I have a question I hope you all can help me with. Do you prewash your kitchen or bath towels before you embroidery on them? I have prewashed my material for sewing quilts ect but alway ironed & starched them after and that obviously wouldn't be work with terry cloth. Thanks for any help or ideas.

I don't know what the "rules" are, but I did some bath towels without prewashing. I used a sticky water soluble stabilizer for the back and did an overlay with WSS, stitched and ended up washing the towels to remove the sticky. I didn't note any shrinkage on either the cheap towels or the more expensive ones. Have not done kitchen towels.

In reference to washing kitchen towels before embroidery...I do prewash (preshrink) before embroidery as most are cotton.

my latest project....eyeglass case
 

Made this for my Aunt for her Birthday

I do prewash towels and for that matter everything I am going to embroider on. I just think that everything comes out better if it is preshrunk. I know that there are a lot of embroiders that don't prewash and really it comes down to what you like to do. BeckyB, love your eyeglass case.

I don't prewash the towels but I do the kitchen towels since they are cotton. But it is a preference. Love that eyeglass case!

Normally I don't prewash, BUT if it is a waffle weave towel than I DO prewash.

Is it difficult to use the digitizing software? I would like to be able to digitize yorkie photos into embroidery designs. And how pricey is the software? I just purchased a Janome MC350E

Does anyone have the Floriani software?

I have 5D pro and it does the portrait but I haven't got into it too much. If you only want to digitize yorkie you can google and their is a web site that will digitze any design; might be cheaper than buying the software. I've seen Floriani's software but not sure how easy it is to use. There is supposed to be tutorials on it to help you along. The one thing that I've seen that i like is that they don't charge you when there is an upgrade and there is no dongle to keep track of.

Thank you all for your help with this question. I have decided to go ahead and prewash. Better safe than sorry. :)

Yes I have the Floriani Embroidery Suite Pro (Not Total Control).
But so far I am still trying to learn how to use it.

What little I do know I love.

Looking for & want to buy security device. Maybe this suite? Tossed an old computer over a yr ago...my security device was still attached to the parallel port. I have all the software parts, and 2 old laptops with the parallel ports---but can't use my embroidery program ! It is old version, but does all I need and almost all the newer programs do. I'd love to find & buy the key/dongle if anyone has a "dead" writer box or don't use theirs anymore.

What type of Dongle are you looking for? I do have an older one when I updated my program, Bernina V4.

I have a Babylock Ellisimo Gold that I got when my Ellegante went toes up. I really enjoy all the cool things this machine can do and I am still learning about the embroidery functions and as soon as work quits interfering with my sewing time I have lots of projects planned!

It's the "security thingy" that plugs to the printer connector on the back of a computer. If the computer doesn't recognize it being attached, you cannot open the program. I've sent you a p.m. explaining, and hoping yours is correct one.

[oneteappot;6403548 ]My first time posting on this thread! I have a Husqvarna SE. Love it!
I am doing some quilting on placemats, runners, small quilts, etc. I haven't used the quilting designs on quilts before, the actual quilting stitches.like say a snowflake outline. Anyway, I am wondering if you use or would use a quilting thread or embroidery thread. And also I see that on Embroidery Library they have single and double run designs, which would be best?
Laurel

I have been watching for an answer to this question but haven't seen one....can someone help?

For oneteappot and marybrace: ( sorry I don't know how to quote previous posts ) I have been quilting my quilts on my Janome 350E for two years now. I use sewing / quilting thread top and in bobbin. Others may have different thoughts. Also single run designs are a better choice. No matter how well you have your fabrics / quilt hooped there will sure to be some shifting and the second stitching on a double run design may not follow the first line exactly. The blurring of the lines may or may not bother you. Hope this helps.

Marybrace, I use the embroidery thread for the quilting motifs. I have used the single stitch which seems to be fine. I don't use cotton or quilting thread on my machine since lint can add up and I had to get the machine cleaned once due to that.

Marybrace,

I have used both silk finished cotton thread by gutermann and rayon embroidery thread. The rayon embroidery thread didn't hold up as well as the cotton did but it gave it a pretty sheen. That being said, if I do another one with embroidery I might try polyester embroidery thread as it will leave a sheen and should hold up better.

Hope this helps ... I've only done a couple.

Also, I have one of those 'hand quilted look' stitches where you use invisible thread in the top and embroidery or cotton thread on the back and while it looked pretty on the front, I didn't care for what it looked like on the bottom ... just my humble opinion. This was years ago and they may have made improvements since then.

This is an excellent tip! I had considered buying titanium needles, but it makes sense that I would want the needle to break instead of the machine. I have inadvertently had my needle in the wrong position for the foot and broke the needle. A titanium probably would have damaged the machine.

