• “What is the best embroidery digitizing software?” 
• “Which embroidery digitizing software programs are easy to use?”

Most embroidery digitizing software programs have the essential tools to create an embroidery design file. All embroidery software has the ability to use the three main stitch types; therefore, they can all accomplish (for the most part) the same result.

However, what does differ is the advanced digitizing tools and features that make creating designs easier. Some do require more leg work with manually inputting ‘stitch settings,’ while others are more advanced as they help automate the process and speed things up for you. For this reason, please note that:

Things to Consider When Looking Into Embroidery Digitizing Software:

Personal Preference

As with anything in life, people have different preferences. Your background and the type of embroidery work you plan to create will probably, in some way, impact your decision more than anything else.

Do Your Research

Reputable Embroidery Software Brands & Embroidery Education

Should I Buy Through A Dealer Store Or Online?

Honestly, this depends on how much one-on-one assistance you think you’ll need with the basics. I endorse supporting your local dealer if you think their support justifies the extra cost.

Instead, it can be because there are more sales channels that software has to go through before it reaches your hands. The brick-and-mortar store, regional sales coordinator, and of course, software manufacturers all need to profit.

Paying your dealer for help is okay if you need a lot of assistance with the basics. They deserve to get paid for their work and efforts.

Do You Need To Buy Software Specific To Your Embroidery Machine Brand?

To be fair, although you don’t need it, sometimes some bells and whistles come from having the same brand of machine and software. Things like wireless connection can be significant motivating factors for some.

However, when it comes to creating embroidery projects and digitizing in particular, there aren’t any huge advantages to buying software specific to your machine brand. In fact, you usually just end up paying more.

Where Can You Get Embroidery Software Support/Help?

There’s always a slight learning curve when it comes to learning anything new.

Education is key! Our lessons help an incredible amount when learning how to digitize, but sometimes you have questions about how to do something or where to find a tool. Although Google is an awesome resource, sometimes it’s easiest just to post your question online, where live humans can answer.

See if Embroidery Digitizing is Something You’re Really Interested In First

Now, I realize that some embroiderers don’t fully understand what digitizing is or if it’s something you’ll really want to invest your time into. For this reason, I created a Free Embroidery Digitizing 101 Video Course with a Cheat Sheet PDF.

It’s the perfect starting point to teach you the basic digitizing principles that EVERY embroiderer should know, like stitch types, underlay, pull compensation, and more. Trust me, whether you want to digitize or not, the theory you’ll learn here will help you achieve better-embroidered results.

My Suggestion? Check Out Embroidery Legacy Digitizing Software for Simplified Design Creation

If you’re searching for a powerful yet easy-to-use digitizing solution, Embroidery Legacy Digitizing Software is the perfect choice. It streamlines the digitizing process, allowing you to focus on creativity rather than complexity.

Unlike traditional software that may feel overly complicated, EL Digitizer features a modern, intuitive interface and smart automation tools that make embroidery design creation effortless—just like switching from a manual to an automatic car! ??

With EL Digitizer, you can:

• Work smarter, not harder with innovative, next-generation features
• Skip the frustration with a non-cluttered, user-friendly workspace
• Turn ideas into stunning embroidery designs—quickly and easily

Whether you’re new to digitizing or a seasoned pro, this software simplifies the digitizing process and helps you create with confidence.

Ready to upgrade your embroidery experience? Discover how simple digitizing can be with EL Digitizer Software!

Conclusion: Discover if Digitizing is Right for You—Then Make an Informed Choice!

As you know, you need to consider many factors when looking into digitizing software. However, the main thing to remember is to look for a reputable brand with quality education and support.

If you’re ready to create stunning embroidery designs and want our top recommendation, explore our revolutionary new Embroidery Legacy Digitizing Software. With its modern, clutter-free interface and next-generation tools, designing has never been easier—or faster!

I hope this helps you narrow your search for embroidery digitizing software. If you have any questions, we’re always happy to help.

• The advantages of a multi-needle over a single needle machine.
• Do you plan on using the machine for a home business or hobby?
• What do you plan on embroidering?
• What is the difference between home & commercial brands?
• Our recommended embroidery machine.

Single Needle Vs Multi Needle Embroidery Machines

Are you wondering what the difference is? Both machines are computerized for embroidery. They have touch screens and automatic thread cutters. They also have USB ports for designs and fonts, along with other standard features.

However, single-needle machines have one needle with a flatbed under it, while multi-needle machines have 6 to 18 needles and tubular arms to stitch on.

Single-needle embroidery machines are a good choice for beginners or those unsure about machine embroidery. They are cost-effective and easy to use. However, multi-needle machines are the best option in the long run, giving you the ability to create more diverse projects and get the best results.

Limitations of Single Needle Embroidery Machines:

• Single needle machines are not meant for commercial use. They work on a flat surface, which makes it hard to embroider items like shirts or socks that are tubular in shape.
• When using a flatbed machine to embroider on sweatshirts you must turn them inside out and keep an eye on the embroidery area to avoid making mistakes.
• They have slower speeds and use rectangular hoops, which can affect registration and embroidery quality.
• These machines can only run one color at a time, requiring frequent stops for color changes, which reduces productivity.

The Advantages of Multi Needle Embroidery Machines

• Multi-needle machines have 6 to 18 needles, allowing for automatic color changes and continuous operation.
• They run at higher speeds on heavier items and are more suitable for tubular items due to the tubular arm and rotary hook bobbin case.
• These machines allow you to embroider on a wide range of projects like caps, onesies, pockets, and socks.
• You can load the design, select the colors, start the machine, and walk away, freeing up time for other tasks or to grow your business.

Do you Plan on Embroidering for Business or Hobby Purposes? This will Determine your Attachments.

Keep in mind that the use cases for both are different. Embroiderers who plan to use their machines for business will run them a lot more often and must prioritize saving time and being efficient. Those who plan to use their machines as a hobby will want to prioritize ease of use and the fun factor.

