INK. The color strength is high. The jet ability is reliable and accurate. Clog free print heads. Great print head performance. One of the key things to note is that DTG Ink is not applicable on all types of fabrics. It mostly recommended on cotton, polyester, poly-cotton, cotton blends, jute and viscose. GAMUT PLUS INK. These are designed to bring about exclusive results on polyester and cotton fabrics. They work in a way that ensures that the brightness after washing are retained which result in less waste and also helps you in retaining your customers. One interesting feature about the gamut plus ink is that it ensures optimal production. This is brought about by the fact that the gamut plus ink is made to’’ set’’ faster meaning that there is no need to wait for the white ink to set before printing since one can easily take advantage of the pass modes which are on the printer. ADVANTAGES. It is more reliable since ink flows better in the printer. It uses an advanced technology. It is very compatible since it can be used on any direct to garment using Epson(R)DX5, DX7 printer heads. REATREAT MACHINE FOR DTG PRINTERS. It allows for faster cleanup, which means that the quality of the prints will be highly improved, and hence production increases.

Большинство вышивальных машин и программного обеспечения неправильно отображают цвета на экране. Для того чтобы вы могли выбрать точные или идентичные цвета (мы используем Robison Anton цветовую палитру) к каждому дизайну идут дополнительный графический файл в формате JPG или PDF. Если у вас есть программа Embird (www.embird.net) вы можете увидеть коррктное отображение цветов. Для этого вместе с дизайном загрузите файл цветовой поддержки (наша абревиатура) в формате *.EDR. Тогда просматриваемый файл будет иметь правильный вид. На представленном ниже изображении мы можем видеть разницу. Слева дизайн использует правильную цветовую таблицу представленную в файле EDR, а справа цвета произвольные подобранные самой программой. Наличие файла в формате EDR позволяет вам при наличии программного обеспечения самостоятельно получить набор цветов для другой цветовой палитры.

Hi all, I try embroid a minie file buyed on Embroidery designs library shop in my new embroidery Brother Innovis-NV800E with hoop 260x160 and the border of pictures and the colours doesn't match. When I buy the minie file, it was possible download a "winnie the pooh" free file and when also I try embroid pooh file happens the same of minie file To Embroid I used the pes file, but i also try pec and phc files and happen the sames always. Exist any problem with the files? or exist any configuration i have wrong on my machine?, Anyone know what could be the problem? thanks for the help, Paulo Monteiro

Master-class by: Irina Lisitsa Beginner owners of embroidery machines are at a loss when overlooking the vast majority of stabilizers. This series of master-classes will teach you the basic rules of hooping of various types of stabilizers. After having read this you will be able to hoop an adhesive stabilizer (Filmoplast) in the right way. This type of stabilizer allows you to secure fabric with a layer of adhesive. Works good for fabrics of high and medium density, and also fabrics that cannot be hooped, like leather, chamois and coated materials. How to hoop Filmoplast We will need: Hoop Filmoplast stabilizer Marker Scissors Ruler Put the stabilizer with its paper layer facing up. Mark the borders of the hoop. Cut a piece of stabilizer, using the marking on the paper layer. Put it on the outer ring with the paper layer facing up. Put the inner ring onto the stabilizer and press it down. Pull the edges of the stabilizer to smooth it out. Screw your hoop tightly. Put the plastic template on the hoop and mark the borders of embroidery area with a marker. Outline the borders of embroidery area with a marker or use the markings on the stabilizer. With the sharp end of scissors cut the paper layer along the lines. Take off the paper layer of stabilizer, to free the sticky side. Stick your fabric onto it. Embroider your design. When the embroidery is completed, take the design off the stabilizer.

