Category: Sewing

It’s not too often that I wish I’d purchased something different. I spend too much time researching to make sure that I get something that I enjoy. But if I had to do it over again, I would not have purchased SewWhatPro.

It’s not that it’s a bad machine embroidery program. It actually does get the job done, but in it’s current state, I really dislike the user interface and so I’ve found myself avoiding using it if possible. However, it’s a low cost machine embroidery program at only $65 so if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on embroidery software this would be an excellent purchase and the customer service is excellent. The creator is very active on the SewWhatPro forum and has even called people to walk them through areas they had trouble with. I’ll definitely hold onto this program and hopefully, within a few years it’ll have a user interface that I enjoy more.

I had heard a lot about Embird, at $164, it’s most likely the next step (for machine embroidery programs cost wise). I broke down and purchased the program. They have a 30 day free trial that you can use, but having seen numerous tutorials and interacting on Embird forums, I felt confident enough to make the purchase. Machine embroidery programs can easily cost a few thousand dollars, so based on all of its capabilities, purchasing Embird is a great deal!

After installing Embird, I started working with embroidery files. Their user interface, is everything I expected it to be, and a bit more. There’s so much to discover with this program that right now I’m just playing in the shallow end of the Embird pool but I’m loving the experience. Even though machine embroidery software has a steep learning curve, I’m not feeling overwhelmed at all and am actually looking forward to using this software a lot.

Last evening, I successfully merged two different embroidery files! A picture would have been nice, right? I’ll get around to posting one soon. I plan to stitch that design out this weekend. Later today, I’ll be merging a few more designs to make a one of a kind embroidered masterpiece for my daughters new lunch bag.

Embird: How to Merge Designs

The Lutheran youth group, that my daughter is in, will be showing the movie Frozen. Neither one of us has seen the movie so I know she’s really looking forward to seeing it with her friends.

Of course that got me thinking about designing an machine embroidering a Frozen themed tee shirt for her.

Truth be told, I’d been thinking about creating something from Frozen ever since I saw the pictures from the movie. However, I held off, since was unsure who to make it for? My daughter is fine with me embroidering a ‘Frozen themed’ shirt with my Brother Designio DZ820E as long as it does not look too “childish”.

I’ve told my daughter to pick out a character she wanted me to embroider and while I was sure she’d choose Olaf (he’s so adorable) but

she wants me to embroider one (or both) of the sisters.

Once my Metro embroidery thread arrives, I’ll hoop up the project and start machine embroidering with my Brother Designio DZ820E.

 

Designing and sewing Passion Play costumes also opened the door for commissioned work and unlike the Passion Play, I can work on my schedule.

This week, I’m working two commissioned pieces. The drafting paper arrived Saturday, now the only thing needed is to draft the pattern and start sewing. One thing I encounter often, is some fellow crafters who undersell their work. Most of the common mistakes I see is people not properly calculating the costs of their materials or time. I’m not one of those people. I will say that my prices aren’t cheaper than your big box stores, but on the rare occasion that I do commissioned work it’s safe to say that the recipient is receiving a high quality item and when it comes to sewing the inside of my work is just as beautiful as the outside.

Recently, I have been approached about doing some embroidery by a few people, but I declined those offers. The price they wanted to pay was way too low and I don’t undersell myself.

 

Earlier today, I was able to complete the embroidered design I started a few days ago. So yes, the dreaded thread shedding is now a memory. I hope it becomes a distant memory.

I will say the only issue I experienced was going over already completed stitches in the word ‘attitude.’ However, I was expecting that. After redoing that word, the remaining words were easy to complete.

After the shirt was washed and dried, my daughter promptly modeled the shirt. She said, “Mommy, this is going to be my favorite shirt of the summer!” High praise, indeed!

 

Of course, this is just the beginning. I’ll definitely be doing more machine embroidery with my Brother Designio DZ820E.

Embroidery Design used:

Urban Threads: It’s Not About Age, It’s About Attitude

Yesterday, I wrote about the error message I received with my Brother Designio Series DZ820E. Unlike the first time I received this error message, I was unable to fix the issue. However yesterday evening, I was able to solve the problem. Since then, I’ve embroidered two designs without the thread shredding! Whee! Of course I’m happy. I love my Brother Designio DZ820E. It’s a great embroidery machine.

Guess what was causing the issue?

 

It was the thread that I was using. Yes… another case of user error. Don’t you love it? But it gets better… what made it crazy was that I was able to embroider at least three designs with the same type of thread without the thread shredding!

It’s certain threads within the box of 63 colors that I received that cause the shredding. Uhm… what?