The most important reason you want to ask this question though is to determine what you plan on embroidering on, and whether you’ll need special machine attachments to do so.

As a hobbyist, it’s straightforward. Think about what types of embroidery projects you want to create, and choose a machine that will allow you. If you plan on embroidering pockets, make sure there is a pocket attachment.

If you’re starting or run a home embroidery business, ask yourself these questions and answer them carefully before choosing an embroidery machine that fits your budget:

• Who is my target market?
• What items/garments do they want to embroider?
• What hoop size and attachments will I need

To keep expenses low, avoid high-end bells and whistle features meant for hobbyists, as they are often unnecessary for business purposes. In my commercial embroidery factories, we produced over 10 million pieces of embroidered goods annually without these extras. Focus on essential attachments and max hoop size, like a cap attachment for hats or a large hoop for sweaters or jacket backs.

Home Vs Commercial Embroidery Machine Brands

Home Embroidery Machine Brands

To clarify, home brands like Brother, Janome, Bernina, Viking, and Babylock make good embroidery machines. These are some examples of popular brands that produce quality machines for home use. Home brands often cater to hobbyists and therefore often include many neat built-in bells and whistles.

Typically, home brands are more expensive because stores primarily sell them through dealer networks. However, they provide strong local support. That said, the main reason you may want to consider a home brand is if you think you’ll need lots of one-on-one assistance.

Thinking of purchasing a used home machine? Buyer beware! You might be buying someone else’s problems.  For local transactions, request to have the machine inspected by a local technician. If the seller has nothing to hide, they should have no problem with this. Purchasing a used machine from a dealer is usually a safer way to go, and you can find yourself a great deal. Many of the machines they sell are “last year’s model”.

Commercial Embroidery Machine Brands

From running a commercial multi-head embroidery company in the early 1980s, I’ve seen many multi-needle manufacturers come and go along with machine quality in general improve significantly. Years ago, I would only consider top commercial brands like Tajima, Barudan, and ZSK. These brands are still highly respected and worth the investment for their reliability, quality and resale value.

Previously, most “offshore” machines had poor reputations, but quality has improved across the industry. However, cheaper emerging commercial brands often have additional hurdles, such as temperamental tension systems requiring much more adjustments and expertise.

While the lower price of these machines, sometimes under $8,000 USD, can be appealing, I wouldn’t recommend them for those without extensive embroidery experience.

Our Embroidery Machine Recommendation: Tajima SAI

The Tajima SAI embroidery machine is an excellent choice for both beginners and experienced embroiderers. Its compact design and user-friendly interface make it ideal for small spaces while delivering professional-quality results. With its advanced technology, the SAI offers precise stitching and a wide range of features, including ease to gauge tension ensuring your projects are completed efficiently and beautifully. The SAI also has tons of optional attachments, allowing you to grow with your machine over time.

Conclusion: What is the Best Embroidery Machine for You?

The answer to this question depends on several factors. But overall, if you’re primarily focused on embroidery (not sewing or quilting), I’d strongly recommend a multi-needle machine. The tubular arm and various attachments make it easy to embroider on different types of garments. Just set it up and let it do the work.

Consider what you want to embroider and what your purposes are for the machine (hobby or business) before investing. This will help you ensure the machine you buy has the attachments for what you’d like to create.

The choice of machine brand depends on your support needs and budget. Home brands, though expensive because of dealer networks, often include in person training.

Commercial brands do not have as many bells and whistles, but they are designed for long-lasting use. This helps you make more money over time and maintain a high resale value. Overall, remember you often get what you pay for.

Although the explanation above is rather simple, I assure you that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Embroidery digitizing is like painting with stitches, and just like painting, certain rules apply.

Digitizing is all about understanding how thread interacts with fabric and learning how to use software to get the results you want. Choosing the appropriate stitch type, settings, & direction is where the real learning curve is involved.

What All Can I Digitize into Embroidery?

This is where the real fun is involved.

For example, you can digitize things like your kids’ drawings, a company’s logo, or an internet image.

Now keep in mind, there are some limitations in place. Unlike printing something, machine embroidery has more limitations in place because we’re dealing with physical mediums like thread and fabric. That said, you couldn’t digitize the Mona Lisa onto a 2-inch patch and expect the same level of detail.

Do I Need To Be Artistic To Digitize?

I can barely draw a stick figure, yet I’ve won 30 awards for digitizing in the commercial industry and have done work for thousands of large corporations. Although I’m not an artist, I would certainly consider myself ‘creative’.

You can be a very creative person and still not be an artist. Every machine embroidery hobbyist I’ve met I would consider to be creative. This means that you’re just as qualified to become a digitizer as anyone else!

How Long Does It Take To Learn Embroidery Digitizing?

Like any hobby, having proper instruction & experiencing positive results will reflect the amount of interest you have in learning. Things like underlay stitches, understanding the three basic embroidery stitch types (running stitch, fill and satin stitches), push & pull compensation, and density are all key aspects that must be considered when learning how to transform artwork into an embroidery design.

I understand that some of these words (or all of them) might be new to you and seem foreign. The main thing to remember is that like painting, digitizing is an art form that simply requires patience and, of course, a guiding hand from the right instructor.

What Do I Need to Start Embroidery Digitizing?

There are a few things you will need to start your digitizing journey.

Access to an embroidery machine is essential. Without stitching out your digitized designs, you will not see where your errors are. As I always say, what you see on your screen isn’t always the same as your stitched outcome. Trial and error will be your new motto!

If you went for a run, would you wear your flip-flops or your running shoes? Using a mouse in digitizing is like wearing flip-flops. You can still run, but you’ll likely take longer. Using a pen tablet not only helps with your creativity, but it makes digitizing faster and more fun!

Embroidery Digitizing Is Not New (Sort of)

Although embroidery software and embroidery file formats are new and constantly evolving, the age-old rules of how thread interacts with fabric are not. In fact, they’re thousands of years old!

