I've approved the proof for the second print run of Pictures to Stitches. Now onto the writing of book 2!

I'm currently booked to teach the following classes in January, 2010:

This is a reprint of the 12/14/2010 Shibui Originals From Thought To Thread blog entry of the same name.

Starting a home-based embroidery business and need to know about software? That's what this blog discusses.

If you need to be able to create your own designs for machine embroidery, you need to have digitization software. Why? You need digitization software because  while you may have some clients who will pick out a predigitized design from a catalog that you offer, you'll have others who want you to digitize their logo or their custom design for them before you do any embroidery.

Now I've used Pfaff 3D and Pfaff 4D both of which had multiple programs operating within the one umbrella. Creating a design and editing a design were done in separate windows. I used this software on and off for a couple years, but it wasn't terribly intuitive.

After Pfaff software, I used Brother's PE-Design 7 solidly for a year. I got decent results, but once again, different functions used separate modules rather than one unified interface. Also, anytime that I wanted to digitize a curve, I had to represent it with lots of points which made editing the curve a nightmare. Everything was based on bunches of points which eventually drove me nuts. I was working for another company, at the time, and started doing research on what software would make me a more efficient digitizer.

I stumbled across a magazine advertisement for Floriani Embroidery Suite Proaround that time, and the features intrigued me. So I loaded up the demo (which is a full version of the software that doesn't allow you to save) and tried digitizing one of the designs I'd been working on in PE-Design 7.

After a couple hours I knew that this was the software that I wanted to use for future digitizing. Several months later, my boss and I were laid off, and we started our own embroidery business. Within three months, I went out and purchased Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro.

Let me say this right off the bat: if you're looking for a digitizing package that will be able to easily and effectively auto-digitize designs, give up now. I've never seen a demo of a digitizing package that doesn't tout its auto-digitizing or magic wand features, but this rarely works as well when you get the software home. Furthermore, wizards and magic wands don't give you the quality that you need for professional embroidery.

That said,  a number of things make me recommend Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro:

This is a reprint of the 12/14/2010 Shibui Originals From Thought To Thread blog entry of the same name.


So you've purchased an embroidery machine and now you're thinking about digitizing software.
Ask yourself this question: will I be buying my designs or creating my designs?

There are lots of designs out there on the web and in your local sewing shop. Your embroidery machine probably even came with several. And if you're just embroidering purchased designs for friends and family, you won't need a lot of software. Why do you need software at all, you wonder, if you've purchased the design and you're not going to create your own?

First and foremost, all embroidery designs are not created equally. There are some excellently digitized designs out there, but not all designs are well digitized. Furthermore, all designs will not stitch out equally well on all fabric types. As a general rule of thumb, the more stable the fabric, the better your stitching results. So heavy canvas should always produce better results than a light-weight knit tee shirt. That's fine if you're only going to stitch out on stable wovens, but that's rarely the case. You want to stitch your purchased designs on knit tee shirts and pola tec vests and terry cloth towels.

Most embroidery machines will allow you to resize a design using the built-in machine software, but you cannot affect the design in other important ways like changing density, underlay, or push and pull compensation settings so that your design is appropriate for the fabric on which you want to embroider.

This is where the need for software comes in: you need software that will either allow you to make changes manually or that will alter a design for your depending on the fabric you want to use. Floriani's Stitch 2 Perfection allows you to apply changes to a design based on a selected fabric type. You don't have to understand density, push and pull compensation, or underlay types to do this. You tell the software what kind of fabric you're using and it understands what has to happen to a design to make it work better on that fabric.

Things to remember when you're working with a purchased design:

There is another software package that you may want. If you want to take pictures of things (grandchildren, pets, holiday photos) and applique them onto shirts or quilt squares, John Deer's Adorable You! software may be useful for you. Whether using the regular or pro version of this software, you don't have to understand a lot about stitch types, density, or underlay because all of that is built into the software. There are pre-set templates that you can use as applique shapes and resizing is a breeze. You will need an ink jet printer, digital camera, and possibly a scanner to maximize your results with this software, but you can make memory quilt squares and customized tee shirts with pictures on them with minimal digitizing expertise.

Keep in mind that, even if you're doing it as a hobby, machine embroidery isn't cheap. Even if you ignore the initial cost of an embroidery machine and possible software, there are still designs, thread, stabilizer, and apparel or accessories to purchase. You'll need some kind of computer, laptop or desktop. This doesn't even include the possibility of needing a digital camera, scanner, and thumb drives.

Tomorrow we'll talk about what software you need if you want to do machine embroidery as a home-based business.

This is a reprint of the 12/12/2010 Shibui Originals From Thought To Thread blog entry of the same name.


Why are you buying an embroidery machine? Is it to embroider stuff for your friends and family? Or are you wanting to start a home-based business where you embroider products and sell them on eBay or etsy? Or are you starting a home-based business where clients pay you to embroider products  with their design/logo/text?

Currently, I use three machines to stitch out my machine embroidery: a Pfaff 2144, a Pfaff Creative Vision, and a Brother 600II. When I first started buying sewing/embroidery machines about eight years ago, I was a Pfaff fan. I needed machines that doubled as sewing machines, and I invested a lot of dollars in feet and face plates and other machine add-ons that only fit my Pfaff machines. Pfaff has since changed ownership, however, and if I were buying a machine right now, I'd make different choices.

The Brother 600II only embroiders and is an older model that Brother no longer even lists on their website. The newer multi-needle machines have some beautiful features that weren't available back then.