Embroidery Digitizing is a method to decorate the overall look of the design or material. The methodology starts when the art-piece is turned into a digital format and then the compatible software works on it to enhance the visibility and corporate image. After that, the design is read by the embroidery machine, turned into the graphic format and in the end; the machine embroiders the artwork efficiently. The techniques and methods take whole lot of efforts and expertise to get the job properly done. Now comes the question that in which category, does Embroidery Digitizing go to? Well, the simple answer is that it is a mix of both as only one characteristic between these two cannot be used to describe it. As technical as it looks, embroidery digitizing is basically an art as well. Embroidery Digitizing as Art: This embroidery method is all about understanding and learning about how the artwork is going to be designed and what should be the color combination. The look of “natural flair” is always taken as the priority because just like every art, beauty only shows when the product gives away natural flair. Along with that, the artistic touch and sense are also required when several things are decided, such as the patterns, vectorization and the decision of filling the blank spaces. The appropriate coordination of colors and shades is also important as well. Digitizing for embroidery is a kind of art procedure that definitely demands loads of things in terms of expertise of engineering, energy, motivation, material and performing the art in right direction. If it would be all about technical know-how, then it is not important at all to make so much effort to providing the best color schemes and making the designs look natural, which is the basic portion of embroidery digitizing. Embroidery Digitizing As Technical Skill: Along with being an art, it is a technical skill mainly because of the usage of the digitizing software, which is the most important part of the method. While making the use of the software, the optimum utilization of other tools is also of real importance so to ensure other factors, such as to make a correct number of stitches and not make them too dense etc. All of such considerations definitely need technological skills and understanding. There are times when the exact size and shape is needed, but not provided so the critical skill set is also required there to make sure that the design is made into the right size. So now you understand that embroidery digitizing is basically a combination of both art and technology that blend together to provide the high-quality embroidery experience to you & your clients. As stated above, it is both the art and the skill, so if you want any of your art piece embroidered and digitized, make sure that is gets done professionally by the service providers who are already the experts of this business. This work only looks good when it is done in excellence, which can only be achieved if the practitioners stay in business for quite a while.

If you are reading this article, it means that your interest for machine embroidery has overcome the beginner stage, and you have decided to master the embroidery software to choose the right one for creating cross stitch patterns. A lot of manufacturers, in order to increase embroidery editor capability, add a software module that allows creating cross stitch patterns and saving them into the formats recognized by the embroidery machines. What are these software products you'll learn from this article. I want to bring to your attention the fact that in this review I only point out those software products that allow creation of cross stitch patterns for embroidery and sewing and embroidery machines. Also note that you'll find only the widely known software products on this list, for I skipped the lesser known ones. Creation of the cross stitch patterns Creating cross stitch patterns for embroidery machines, on one hand, is the easiest of all digitizing tasks, but on the other hand, the most complex one. It depends on the principle of creation: whether a designer will work with ready patterns or create the new designs completely out of his head or using the images (such as photographs) of his own. Fortune favors a designer that has decided to try and digitize a ready pattern. There is no need to think about such design characteristics as basting, density and pull compensation. There is no need for using imagination to convert a photo into a cross stitch pattern. One just needs to figure out what types of cross stitch there are in hand embroidery, which ones can be created in the software, and after having mastered the tools, to create stitches one by one. A designer that wants to create cross stitch patterns from images or photos has to face all the problems with color scheme, stitch types and their size. This requires a creative approach and artistic thinking. To be through with the embroidery software once and for all, you need to understand that it comes in standalone editors and also built-in modules. I don't want to throw my weigh around and influence your decision, and yet I want to make some comments about the usefulness of various software products. The software for creation cross stitch patterns falls into two main categories: Standalone editors Of all the software meant for creation of cross stitch patterns and conversion of the files into the format recognized by embroidery machines we can single out two products: • PatternMaker for CrossStitch • CrossStitch Professional Platinum Both of these software products were designed for creating hand embroidery cross stitch patterns, and only later the manufacturer added an option of saving the result in a format recognized by an embroidery machine. Although both of these editors were designed for creating hand embroidery cross stitch patterns and have practically all the tools for creating machine embroidery designs, in my opinion, CrossStitch Professional is slightly superior to PatternMaker. Notably, the latter of the two lacks an option of saving most of the special stitches (cross stitch) into a format recognized by a machine. Both software products work with scanned patterns as well as process images automatically and create designs with the help of the tools. Additional modules Nearly all big embroidery editors have additional modules that allows creating cross stitch designs. Sometimes they come as an in-built solution, sometimes you need to buy them separately. Embird (bought separately) has an automatic conversion tool, and also an option of fitting the scanned patterns into the open documents to make the process of creation more easy. You can also create cross stitch patterns with tools. Conversion of the special stitches is present. Wilcom ES – has an automatic conversion option, is able to create cross stitch designs from scanned pattern and has tools for object creation. There is also canvas changing option and the possibility to set the stitch count. The capabilities of the software are sufficient for creating cross stitch patterns, but one would wish more operational comfort. Bernina ES (in-built) — practically the same as Wilcom ES. Digitizer MBX/Pro (bought separately) — practically the same as Wilcom ES. They cost about $160-200 each. PE Design (in-bulit) – this software had an automatic conversion option, and you can also work with scanned patterns. Creation of the cross stitch patterns with the help of tools is not the best here. Compucon EOS — automatically converts images into cross stitch patterns and also has tools for creating objects with cross stitch fill. Tajima DGML by Pulse (in-built up to v. 14) — starting form the next version there is no automatic conversion tool. The software only has a tool for creating objects with motif fills and also one for creating cross stitch lines. Which software product to choose for creating cross stitch patters, is entirely up to you!