Now keep in mind that machine embroidery (compared to hand embroidery) is still somewhat new, starting in the nineteenth century. But still, contrary to popular belief, embroidery digitizing didn’t start with computers.

No, machine embroidery used to be done on Schiffli looms that were 10-15 yards long and produced hundreds of pieces at a time. These machines were operated by Schiffli master digitizers who manually commanded and traced each stitch in live time (each master apprenticed for 10 years to learn their trade)!

I’m proud to say that as far I know, I am the last Schiffli master digitizer still alive and teaching in North America (I know most of you know my story, so I’ll stop it there)…

The point I’m trying to make is that although these days software makes things A LOT easier by putting most of the digitizing process on “autopilot” for you, embroidery is an artform dealing with the physical mediums of thread and fabric which are governed by rules.

Because of this, there is some basic embroidery theory that every embroiderer should learn to really understand how embroidery designs are created and how to get the best results, even if you don’t want to learn how to digitize fully!

I Want To Try Digitizing. Where Do I Begin?

Conclusion: Is Embroidery Digitizing For You?

The thing about embroidery digitizing is that it’s like olives… some people really like it, some people really don’t. Either way is fine! I realize that digitizing is not for everyone; it’s either you love it or hate it.

So is machine embroidery digitizing for you? Well, there’s only one way to find out…

Before you invest any money in digitizing software, check out our Free Embroidery Digitizing 101: Video Course & Cheat Sheet. Whether you want to digitize or not, the theory you’ll learn will help improve every aspect of your embroidery…

… Plus, it’s 100% free! What do you have to lose? Best of luck in your digitizing journey and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions! Remember the name of our site says it all EmbroideryLegacy.com

The quality of any embroidery project starts with how well your material and stabilizer are hooped.

This complete guide to embroidery hooping will cover:

• The difference between commercial & home embroidery hoops.
• Give you a basic tutorial on how to properly hoop fabric without, well Jumping through hoops.
• Show you some useful techniques & tricks that’ll help you hoop easier.
• The difference between hooping and floating.
• Explain hooping aids and why / when you might need them.

Commercial vs. Home Embroidery Hoops

Having come from the commercial side of embroidery, I must admit that one of the things that shocked me most when entering the home or hobbyist embroidery industry was the shape of the hoops

You see, in the commercial embroidery industry, the shapes of most hoops are circular & round. While in the home embroidery industry, most hoops are square or rectangular which is why you get sizes like 5 x 7 hoops.

Now logically, the commercial (or circular) hoops do make more sense. The reason is because with the rectangular hobbyist hoops, there are 4 corners where the fabric is held securely. However, the long straight areas of the hoop between the corners are not held as tight or securely. This leads to the fabric becoming loose and causing issues like design misregistration & puckering.

Now with the commercial hoops being circular, the material is held down securely and evenly within all areas of the hoop. Instead of only having 4 strong corners, the pressure is evenly dispersed throughout the entire hoop which makes the fabric less likely to become lose & pull inwards. Think of it like a drum: a drum is circular so that the drum skin (as they call it) can be stretched evenly across the drum to make it tight.

To this day, I personally do prefer to use circular hoops over square or rectangular-shaped ones because it does a better job of holding your fabric & stabilizer securely in place. However, it is in no way a must. Some home and commercial crossover machines do come with circular hoops. But you’re often able to custom order circular hoops for most home machine brands, too.

Once again, you in no way need to have circular hoops. I’ll show you some helpful tips & tricks on how to secure the long straight areas of rectangular hoops in the Hooping Tips, Tricks & Techniques section below. But first, let’s cover some hooping basics with a quick tutorial.

Machine Embroidery Hooping Tutorial

Properly hooping a garment will increase the correct registration of a design, and reduce puckering and movement.

Step 1: Get Your Hoop & Fabric Ready

The first step towards proper hooping is to grab the piece of material that you’ll be stitching on, fold it in half, and give it a tiny bit of pressure. This will give you a measurement of how thick the fabric is when folded and gives you a visual guideline showing you how to properly pre-adjust the space between each half of your hoop.

The idea is that when you pre-adjust the hoop to the right size beforehand, you won’t play around tightening it after the material is already hooped, which causes hoop burn on the material.

You will then take your hoop and pull on the corner that has the adjustable knob and loosen or tighten it to make the separation between each piece of the hoop roughly the same size as the visually measured folded fabric.

Step 2: Hoop Your Material

Next, you will place the bottom half of your hoop on the table in front of you so that the adjustable corner with the knob is the furthest away from you.

After properly laying your material and stabilizer on top of the bottom half of the hoop that is on the table, you will take the top half of the hoop and in one swift motion, push it forward and down into the bottom half of the hoop to pop it into place. If pre-adjusted properly, there should be a little bit of resistance, but you shouldn’t be fighting with the top piece of the hoop to press it in.

Instead of tightening the hoop by turning the knob afterward, while the hoop is still on the table grab the material sticking out of the longer sides of the hoop and pull it gently. Then pick up the hoop and push the corners of the hoop in slightly, making it drum-tight and machine-ready.

That’s it, now you’re ready to place your hoop on your machine and start stitching!

Embroidery Hooping for Beginner’s Video Tutorial:

If you’re more of a visual learner, here’s a great quick tip video I put together explaining the process.

Hooping Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Now that you know how to hoop and the difference between commercial & home embroidery hoops, here are some helpful techniques and tricks that’ll help you tackle any embroidery hooping project:

1. Use the Correct Hoop Size

Simply put, you will always get the best results if you use a hoop that is closest in size to the embroidery design you are running. For example, if your design is 3.5 x 3.8, use a 4 x 4 hoop, not a 5 x 7.

This is a basic principle but surprisingly, quite a few embroiderers don’t follow it.

2. Use T-pins for Large Rectangular Hoops

If you ever need to secure your fabric in a large rectangular hoop, I suggest you use T-pins to hold the fabric securely in place.