So why are you buying an embroidery machine?

If you are buying one to embroider for your friends and family (and, of course, yourself), the question to ask yourself is: does this machine have to double as a sewing machine? If you're going to use the same machine to do both sewing and machine embroidery, you're limited to choosing from the single needle machines. Both of my Pfaffs fit into this category. Don't get me wrong, I love my Pfaff 2144. It embroiders and sews beautifully. The sewing on the Pfaff Creative Vision, however, doesn't measure up to that on the Pfaff 2144. Neither of them, however, have some of the placement features available in the Brother/Baby Lock models.

If I were making the Creative Vision decision all over again, I'd go for the Brother 6000D Quattro or the Baby Lock Ellisimo. Why these two machines? Brother and Baby Lock are effectively the same machine with different branding, but both of them have a needle cam. This means that you can see exactly where the needle is about to sew. As a result of the needle cam, both machines offer two exceptional features: they have a figure eight "snowman" marker that allows you to easily place the starting point for your design as well as the perfect placement feature.

With the snowman marker, the needle cam scans for the marker position and tilt and then starts the design at the marked location (after you've removed the marker). Perfect placement has the needle cam scan the entire hooped area of fabric and then shows you exactly what's already within the hoop on your display. You can then place your design exactly where you want it within the hooped area. Both of these features are unbeatable when you're working with a multi-hoop project or when you're trying to place a design in a certain location on a print. Applique placement also becomes a breeze. The only disadvantage to this machine is that every thread color change means you changing the thread.

If you're buying a machine to embroider for yourself, friends, and family, but it doesn't have to double as a sewing machine, the question is one of budget. When your embroidery machine no longer needs to double as a sewing machine, you open up the possibility of  a multi-needle machine. The overall advantage of a multi-needle machine is that you can easily embroider more colors without having to change thread. The main disadvantage is the cost.

If I were sticking with a single thread machine because of cost considerations, I'd stick with the same Brother/Baby Lock models because of the needle cam. If I were opting for a multi-needle machine, I'd go for the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise. Both of these machines have ten needles as well as a needle cam for snowman positioning. Unfortunately, neither have the perfect placement feature that the single needle machines do. I'm hoping that Brother/Baby Lock will update the software to offer this feature in the future.

Now, you could buy a used six-needle machine for a pretty reasonable price right now because multi-needle machine users are trading theirs in for ten needle machines. This seems to remove the cost consideration from the single vs multiple needle question. None of the six needle machine have the snowman placement, but if you're not going to work with large, multi-hoop designs or applique placement, this may be an option for you. I do work with large jacket backs and multi-hoop projects which is why I prefer the ten-needle machines that recently came on the market.

If you are part of the last group, and you are starting a home-based embroidery business, I'd recommend going directly to the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise option. Yes, the price tag is higher so you have more of an investment to recover, but with ten threads you'll also spend less time swapping in new thread colors in the middle of a stitch out. Furthermore, when you're stitching out jacket backs or other multi-hoop projects, the snowman placement feature is invaluable for getting the starting stitch in just the right place so that your design looks like it was stitched out all at once.

My last point: unlike a television or DVD player, sewing and embroidery machines require service just like cars do. This means that regardless of the machine you choose, buy your embroidery machine from a dealer that is within a reasonable distance from your home and get a service maintenance contract at the time of purchase. I learned the hard way with my first mechanical sewing machine, that sending a sewing machine through the mail causes it to sew a little wacky (and then a lot wacky) making you want to set it on fire and then throw it out a window. I didn't know about getting sewing machines serviced back then and when I got it serviced a couple years later, it sewed better than it ever had.

If you insist on buying a machine online, you'll still need a service contract from a local sewing machine store. You'll probably have to pay for one service up front, however, so that the store can determine the condition of your machine before it will sell you a service contract. It isn't cheap, but do it anyway.

A service maintenance contract gives you a place to bring your machine if it starts acting crazy or it just stops working altogether. As someone who uses sewing and embroidery machines virtually every day, this can be a lifesaver, and it's cheaper to buy the contract than hope for the best and pay piecemeal.

Because even if you purchase from a location where you can drive your machine home, you'll need to maintain the machine so that it continues to sew out smoothly. And once you've got the service maintenance contract, remember to take your machine in for service when you've hit your stitch count or at least once a year (for those of you who don't use the machine every day/week). This way you won't be in the middle of a job when your machine loses its mind and eats the custom job you're doing.

Tomorrow: the question of software.

I'm starting the outline for book 2 today. So far I'll be covering applique techniques and using gradients. No, I will not be including how to digitize lace.
That means that now is the time for you to suggest topics that you would like to see in the next book. 
And, as always, you can always ask questions that I can answer in future blogs.
Hope that you're all enjoying Pictures to Stitches and that your holiday season is warm and bright.

Starting in January, 2011 the Issaquah Sewing and Vacuum store will be having monthly Floriani classes for beginners and classes every other month for continuing students. I've just finished the lesson for the continuing class. Next I'll review the lesson for the beginners.
When I have specific dates for classes, I'll post 'em here so that you can see if you're interested in attending.

I've added a new page: Tips & Tricks, and it has its first tip on it. This tip talks about what to do if you've created a folder or sub folder in Design Library and included a period in the name.

I picked up copies of Pictures to Stitches at the printer last night and delivered them to Quality Sewing this morning. I hope that all of you who purchased in advance will enjoy the book!