Original text by: Lena Craftwork Sometimes you need to add a nice edging to an item. There are many ways to do it, and we will see one of them here: creating a lace edging. You can decorate a napkin, a handkerchief or any other item with lace. There are numerous FSL machine embroidery designs; choose the one that suits you and matches your item. Materials: Water soluble stabilizer Spray adhesive Upper thread Underthread Fabric for your napkin The process of creating a lace edging goes like this: 1. Hoop the water soluble stabilizer. Load your design into your embroidery machine. Begin embroidering. The first stitch will mark the position of the edge of fabric on stabilizer. 2. Add a layer of spray adhesive to your stabilizer. Stick your fabric to the stabilizer according to the outline and repeat the embroidery using the first thread color. This will secure the fabric in place. Then continue your embroidery and do the lace part. If you created your design using special software, the embroidery will go along the fabric edge and also at the corner. To decorate other parts of the napkin repeat the same thing joining the lace parts together. Hoop water soluble stabilizer and embroider using your first thread color. Place the second corner of your napkin onto the stabilizer, and secure it there. 3. Repeat the embroidery along all the remaining edges. 4. Cut the stabilizer near the edge of your embroidery. After the work is completed, wash your napkin with a lace trim in a sufficient amount of warm water. The napkin is ready. You can decorate a tablecloth or a handkerchief in this way, too.

When learning to digitize half the battle is knowing how to use the tools and what tools to use to get a desired look. Whether you have a basic digitizing level or the highest level possible if you do not know how to use the different tools you are no further ahead. In this blog we look at using the basic tools, including the RUN tool, satin tool and fill tool. I consider these the most simple of design as your only using one tool. When you get a grasp for this tool then you can start adding additional types of strokes .. If you have a some punching tools usually you will have the most basic of stitch tools in Tajima Pulse they call it a RUN Stitch however its a basic stitch , you place the points and set the stitch length, If you can learn to punch embroidery designs with this you will be able to add more detail with fewer stitches, and if you get good at it you can make a whole embroidery design with no trims. Here is a simple outline of a cat and dog dancing in the rain. You should be able to digitize this embroidery design with just the run tool. I would set the stitch length between .07 and .10 sometimes shorted on smaller detailed areas. The run tool should produce a stitch similar to the one below , basically its gets tacked down by the bobbin embroidery thread at specified by the stitch length,. In the Tajima Pulse branded embroidery software you have another option on some levels it called a manual stitch this allows you to control the stitch length as it makes a stitch when you place each point, this is also known as stitch by stitch digitizing and is considered old school as you have control of each stitch. When looking at the image shown above you need to start at a place and try to finish at another place, If your new to embroidery digitizing I recommend you get in the rabbit of punching from the bottom up, and out from the center, its usually not a problem for left chest design but caps require it to reduce the push of the embroidery design. If you do it on most of your embroidery design it won't seem like a problem when you punch designs for caps and jacket backs. You will see a graph on the image 1 this is how I mark my designs to give me reference lines. Some people can eye ball it with out the lines. Above in image 3 you will see where I have placed my points there is no set way you have to draw it the only thing you have to try to do is to keep the stitch length above .02 inch going smaller sometime will automatically get truncated by the software, Here is what the embroidery stitches look like zoomed in and out images 4 and 5. The smaller the stitch length the sharper the corners and the more detail however it also increase the number of stitches in the design, so generally its a balancing act, Some times you may need to retrace your steps , in order to minimize trims. Take your time, map it out if you can ,and omit any detail that is too small to reproduce, you may also need to place more gaps in between the stitches than what you would need if you were printing this. I recommend at least 1 to 1 1/2 stitch widths. Halfway point of the design Image 6 When your down punching the design Image 7 Now you should be able to compare image 1 and image 7 before and after to see if you like the amount of detail that you have added. Now you can take this design and if you want add some satin or fills to it. Image 8 Or you can go 1 step further and make it a full color designs or leave it at a one color design. If you sew out the outline version no fills, you only need to add underlay to the satin style of stitches, if you add the fills in you will need to add a contour stitch to the fills and a lattice to and add some compensation to the fills and satin stitches, the run style stitches or programmed runs do not need any underlay or compensation. Author: Frank Prokator