For this technique, you’ll hoop your fabric as you normally would (see the tutorial section above for more details). Once this is complete, you’ll use T-pins to secure the stabilizer or fabric in place & stop any potential movement. The T-pins should be inserted where the stabilizer or fabric sticks out between the two hoop frames after being hooped. They should be inserted flush with the frame. This way, when the stabilizer or fabric begins to pull in around the loose areas of the frame, the T-pins will be there to catch against the frame and stop any movement.

We recommend inserting these T-pins around the long straight areas of hobbyist hoops as these sections are not held as tightly or securely. The corners will not require T-pins.

Here’s a quick video to show you the technique in action:

3. Use Double Sided Tape

Using double-sided tape is a great technique when dealing with sheer, slippery, or stretchy fabrics. The reason being that the stabilizer which touches the outside part of the hoop does its job as stated, its stability holds to the plastic part of the outer hoop. The issue of puckering within a design often occurs when the material touching the plastic of the inner hoop doesn’t grip the material. So, when you have one part holding securely and the other slipping, the result is distortion and puckering within the design.

Applying double-sided tape to the outside of the inner hoop where the material touches the hoop eliminates the slipping between the stabilizer and fabric and will give you much better results.

The best part is, the tape will work for multiple hoopings, until it loses its stickiness, then you simply remove and reapply a new piece. I’ve also found that it doesn’t harm or leave any residue to most fabric types. Essentially it does almost the same job as the t-pin technique but is less invasive to the fabric.

This technique is a win-win in my books.

Here’s a quick video to show you the technique in action:

4. Don’t Over-Tighten the Hoop

Remember not to over-tighten the hoop by aggressively adjusting the knob after the fabric has already been hooped. I see this all the time with embroidery beginners; they first hoop very loosely, then aggressively turn the knob to tighten the hoop. A finger-tight turn or two may sometimes be needed but never take a screwdriver & tighten the hoop to the max. This is a huge waste of time, causes fabric burn, and is harmful towards your embroidery stitch out.

Instead of tightening the hoop by turning the knob afterward, while the hoop is still on the table grab the material sticking out of the longer sides of the hoop and pull it gently. Then pick up the hoop and push the corners of the hoop in slightly, making it drum-tight and machine-ready. Remember that a simple finger-tight turn at the end may sometimes be required but not always. You don’t want a loose hoop allowing the fabric to slip but you certainly don’t want to damage your hoop or fabric by over-tightening.

Floating Embroidery vs. Hooping: What’s the Difference?

I’ve seen a big movement recently where people are floating their embroidery. Floating in machine embroidery essentially means that the user hoops a piece of stabilizer and then places (floats) the material/item being embroidered onto the stabilizer.

I’m not a big fan, as this is not a one-size-fits-all way of hooping. My rule of thumb is if you can’t hoop an item, or if it is specifically digitized as an in-the-hoop project that requires you to float pieces of fabric, then you should float it. But as far as I’m concerned, it should be a last resort if the application is directed to a finished garment. 

You will always get better results if you securely hoop your stabilizer and fabric. One of the biggest registration problems I see is things not lining up on well-digitized designs because the item was floated and not hooped securely.

If you need to float an item or material instead of hooping it, I strongly suggest extra measures are taken to ensure better results. These can include:

• Hoop your stabilizer and pin your material to the hooped stabilizer. It is simple and quick, but pins can leave marks on delicate fabrics, and slinky or stretchy materials need more support.
• Hoop your stabilizer and tape your material to it. This works well for small items like patches.
• Hoop your sticky stabilizer. Cut a window slightly larger than your embroidery area and stick down the fabric. This works well but can be costly.
• Basting stitches. This is an easy, stable way of aiding floating in the hoop. Simply digitize a framed running stitch around your embroidery area. Using long stitches makes it easier to remove them after your garment is finished embroidering.
  Be careful; this can often cause damage to the base material. Stitching a basting box works well but remember, if you are working on vinyl, leather, or other materials, a basting box can leave marks. 
• Fusible stabilizer. You hoop this stabilizer and then use a mini iron to secure the garment or project to the base in only that spot. Caution: this is permanent, so triple-check before that iron goes near the fabric!
• Adhesive spray. Be sure to spray on your stabilizer before hooping it. Spray adhesive and sticky stabilizers can leave a residue that gum up your machine and remain on the fabric. Always ensure you follow the package’s directions or can for the best results.

When To Use The Floating Method In Machine Embroidery

If you decide to float your garments, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Float smaller projects such as patches, quilted pieces, socks, etc.
• Large garments are too heavy for floating and can get caught in a flatbed machine. Of course, you can float your garment but remember to keep watch throughout the stitching process to “tend” the garment.
• Floated in the hoop (ITH) projects

Embroidery Hooping Aids, Stations & Boards Make it Easy

If you’ve ever tried hooping with magnetic embroidery hoops, I don’t have to explain the perks to you. If you haven’t, well, you’re in for a treat! Magnetic hoops, like Mighty Hoops, make hooping quicker, easier, and more accurate.

Now, I would personally recommend Mighty Hoops for anyone who:

• Has trouble hooping.
• Hoops difficult items (like baby onesies, sleeves, embroidery buddies, socks, etc).
• Owns an embroidery business.
• Makes multiple similar items at once (for example 10 shirts).
• Has problems with hooping or doesn’t enjoy hooping

These hoops simplify the process, speed things up, and reduce the chances of mistakes, so you can avoid re-hooping altogether.

What makes Mighty Hoops stand out is their innovative magnetic design, which works with various multi-needle machines. They ensure perfect, accurate hooping every time—without hoop burn or material shifting.

Not to mention, they actually make hooping fun!

When you purchase your Mighty Hoops through us, you’ll also get exclusive bonuses you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the perfect opportunity to take your embroidery projects to the next level! Click here to learn more about Mighty Hoops now. 

