karen65ae

I have had a 350E for a couple of weeks. I have found it very easy to use..A great site is www.bunnycup.com she has some great free designs that are already in JEF format...
I am on a learning curve trying to change formats on some of the free downloads....I downloaded truesizer today so will spend tomorrow trying to use it....

MISHNJIM

Yes it does. Thank you so much for everyone's input. I need to get that book. I just ordered that book....heehee

MISHNJIM

Thank you for that website. We all will learn together. :lol: I just went on the site....OMG....When I tried to save the image I wasn't sure what to save it too. What did you save it too?

amma

I make sure to prewash the fabric so it doesn't shrink and distort the embroidery work. I stay away from cotton thread for the same reason, if it is going to get washed :wink: :D:D:D

Check out emblibrary, they have wonderful tutorial/projects there and very reasonable designs too :D

http://www.emblibrary.com

PghPat

Yes, I found this web site quite by accident and have been watching some of their tutorials throughout the day.

Thanks for the tips! I've been using up all the old threads just for practice. Today I went to Joann's and bought a roll of tear away stabilizer so I can practice some of those videos.

Pat

PghPat

I just found this really neat chart listing the different kinds of stabilizers and what type to use with different fabrics. I saved it as a Word document - hope you can open it.

jdiane318

I have had my 350E for over a year and it just adds so much with so little effort to about anything I do. Last year for Christmas I embroidered kitchen towels with each person's name and snowflakes in different colors. I have both Maxine CD's and those are a hoot to do. Since Joann's will have all their thread on sale beginning 12/30/10, would be a good time to stock up on some colors. I like having the USB port. I purchased a portable hard drive to use instead of tying up my computer. It was a well spent $80. I know that some of the embroidery thread sounds expensive but the larger spools have 1,100 yards compared to 400 for cotton. Stock up on Black and white and find colors you like. Also, lots of the quilt shops carry the Dakota Collectible embroidery cd's and each quarter, there are several that are reduced to $19.95, well worth the money. I got tired of trying to download and copy and I just put everything on a cd. It is simpler with less hassles. There are lots of embroidery sites and some have great bargains. There is one site, designs by sick, which have lots and are super reasonable. Enjoy your machine. You might also want to get you a pair of embroidery clippers, sure helps to keep your threads clipped close and those little nippers really help.

karen65ae

Where I live at the moment there is only one shop in the country that sells stabilizer..So I purchased a roll of medium vilene 25 yards for $5.00 and I am using that for practicing and have also used it when I embroidered designs for a Christmas tree skirt and then just carefully cut away the excess vilene when finished.
For some reason the vilene does not stick hard to the fabric,maybe because I dont iron it for to long. Sometimes I iron the vilene on the fabric then when the hoop is placed on the machine slide another piece of vilene under the ironed on vilene..Because sometimes the fabric tends to pucker a bit in the hoop.
Also found some fabrics are thinner so I starch the fabric first..

jdiane318

PGH Pat, thanks for the handy reference sheet. Printed it out and put it in a protector for easy access.

PghPat

Your quite welcome!

Yesterday I bought a roll of stabilizer and thought I was buying cut away but turns out out is tear away. Do you think I should keep it and go get the cut away or exchange it. Normally would one have enough use for both.