Original text by: Olga Ionova This master-class will tell you how to do cutwork embroidery. Cutwork embroidery has its own aspects, and if the design is beyond the hoop so that you have to join its parts together, the amount of the aspects doubles. This master-class will tell you how to do cutwork with alignment and border designs without the special hoop, but with the help of alignment stitches instead. Cutwork embroidery. Materials: • Fabric or an item to be embroidered • Tearaway stabilizer • Water soluble stabilizer (film) • Upper thread (white) • Underthread (white) Cutwork embroidery. The making process Prepare your fabric. Iron it and press the tearaway adhesive to the wrong side. In keeping with the design do the marking. Mark the fabric in accordance with the plastic pattern of your hoop. Tightly hoop the fabric and the stabilizer. You can add pins, too. Cutwork embroidery design must include several colors, which will mark the places for your machine to stop. The first color will be a Ran stitch, also zigzag may be added. Having embroidered the first color, stop the machine and take the hoop off. Marked are the areas that will be cut out. These are always enclosed areas. Don't unhoop the fabric! It must stay in the hoop. With the help of scissors cut away the areas inside the objects from the stitching, trying not to damage it. Use the stork embroidery scissors or the ones that were specially designed for cutwork. Put a layer of thin water soluble stabilizer on top of the fabric and secure it with pins. Set you hoops in your machine run the embroidery with the second color. The embroidery consists of finishing the open areas with zigzag stitches and later with satin columns, while water soluble stabilizer is used as a substitute for the fabric. It holds the fabric and the cut-away details together. The order of cutting and finishing depends upon the programmed sequence. The details here should be cut away and embroidered one after the other. Embroider all the details as was described above. Embroider all the elements of the design. Cutwork embroidery. The alignment of the elements When embroidering borders or repetitive design patterns you have to do the alignment. Therefore, draw the central line while doing the preparations. To get the exact match between the different parts the design must contain the alignment stitches and crosses (dots and lines). In the first part of the embroidery they are embroidered the last. The alignment spots marked violet on the photo. If you add the alignment crosses by yourself (it can be done in any embroidery software editor), mark them with different color from that of the last part of the design. You can mark the places where the needle will hit the alignment crosses by moving down the balance wheel, but not perforating the fabric. This works extremely good for leather. The last part of the embroidery before next may include tacking down the first object of the part that will be hooped next. You can use this stitch as an additional alignment mark. Cutwork embroidery. Rehooping Take the embroidered detail out and press it flat, moving the iron carefully up and down. Never use steam! Hoop the next part of the fabric to be embroidered in accordance with the marking and the hoop pattern. Set you hoops in your machine and make sure that the first is the color of the alignment crosses. All alignment spots must match! You don't have to embroider them, just move the balance wheel down and see if the needle hits the marks. After that the embroidery will go as was described above. Having completed the embroidery, unhoop the fabric. Cut away the excessive water soluble stabilizer on both right and wrong side. Tear away the tearaway adhesive stabilizer. Wash the water soluble stabilizer in the warm water until it will go off completely. Dry the embroidery until it becomes only a bit wet. Press your embroidery on something soft like a folded terry towel covered with a thin cloth. Press the embroidery flat in up and down motions only! Never move an iron side to side or back and force. It's done!

Original text by: Katya Ebber Your hoop is not one-size-fits-all. You become acutely aware of it when you need to embroider lace ribbons or edgings. This master-class will tell you how to align machine embroidery designs with lace so that the joining places could not be seen. This master-class shows working in the embroidery design software (creation of the alignment crosses), and also the embroidery process. Preparing the design in Embird Load a chosen machine embroidery design into Embird. Add the alignment stitches and half stitches at the top and the bottom of the design. Copy and flip them vertically. Having added the alignments stitches, change the order of steps in the embroidery, dragging the objects in the objects bar, and also change their color. The main objects should be located between the top and the bottom alignment stitches. Click 'Paste' in the toolbar. In the pop-up list choose 'Basting' and define the stitch length. After you click 'OK' the guide stitch will be added to specify the design's position in the hoop. How to align machine embroidery designs properly Load the prepared design into your embroidery machine and embroider the first color, according to the chart you added in the software. Hoop the water soluble stabilizer and embroider the first design (001). Alignment stitches are embroidered with the last color of the design. They will be used as marks for linking this part of the design with the next. Having embroidered the first design, trim away the water soluble stabilizer near the embroidery. Hoop water soluble stabilizer again and embroider first two colors of the design (the guide stitch and the alignment crosses). Remove the hoop from the machine and add a thin layer of spray adhesive. Using a short pin, join the center marks of the alignment crosses on the embroidery parts and on the water soluble stabilizer. Do the alignment stitches without the thread to check if the hooping went right. If all the crosses and stitches match, begin the embroidery. If the alignment crosses do not match, repeat the alignment process as mentioned above. This method is good for many items where you need to embroider a repetitive pattern. We have embroidered lace today, but if you need to do the edging of the table cloth or curtain, this method will work just as good. Use tearaway non-adhesive stabilizer for fabrics.