What’s Next?

Hopefully, this article has taught you a thing or two about hooping.

If you’re new to machine embroidery, I would suggest that you try hooping a few items following the steps provided in the tutorial section above. Although hooping isn’t the most fun part of embroidery, it is one of the most important, and as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect.

Now if you’re more experienced and landed on this article in hopes of finding an easier way to hoop, I highly suggest you check out the Mighty Hoops (remember to use our code for free shipping and exclusive bonuses!) It makes the entire hooping process much faster, easier, and less frustrating.

If you enjoyed the videos provided above, please don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here! I appreciate your support.

Until next time, keep on hooping, learning, and creating beautiful embroidery!

Everything you need to know about thread when you’re just getting started

Machine embroidery is exciting, yet daunting for a newcomer. Beginners tend to overlook the importance of understanding the different machine embroidery thread types and how to use them. You’re here because you want to know more, to be better, and to improve your creative knowledge and abilities. You’ve come to the right place. We’ll cover polyester, rayon, cotton, silk, and the slightly notorious metallic threads, and when to apply them in your work.

Think of Embroidery as a Recipe, and Threads as an Ingredient

Before we dive into threads, it is critical to understand that not all threads are alike, and not all machines are alike. Matching thread brand to machine and needle is like finding the perfect recipe. Some thread types and brands will work better with certain machines and needles.

It’s crucial to test your thread on a scrap of fabric first rather than your partners favorite shirt. Ensure that the material you’ll be testing on is the same as the material you’ll use for your project. Order a small amount of thread first for proper testing to see what works best with your machine and your creative intent.

Polyester embroidery thread

Polyester thread provides a sheen that makes your embroidery look professional and feel professional. This thread comes in a wide variety of colors and is known to run smoothly.

It is an excellent choice for general embroidery, especially outdoor clothing or children’s garments. We all know children are mess-free little angels but when they do make a mess, polyester will withstand the cleaning process.

The last thing any embroidery machine wants is a thread that continuously breaks. Your machine will be happy when using polyester thread in your projects. However, a polyester thread shouldn’t be used for all of your projects. I’ll explain further below.

Rayon embroidery thread

Its only weakness is its strength when compared to polyester. Polyester has a much higher breaking point than rayon. That is why it is essential to test different rayon thread brands with your machine to see how they hold up with stitch intensive designs and high-speed stitching.

Generally, rayon thread still performs well during high-speed stitching. It is softer than polyester and is more suitable for intricate work or work with freestanding lace.

Cotton embroidery thread

Where polyester and rayon pride themselves on a high sheen look, a cotton thread has a beautiful soft sheen. You can order cotton threads with a matte finish to further your creativity. It performs well in most machines, but again, it’s good to test it out to make sure it runs smoothly.

Cotton threads can be purchased in standard thickness, but they also come in very fine varieties, suitable for incredibly intricate and delicate work. Keep in mind that the finer the thread, the more likely it is to break while embroidering.

Silk embroidery thread

Silk is luxurious and sought after in the fashion world, and is considered equally luxurious when it comes to machine embroidery. Silk thread is strong and fine, yet has a sheen and softness that is unmatched by both polyester and rayon.

For these reasons, silk thread can be expensive, and it might be challenging to acquire specific colors. It’s the thread you’ll want to use for high-end projects or embroidering on deluxe fabrics.

Metallic embroidery thread

Ah yes, the thread that keeps on breaking. Metallic threads are notorious for breaking during embroidery and this can cause frustration! 

Check out our video on how to change your thread without having to rethread the needle, save the irritation!

This problem can be easily fixed with a few adjustments to your spooling technique and by making sure to use a needle specific to metallic thread embroidery. Click here to see a detailed explanation of how you can avoid metallic thread breakage.

Metallic threads are composed of a central core that is wrapped in metals or foils and then dyed with the desired color. These strands tend to fall apart easily, which is where the integrity of the thread seems to fail. Picking up the high-quality metallic threads will reduce breakage when embroidering, and are worth the extra penny.

A Brief Lesson on Machine Embroidery Thread Thickness

In the machine embroidery world, thread thickness is referred to by weight. The larger the number, the finer the thread, the easier it will break. Finer threads are good for heirloom quality embroidery, and thicker threads are better for general work. 

For example, the standard thickness for rayon thread would be referred to as 40 wt thread. A 20 wt thread would be thicker, and a 60 wt thread would be finer. When choosing thread weight, it all depends on the desired result or purpose of your project. 

For high quality, high detail designs over a small surface area, you might use a finer thread. For larger designs, maybe for materials that will be outdoors or in constant use, you might want a thicker thread.

So What Thread is the Best Machine Embroidery Thread?

If you’re hungry for an answer, it’s polyester. If you’re hungry for the right answer, it’s whatever thread you need to give your project the embroidering integrity and creative genius it deserves. Polyester is an excellent all-rounder, but rayon is more suitable for softer work. A metallic thread might break easily, but it’ll give your piece that additional flair it needs. Silk is expensive, but it’ll add a luxurious look and feel to your projects.

When it comes down to choosing the correct thread for your work, remember to test it first. It is always best to have all the colors you need from a brand you trust. It’ll save you time, money, and headache. To learn more tricks and tips regarding embroidery thread watch our video here.

What is a Bobbin Thread? Why Does it Matter?

Without a bobbin and its thread, you wouldn’t have a stitch. It’s an essential piece of any machine, and you cannot embroider without one. A bobbin is located directly under the needle. When the needle plunges through the fabric, the bobbin wheel creates a loop with your main thread and wraps it around the bobbin thread, then pulls it tight. That’s how you get a stitch.

Bobbin thread can be a different color than your embroidery thread, but you’ll want to be sure it matches or is close to matching the color of your piece. Bobbin thread is seen on the underside of your embroidery, and can sometimes shine through your design. Have you ever turned over some embroidery and seen that the color of the thread on the bottom doesn’t necessarily match the top?

