 | Don’t cheap out on your supplies. You spent a lot of money on your
machine. You invested a lot of time and effort learning to embroider. Don’t
you want your projects to last?
|
| Match your stabilizer to your project. The heavier the fabric the heavier
the stabilizer needs to be.
|
| Water soluble stabilizer (WSS) should be placed on top of towels, fleece
or sweatshirts to keep stitches from sinking into the nap.
|
| If you use a temporary adhesive (basting spray) a little spritz goes a
long way. Too much spray will get your needle all sticky.
|
| When hooping, you want to tighten your hoop screw as little as possible with
everything hooped. If it real loose, take the project off, tighten the screw
some and then place the hoops together. As you tighten the hoop screw, the
project & stabilizer will bunch up at the screw if you start with the hoop too
loose.
|
| Don’t go “hoopless” if you can avoid it. Even experienced embroiderers
will have issues with registrations being off with this method. You didn’t
cheap out on your machine and your supplies, and you shouldn’t cheap out on
your methods. If you’re stitching something simple or if you’re stitching on
something too thick or bulky to hoop, feel free to go hoopless.
|
| Don’t waste hoop space. Use as small a hoop as possible for the design.
The smaller the hoop, the easier it is to make sure you have uniform fabric
tension across the entire design.
|
| If you’re unsure if your thread tension is correct, try a sample. Grab a
san-serif font “T” and stitch it out. Turn the sample over. You should see
about 1/3 top color on either side of the T with bobbin thread in the center
1/3rd.
|
| Always thread your machine with the presser foot UP so the thread passes
correctly between the tension wheels. When changing colors, most manufacturers
say to cut the thread and pull it through the thread path forward, instead of
pulling it backwards.
|
| Get used to the sound of your machine. It will tell you when it needs a
new needle. Needles are cheap, a ruined project or machine repair generally is
not.
|
| Some days you just have to walk away from your machines and start fresh
tomorrow.
|