This step by step instruction for free machine embroidery design Hardanger is based exactly on the same principle as cutwork. Hoop the fabric together with the water-soluble stabilizer. With the first color, you embroider the outline to mark the area where the holes will be cut. After that, without making a stop (to avoid extra knots), add a zigzag stitch on top of the outline. Having done that, take the hoop off the machine and cut holes in the outlined area, trying not to damage the stabilizer (Image 1). Second color – a laced net is added in place of the cutouts (Image 2). Third color – it's recommended to use the thread of a matching color here in order to create a drawn fabric effect (Image 3). With the fourth and the fifth colors, the design itself is embroidered, ending in a zigzag border. After that, you need to take the hoop off the machine and trim the fabric along the edges of the embroidery without touching the stabilizer (Image 4). Sixth color – a decorative stitch is stitched along the bottom part of the design (Image 5). Seventh color – lastly, the lips, nose and cap are embroidered (Image 6).

Original text by: Nata Beloshveika Many of you have received big orders for t-shirts embroidered with logos. Sometimes rehooping takes more time than the embroidery process itself. I mean, the embroidery has to be in the same place on all items, if possible. So what do we do? Should we do the measuring and marking every time? But it is quite a laborious task, and boring, too. A solution exists! I want to show you my way of doing it. Embroidery on t-shirts. Materials and tools: A t-shirt A machine embroidery design Upper thread Underthread Double-sided adhesive tape Printing paper Embroidery stabilizer (Filmoplast) A ruler or a triangular Tailor's chalk, design knife, scissors Embroidery on t-shirts. The making process: I create all my designs by myself. Previous to the beginning of the embroidery I run a guide stitch 5-7 mm away from the contour. Hoop one layer of printing paper. Run the guide stitch without a thread. Carefully cut out a window in the paper along the stitches with the knife. Stick a double-sided adhesive tape around the perimeter of the window. Take off the first layer of adhesive. Now I'm going to mark out the placement of my future embroidery on the first t-shirt. To do this I measure the front side and mark the bottom left corner of the design with the chalk. Onto the marked t-shirt I put a layer of printing paper in order to create a template for hooping other t-shirts. I draw all the necessary outlines there — neck hole, shoulders, arm-holes (for small size t-shirts, because the L-size ones will not fit into the A4 format), central line or placket line for a polo shirt. Also I mark the left corner of my future design with the cross. Then I put the hoop on top of it, so that the cross on my template would be exactly in the lower left corner of the hoop. This is important! You should make sure that the hoop lines to the template and the t-shirt — check horizontal and vertical marks (vertical are very handy for checking against the knitwear loops), so that it would not move. Then I trace the hoop contour (it's better to use a felt pen to make the lines visible of the wrong side of the template) and cut out the template along the construction lines (neck line, middle, arm hole). The template is ready! All of this has been a preparation job. Now we proceed to the hooping. I cut a piece of filmoplast, so that it would cover all the adhesive tape frame. Stick it onto the adhesive tape, take off the protection layer. I take the t-shirt inside out and put the template on top of the left (!!!) half of the t-shirt. Then I superimpose the neck hole, the central line and the arm-holes. Put a hoop on top of it (with the layer of adhesive facing down), superimposing the hoop and the template. Carefully remove the template from under the hoop, so that it would not move. Once again carefully (the hoop must not move in relation to the t-shirt) fold the t-shirt around the hoop — first the sleeves and then the bottom. Then I turn the whole thing over and stick filmoplast to the t-shirt, smoothing it out with one hand. Carry it to the machine, without turning it right way round. Having unfolded the hoop on the side where the screw is, I set the hoop into the embroidery machine, smooth out the t-shirt under the foot and turn it the right way round to open the embroidery area. Now I begin to embroider. After having completed I take off the hoop from the machine and carefully unstick filmoplast from the adhesive tape. And after that I begin this all over again — stick filmoplast into the hoop, put a template on the t-shirt, stick the hoop to the t-shirt and embroider. All this is done very quickly and the result is of a high quality. I wish you the same!