Depending on what you are embroidering, there are a few different options in terms of colors for your bobbin thread. Generally, you want the color of your bobbin thread to match the color or color tone of your piece. 

If you are embroidering a dark design, perhaps navy blue or black, you’ll want dark bobbin thread. If you’re embroidering a pale yellow or white, you’ll want a light bobbin thread. You can buy pre-wound bobbin thread in black and white to save time – you won’t have to wind it yourself.

If you want to ensure that your piece is flawless, you’ll want to use the same thread and color for your bobbin as you’d use for your embroidery. It might be hard to purchase pre-wound bobbins with the same thread as your embroidery thread, so you’ll have to wind it yourself. Most machines come with a bobbin winder, but if not, you can order one on Amazon.

Which Machine Embroidery Thread Brand Do We Recommend?

After testing multiple thread brands over the past 60+ years, we’ve narrowed down our favorites to a few different brands we like best.

Currently, our top brand is Simthread. Although this brand may sound new to you, I can almost guarantee you’ve used their thread in the past… You see Simthread “white-labels” thread for a number of the industry’s most popular brands. So, instead of purchasing thread through one of these other companies and paying a mark-up because of the brand name, ordering through Simthread allows you to go “factory-direct.” Being industry tested for over 30 years now, Simthread comes in a range of beautiful colors and doesn’t break easily.

The best part? It’s also available on Amazon Prime so you can save on shipping costs and get your thread delivered quickly!

Now our second favorite thread would be Robison Anton. Much like Simthread, it comes in a beautiful array of colors and is durable. What sets them apart in our books is that as far as we know, they’re the only thread brand still manufactured in the USA. So if you’re able to spend a bit more, why not support local?

What’s Next? Start Testing Thread on Your Embroidery Machine

Now that you know how and when to better use some of your ingredients, you can start your recipe! Of course, before you can choose your thread type, you have to know what design you’re going to stitch out. But, please keep in mind:

For this reason, it’s important that you use quality designs while testing out new thread types on your machine. Here at Embroidery Legacy, we personally guarantee that every embroidery design sold on our site was digitized properly (digitizing is the art of creating embroidery designs using embroidery software). For polyester, cotton, silk, and metallic thread we offer a large selection of close to 30,000 designs. Click here to view our embroidery design categories now. Or if you’re interested in using rayon thread, we offer many freestanding lace designs that were originally created in our family’s embroidery factories back in the 1950s. Click here to view our freestanding lace embroidery designs now. 

Happy stitching and please let us know which thread type is your go-to in the comments below!

Embroidery patches are an artistic way to share a piece of yourself with the world. They can easily be attached to a cap, backpack, or jacket. Custom embroidery patches are a creative way to showcase your interests while also humbly highlighting your embroidery talents.

This article will cover:

• The Deer’s Embroidery Legacy’s 60+ year history in making professional embroidery patches (and why our expertise will give you the best-embroidered results possible)
• 2 easy ways to make custom professional-looking embroidery patches 
  • DIY Embroidery Patches Made Easy Tutorial
  • Ready-Made Embroidery Patches Tutorial

Are you looking to make custom Embroidery Patches? Why not express yourself! Our family has produced patches since 1958 for companies like Disney, the NHL, and boy scouts! Passed on and from generation to generation and now refined to utilize today’s modern technology, we want to share our patch-making knowledge with you.

So how do you make custom embroidery patches? What is the process? Although there’s an endless list of methods suggested online today, we’re here to help you get the best results possible (trust me, a simple satin stitch doesn’t cut it).

If you want flawless embroidered results, we’ve refined two new ways to create custom embroidery patches! This article will show you how to make them quicker and easier than ever before using our time-tested techniques merged with our new innovative processes.

The Deer’s Embroidery Legacy’s History in Making Embroidery Patches

Before we dive into these new patch making methods, I thought you might enjoy learning about how these new techniques came about.

In 1958 my grandparents started our company as Dress CREST Embroidery. You might have noticed I emphasize the word CREST. Why? Because that (and emblems) is what patches were primarily called back in the ’50s.

The funny thing is that it was a secondary service when they started the company. The primary focus was the DRESS part, which was geared to creating yard goods and lace for the garment industry. After the first couple of years, Patches/Crests became the business’s focal point, and from the ’60s to the ’90s, emblems were our core business. By the time the 90’s hit, we had two factories, 6 Schiffli machines, and 136 multi-heads running. We produced millions of patches every year and for decades. We made patches for dozens of large companies such as Disney, Girl Guides, the NFL, MLB, and Boy Scouts.

Most of my earliest childhood memories include embroidered patches. In the early 70’s we still only had one factory with four Schiffli machines which was literally in our backyard! It made for an interesting childhood as instead of watching TV after school I would come home and go into the factory.

My Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, and even my Great-Grandmother were always somewhere in the factory working. Every employee was like an Aunt or Uncle, and looking back, my education in embroidery started around the age of 4! I remember being picked up and sat on the production table to help glue down the patches’ tails left behind by the merrow machines.

My favorite machine was the original manual pantograph machine my grandparents started their business with. Mainly because one of my favorite people as a child was the Puncher/digitizer, my Uncle Herman. He was a giant of a man, muscular with a chiseled jaw and thick accent just like the Terminator. I remember watching him for hours as he moved the pantograph with precision to the rhythm of the machine. 

As a schiffli master digitizer, his job was creating patches for 12 hours a day, one stitch at a time with no margin of error. Looking back, I was unknowingly taught a lot of the foundational principles of creating embroidery. As he would explain what he was doing, I would politely smile… All the while thinking the Flintstones was staring in minutes. 

A decade or so later, at the age of 17, I started my digitizing career on the very same machine, sitting on the same wooden box Herman sat on. And yes, at the time, the irony of it did hit me as I worked my 12 hour days creating patches just as Herman did. 

