Here is your

Embroidery 101

Here is your "Embroidery 101" class to get you started if you own a machine and don't know where to begin. Are you ready? I own a Janome 5700 and hope you will find these instructions useful no matter what brand of machine you own.

I moved my embroidery machine right here beside my computer.
I am getting ready to stitch out a sample design and I will write down every
step I take so you can follow along;

Put on your embroidery foot (the one that is clear plastic with an oblong
circle on the bottom.

Put in the embroidery card of your choice - before you turn on your machine.
It should always have a card in place before you turn it on. This is per
the qualified machine repair person who sold me my machine.

Turn on your machine and a menu comes up. Press the image of the embroidery
hoop. On my 5700, it is on the far right and also has a solid image of a
memory card. When you press the image, the embroidery carriage moves into
the embroidery position. It makes a loud noise, so don't be afraid.

At this point, all of the images of the designs will come up on your screen.
Press the image you want to stitch. You will now see a breakdown of all the
stitch sequences that it will take to stitch out your design. The first one
is what will stitch first and you will see a thread color underneath. That
will be the first color of thread to thread your machine with. Do that now.

Make sure you have a bobbin with thread loaded in the bobbin case. I use
either white or black. If I am stitching on light fabric, I use the white
one and if I am stitching on dark fabric, I use the black one. Don't worry
about the color not matching your fabric as the bobbin thread only shows on
the back when your tension is adjusted properly.

Put your fabric in your hoop with the fabric on top and the stabilizer on
the bottom. To begin, it is best to use cotton or a cotton/poly blend. It
does not have much stretch and will do nicely for your practice. Now, even
though it does not stretch much, you still need the stabilizer on the
bottom. Believe me, you will like your results much better.

Now it is time to hoop your fabric and stabilizer. I want you to study your
embroider hoop. Look closely at the inner ring and you will see an "L" and
"R". This helps you know how to hoop. Be sure you have the "L" on the left
and the "R" on the right. The "L" and "R" should always be on top, facing
you when you hoop.

Be sure you have unscrewed the hoop at least half way before attempting to
put in your fabric. When you are doing heavier fabrics later such as towels
and denim, you may need to unscrew it almost all the way to get your fabric
in. Lay your stabilizer down, then your fabric, then your inner hoop.
Press down and you are now ready to start tightening your screw. These
hoops are not very thick, so you will find that you will need to keep
pushing the inner hoop back down as you go until it is taught. Tighten as
far as you can manage to turn with your finger. When you can't turn any
longer, make sure your fabric and stabilizer are even with no wrinkles and
you are ready to attach to your machine. Hint; I find it is easier to do
this on a flat surface with the screw hanging over the edge of the table.
It makes it easier to hold it and tighten at the same time.

Slide your hooped fabric under the needle and slip it into your embroidery
carriage. You should hear a "click" as you turn the knob on your hoop one
quarter turn to lock the hoop on your carriage.

Now it is time to set your tension. I was afraid of this part when I
started. I have always had machines that did all this for me. And, I have
a Mom who thinks that under no circumstances should you ever touch that
button. So, I had a lot to overcome for this part. The main thing is -
"Don't be afraid". This will not break your wonderful machine. I want you
to turn the tension dial to a point between 1 and 2. This is your starting
point. All machines may have their own favorite places, but this is the one
that works best for me. I hardly ever change it - even when I embroidered a
sweat shirt last week. It worked great! However, be aware that you may
have to adjust it from time to time. You will be able to tell when by how
even your design is stitching out.

Next, find the "Up"/"Down" button on the front of your machine. Mine is
just above the needle area above the lock-off button. It has two
triangles - one solid and one open. This button brings your needle down
with one push and up with another push. Hold your top thread as you do
this. What we are attempting to do here is bring that bobbin thread to the
top. There is less chance of there being a tangled mess underneath when you
do this step. Pull on the thread until you have both tails on top.

Lower your pressure foot and, holding both tails with your left hand, touch
the start button with your right hand and let the magic begin. After about
8 stitches, touch the "Start" button again so your machine will stop and cut
those threads to keep them from interfering with your design. It just makes
it easier.

Stay right with your machine as it stitches and let that "Wow effect"
overcome you. It will stop when it is time to make a thread color change.
You can stop and start your machine as many times as you like - say if the
phone rings - and it will always remember where it left off. I was
stitching out a design right after I first started and got a message that I
had a thread break and the machine stopped. I could see that the upper
thread was just fine. However, the machine knew that it was out of bobbin
thread. I was puzzled as to what to do because I did not want to mess up my
design. I am the adventurous type, so I removed the hoop from the machine
and put in a new bobbin. Make sure you don't have too long of a bobbin
thread as this might cause a tangle when you begin embroidering again. The
design came out just fine. How neat!

Each time the machine is ready for a new color of thread, it will "beep" and
stop. After you change the thread color, push the "Start" button, let it
stitch about 8 stitches, then stop the machine and cut your threads on top.
Start again and continue this process until the end of the design.

Cut the top thread. Remove your hoop from the machine and cut the bobbin
thread.

Push the Menu button on your screen before turning off the power. Always
leave a memory card in the slot before you turn your machine off or on. I
received this information from my local store owner who is also a qualified
machine repair person.

Let me know how you did by emailing me at yourrubberstampplace@adelphia.net . I can't
wait to hear from you.

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