Dj that is just awesome!!! She will love it!!

Do anyone have a Snap Hoop that they would be willing to sell that would fit a Brother PE700II. I fell in love with using it at the Bayou Embroidery University but they didn't have my model there.

It really works much better than my Magna Hoop!!

I owe a Janome 11000 and love I,t so I bought another one from a friend who got the 12000 Janome ( lucky duck!) and I can't embroidery on the one I bought... It keeps telling me needs P foot which is on the machine and everything is set up to emb but it won't recognize the foot (I guess).. I have it in shop (holding my breath it won't cost me a fortune!!) Has anyone else ever had this problem? and if so what did your repair man say?

I've read somewhere that wrapping the hoop will hold the fabric better, stop the shifting. Has anyone tried this, does it work, and if so what do you wrap with?

Since I started using "Hoop Grip" I have not had any fabric shifts.
When it starts to get to the point that I get some slipping I peel
the tape off and run a new strip.

Totally love the stuff, and I HIGHLY recommend trying it.

Thank you. I'll look for it.

I have been going crazy figuring out an em, and ending up getting a singer future quartet seqs 6000. Done a couple of projects with it and have been happy so far. It has a big learner curve for me, and taking it step by step. Before I got it my plans was to do sweatshirts, and quilt labels (I am not there yet). So the price was right, and so much software came with it. Really don't have no hidden extra expense for me. My question is-what website do you feel have good free embroidery designs, I know some are probably better than others. I am really new at this and trying to figure everything out. Trying to figure out stabilizers, thread, etc. Any advice will sure be appreciated.

There are tons of embroidery design websites out there and most will have a free pattern or two. Google works well for that. Artisticthreadworks.com has lots of free downloads and a weekly newsletter with the latest freebies. I have not had any problems with anything I've gotten from them. They also have lots of tutorials on just about anything you want to know, threads, which stabilizers to use, how to stitch on card stock, etc. I don't have any ties to the site, just like them.

www.embroiderylibrary.com is a good site to check out, they have lots of designs and everyone I have gotten from there has sewn out really well. They have 2 free designs each month and often run specials.

I have a brother innovs-1200 and still having a hard time figuring out how to do labels with the writing inside the design.:hunf:

The nativity set is so super cool. I love it. Thanks for sharing!

Grandma Jean - go to www.cuteembroidery.com - they have a listing every day of free designs from many different companies. Just click on community and then Freebies. They also had a massive freebie section but it was disabled after someone posted designs that didn't belong to them. Hopefully it will be back soon.

To me this makes no since; unless its an embroidery only machine then I don't know. I have a Viking Diamond Deluxe that allows for sewing and embroidery so I use all threads. If I'm embroidering on a quilt then I'm going with cotton thread since cotton thread is easier on cotton fabric because it won't cut thru it over time. I normally use Aurifil thread because its low lint and is strong and will hold up. I don't care too much on sheen on a quilt. Basically the thing is, if I were FMQ, I'd use cotton so therefore the embroidery is replacing the FMQ so I'll use cotton for it too.

Hey Y'all,

I need some help please.... I have a Brother PE780 and still a newbie to embroidery. Love it but have a LONG way to go to learn this curve...... Here is my at the moment dilimma.... Using a preload font I need to do three words individually due to the size I want and only have a 5x7 hoop..... if you look at the photos.... I "think" I sized them the same in height at 1.65 .... but when they were done, the word gather came out taller than together!!! HOW COME??? I know it is only a very small difference but I can see it! so how do you make sure things are the same size???

I don't have this Brother machine but looking at the pictures of your machine settings, the first picture of your machine has a setting height of 4.99 and the second setting is 4.49. As I said I'm not familiar with this machine so I may be way off track......

Latest stitchout....did one for grandson & great grandson .[ATTACH=CONFIG]448752[/ATTACH] :)

Can anyone tell me what the SHV file is? When I download a design I delete any files that aren't for my machines. Just wondering which machine uses the SHV file.

[QUOTE=Marnie;6416194]For oneteappot and marybrace: ( sorry I don't know how to quote previous posts ) I have been quilting my quilts on my Janome 350E for two years now. I use sewing / quilting thread top and in bobbin. Others may have different thoughts. Also single run designs are a better choice. No matter how well you have your fabrics / quilt hooped there will sure to be some shifting and the second stitching on a double run design may not follow the first line exactly. The blurring of the lines may or may not bother you. Hope this helps.[/QUO

Marnie, When you reply to someone, click at the bottom where it says " reply with quote"

I think the 4.99 and 4.49 are the lengths since I rotated the design....