From 12 to 17, my grandfather ensured that my summer holidays and afterschool jobs all revolved about learning every aspect of the embroidery industry. My jobs included working on a clicker, a shuttle boy, a watcher, a stitcher, and an artist in the pre-computer age. At 17, when I started my apprenticeship as a puncher and worked on our manual pantograph creating designs was just a little different than today. The Looms were spanned up with 20 yards of material, with no trimmers or reverse, and embroidering between 114 to 680 units at a time depending on the quarter of the machine.

I’ve realized that the time I was born into this industry is the biggest blessing in my career. Not only witnessing but having the privilege of work from a Manual Pantograph to Jacquard paper tape, to eight-channel tape and, from DOS to modern-day Digitizing programs. I have quite literally had the opportunity to see this industry evolve.

My Grandmother Irene is now in her 90’s, and she has said to me time and time again how she can’t believe how much embroidery has changed in her lifetime. It’s been an honor to witness it firsthand. I know my Grandmother is proud of all she accomplished and the fruit is having seen all three of her Great-Grandchildren now working into the same business she and her husband started in 1958. This is her Legacy, and God willing will be my grandchildren’s Legacy as well.

The Deer’s Embroidery Legacy’s new game-changing patch techniques are intertwined within our past, our present, and our future.

2 Ways to Make Flawless Custom Embroidery Patches Easily (Plus Bonus Tutorials)

Our history and today’s current technology were considered when we engineered our two new ways to create custom embroidery patches. The quality of our designs and processes we developed to produce them are revolutionary.

Our foundation as manufacturers with over 60 years of experience in the embroidery industry will give you both quality and production-friendly results. Every file has been manually digitized and tested; these are not created using an automated software process that spits out mediocre results.

We’ve developed two innovative layouts geared to give you a choice that best suits your needs; DIY Patches Made Easy design files and Ready-Made Patches. 

1. DIY Embroidery Patches Made Easy

These expertly digitized embroidery designs allow you to insert your designs or lettering into the patch outlines. Where you’re looking to create a single patch on a single-needle machine or multiple patches on a multi-needle machine, these designs allow you to create custom patches with any materials of your choice easily at the press of a buttom!

Our new DIY Patches Made Easy design files will help ensure you’ll get the best results possible and allow you to use a variety of different shapes, fabrics, and colors to truly customize your patches.

These DIY embroidery design files replicate the professional result of commercial borders, which are created using a specific machine. This replication will give clean and crisp edges on your patches; an attribute which the commercial border machines are famous for.

These expertly digitized embroidery designs allow you to insert your designs or lettering into the patch outlines. At the press of a button, easily create custom patches with any materials of your choice!

Please note that we do not include EMB files with any of our DIY patches as the files are not to be resized and will embroider perfectly at the size they were digitized for. We do include SVG files for those who have a plotter of any kind so you can pre-cut your patches the perfect size. 

DIY Embroidery Patches Made Easy Tutorial

Step 1: Prep your patch.

Prepping your patch is very important. You can use any fabric you’d like from your fabric stash; felt, cotton, poly, etc.

You must back your patches by using either of these stabilizers. Just remember whichever you use will alter how you proceed with the steps below:

• A no show mesh product (with the fusible interfacing on the one side) or
• A double-sided fusible

• When using a no show mesh stabilizer product, take a teflon sheet, and put it on the very bottom, so it doesn’t stick. Then take your fabric, and no show mesh fusible and line them up, so the shiny side is to the bottom of the fabric. Then put another teflon sheet on top. The fabric and tacky patch fusible will be like a sandwich in between the two teflon sheets. Put it under the heat press for 12 seconds.

• When using a double-sided fusible, it’s essentially the same thing. Put your fusible over the fabric, then place a piece of teflon on top, line them all up and put it all under the heat press for 12 seconds. Then hoop or cut it as you please. 

I highly suggest using a double-sided fusible in your patch-making process for several reasons. First, it has a double adhesive, so it sticks on one side and becomes tacky on the other side when you put it down. This eliminates the use of “spray adhesives” during the patch-making process.

Secondly, using this fusible will also give more stability to your patches than when only using a no show mesh product. Third, the reverse side has a released piece of paper that is perfect when using your plotter. 

Prepping your patch this way will give your patch a backing to reduce fraying. Once it’s adhered to the actual fabric and you cut it, there will be no fraying on the edges, getting you a step closer to creating that perfect patch.

Step 2: Cutting your patch design 

How you proceed with this next step will depend on if you have a cutting machine.

• Using a cutter machine: with our DIY Patches Made Easy design files, we include the SVG file. Simply insert your patch SVG file in your cutter and place your fabric with a stabilizer onto your matt. Have your cutter machine cut out your perfect patch shapes.

• If you do not have a cutter machine: simply run the stitch file you received within your DIY Patch Made Easy design file onto your fabric and stabilizer. Once finished, cut along the stitch outline. You want to cut directly on the stitch outline, don’t leave any of it hanging out. It is sized to fit perfectly within the design files of the patch.

Step 3: Adhesive Backing

Depending on which stabilizer you used will determine how your patch will adhere. 

• If you use no show mesh stabilizer, you must use a spray adhesive (such as 505) on the patch’s back to stick it down.

• If you use a double-sided fusible, you will simply peel off the back, and the adhesive will be present, giving you a tacky back.

Step 4: Embroidering Your Patch

When embroidering your patch, you can use 3 different types of stabilizers, with one having a greater advantage over the others.

Depending on which stabilizer you use for your custom embroidery patches, it will change the method you’ll follow during your process. You can use one of the following:

1. DIY Tear Away Patches
2. DIY Wash Away Patches
3. Prep Patch Film 
4. Tear away stabilizer is probably my least favorite product to use, although it can be functional.

When using tear away stabilizer for your DIY patches, follow these steps.