Rather than pick and hope that the thread that I’ve selected doesn’t cause this issue. I won’t use this brand with my Brother Designio.

Just look at those colors, Embroidex thread is lovely, right? It’s simply not worth the hassle to start a embroidered design and deal with the potential headache of thread shredding and potentially ruining an embroidered design. No thanks, I’ll pass… I’ve contacted Amazon and hopefully I’m able to cancel the replacement embroidery machine that was going to be shipped, because obviously I don’t need it now.

Pacesetter (the embroidery thread that was included with my machine) does work with my Brother Designio Series DZ820E embroidery machine. Pacesetter is the embroidery thread that I used to see if the type of thread was the problem. Of course, Pacesetter is much more expensive than the thread that was causing me grief; 40 spools will cost me about $169. I paid $58.93 for Embroidex machine embroidery thread that had 63 spools.  Yeah… that’s a big jump in price.

I’ve had great results with ThreadArt that I used with my Brother SE400. I’ll test to see how my Brother Designio likes that embroidery thread. Also, I have read great reviews about Metro embroidery thread for the Brother PE770 machine embroidery machine. The Brother Designio Series DZ820E is basically the same as the Brother PE770, with just a few extras added.

Purchasing handcrafted items

When purchasing a handcrafted item, it’s important to remember that you are paying for more than the design. True, there are some that undersell their work, but I’m not talking about them. I will say that undervaluing ones work can make it hard for those who know the true value of the work involved and are pricing their items correctly. Some, who look at their designs, will wonder why their handcrafted item is more expensive when  others are cheap; not thinking that the one that’s cheaper might be underselling their items.

When looking at handcrafted items, you also need to realize that the person might be adding…

• Experience
• Time it took to create the product
• Tools needed

I’ve occasionally encountered some people who’ve questioned my prices and I explained why I price my items appropriately.

Amazon Update

I was able to successfully cancel my replacement order from Amazon. That’s great news since this means I won’t have to go through the hassle of boxing and returning my embroidery machine.

Last evening, I started embroidering this design for my daughter.

“It’s not about Age, It’s about attitude” is the message. My daughter chose the design from the Urban Threads website. We love that place. She sat beside me and excitedly watched while the machine started embroidering. My Brother embroidery machine had started stitching the “Attitude,” when I began to hear the  telltale signs of an upcoming thread break. For those of you that sew, you might be able to pick up on those signs also.

As expected, A few seconds, later I received this error message.

Check and rethread upper needle error message

Sounds familiar, right? I ran into this error message before. However unlike the first time, I’ve been unable to fix this error. I changed the needle three times, the bobbin, and the machine will work for about 75 stitches and then the upper thread will shred again. Arghh! Since I purchased this from Amazon I went ahead and requested a replacement. Something tells me there’s a bit of thread caught within the inner workings of the machine or it could be something easier such as…

1. The wrong stabilizer used? Highly unlikely but it’s a possibility.
2. Perhaps my machine does not like the basting adhesive spray I was using? This could be a possibility…

Since I did not want to void the Amazon 30-day warranty I’ve left it alone. After the 30 day period, I might think about doing that. Then again, I might not… since I did purchase a three year extended warranty on this item.

Even though I’ll be receiving an replacement, I still post the question on the Brother machine embroidery forum that I frequent for possible fixes. I want to be prepared in case this happens in the future.

Not surprisingly, I’m not satisfied simply using the designs that others produce. I can’t say anything negative about the free and paid designs I’ve purchased. They’ve been simply amazing! However, I want to start creating my own. SewWhatPro & SewArt are programs I’ve seen mentioned (a lot) on the Brother Embroidery forum where I’m a member. Last year, I’d actually used SewArt before with my SE400, but the 30 day trial had expired and I didn’t make the purchase at that time since I still was getting comfortable with machine embroidery. Well… that has changed. Today, I paid the $75 to register Sew Art and shortly afterwards, I began working on a simple design.

If you look at the above video, you can see that converting an image file to an embroidery file is not as easy as some might think. Now you might understand why some customized embroidery designs can be costly. Depending on the design, some can take a lot of time to create and convert into an embroidery file.

This is just another one of the creative outlets I can turn to when I need time to regenerate, reflect and get ideas. I’m looking forward to the journey. Once I’ve mastered making embroidery files I most likely will make an upgrade to one of the higher end programs available. For those interested, be prepared to pay several hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars for one of those programs.  If I do take that leap, I most likely will eventually purchase costs $800. I’ve been looking at that for a little while but I won’t be purchasing that any time soon and I’d only be purchasing that if I decided to sell my embroidery designs.