• Hoop your tear away stabilizer.
• Run your placement stitch. 
• Adhese your patch.
  • If you used a no show mesh fusible then spray 505 or KK to have it stick. 
  • If you used tacky patch, then simply peel off the paper to expose the adhesive side.
• Line up your shape perfectly with the outline that stitched.
• Put the hoop back on your machine, and it will do a double run stitch where it will go around twice for strength and then do a zigzag stitch and finish the outer side.
• If you want to use mylar, add it in at this step and secure it using painter’s tape (don’t forget to lower your design’s stitch density when using mylar!). 
• You can customize lettering for your patches within your embroidery software using embroidery fonts.
• Stitch the rest of your design.
• Remove your hoop. Your design will already start to come loose due to using a tear away. When you tear away your patch, some little fluffies are left on the outside of the patch. I usually take a soldering iron to try to burn away some of the excess stabilizer. 

2. Wash away stabilizer will help your results improve drastically.

When using a wash away stabilizer for your DIY patches, follow these steps.

• Hoop your wash away stabilizer.
• Run your placement stitch. 
• Adhese your patch.
  • If you used a no show mesh fusible then spray 505 or KK to have it stick. 
  • If you used tacky patch, then simply peel off the paper to expose the adhesive side.
• Line up your shape perfectly with the outline that stitched.
• Put the hoop back on your machine, and it’ll do a double run stitch where it will go around twice for strength and then do a zigzag stitch and finish the outer side.
• If you want to use mylar, add it in at this stage and secure it using painter’s tape (don’t forget to lower your stitch density when using mylar!). 
• You can customize lettering for your patches within your Hatch software using ESA fonts (or other embroidery software, of course).
• Stitch the rest of your design.
• Remove your hoop. Cut close to the edge of your patch, dip your fingers in water and dab the outside of your patch to melt away the excess stabilizer. This will give you better results with a cleaner product. 

3. Prep patch film is my preferred method and will give you the best professional-looking results possible. It is engineered for patch-making purposes. It is heat-activated and made specifically for poly material, although you can use other materials with it. 

When using prep patch film for your DIY patches, follow these steps.

• Hoop your prep patch film
  • One side is smooth, and the other side is bumpy. The smooth side should be hooped upward, while the bumpy side is faced downward. 
• Run your placement stitch. 
• Adhese your patch
  • If you used a no show mesh fusible then spray 505 or KK to have it stick. 
  • If you used tacky patch then simply peel off the paper to expose the adhesive side.
• Line up your shape perfectly with the outline that stitched.
• Put the hoop back on your machine, and it’ll do a double run stitch where it will go around twice for strength and then do a zigzag stitch and finish the outer side.
• If you want to use mylar, add it in at this stage and secure it using painter’s tape (don’t forget to lower your stitch density when using mylar!). 
• You can customize lettering for your patches within your Hatch software using ESA fonts (or other embroidery software, of course).
• Stitch the rest of your design.
• Remove your hoop. Simply pull the film away from the patch, and it will give you a perfect finished edge. The prep patch film is the most secure of the three options.

Step 5: Post Patch Sealing 

You’re almost done! You will want to seal your patch using a post-patch iron-on seal. 

The post-patch iron-on seal is a double-sided heat-activated seal applied to the back of your finished patch for a clean, polished result. It will hide all of your jumps and trims and give your patch a professional feel and look on its unfinished side. 

To use the post-patch iron-on seal, you simply cut a piece of it to your patch’s size. Put the post-patch seal on top of your patch and sandwich it in between two pieces of teflon. Place it under your hot press or your iron at 380°F for 15 seconds. 

Take off your top piece of teflon and let it cool down a little bit. Be careful it’s not too hot when you peel it off, or you will have residue left on the bottom teflon. 

Once it’s cooled a bit, peel the post-patch seal off and rip off the patch’s outer exposed seal while it’s still warm. Peel off the paper part of the post-patch seal from the design (you may need to use tweezers for those small leftover pieces). 

Once it’s cooled a bit, peel the post-patch seal off and rip off the patch’s outer exposed seal while it’s still warm. Peel off the paper part of the post-patch seal from the design (you may need to use tweezers for those small leftover pieces). 

You now have a professional-looking DIY patch with a clean backing.

2. Ready-Made Embroidery Patches

Our ready-made embroidery patches are finished embroidery patches (minus the personalized design you choose to stitch inside of them). They are designed to save you time and give you the most professional results possible. These patches are completely ready to be embroidered. Manufactured with commercial specifications, including true merrowed borders, these are the real deal.

Simply insert your logo/lettering within our “perfect placement” embroidery files, hoop the patch (we’ll show you how with bite-sized video tutorials), and hit the start button.

Having a finished patch with a merrow border already completed instantly increases your profits and saves you a minimum of 3000 stitches of production time.

Conclusion: You Can Make Embroidery Patches Easily with Professional Results

Patch-making has been the foundation of our business for decades, and we’ve produced millions of patches. Our extensive history and experience make us patch-making experts, and we’re honored to share our knowledge and new techniques with you.

To create the perfect professional custom embroidered patch, we suggest using one of two methods. To make things easy, our DIY Embroidered Patches includes design files that you must load into your embroidery machine, which simulate a merrow border patch. These were not created using automated software that can at times produce poor results but instead were manually digitized for flawless results every time. Using these design files allows you to create patches.

Try out our Ready-Made Embroidery Patches that have the real deal merrow border and are completely ready to be embroidered to make things even easier. 

Want a shortcut and a more in-depth look at how to make custom embroidery patches with professional results? I highly suggest you check out our Patch Master Pro Bundle now. It’ll teach you everything you need to know about embroidery patch-making. Plus, you’ll also receive amazing patch embroidery design files to help you master the techniques quickly & easily! Click here to learn more now.

However, you may be asking yourself, “I have no idea where to start” or “I’m not even sure what I need to start stitching designs.” In this article, we’ll go over the basics of what you’ll need to start stitching and more importantly, start your own Embroidery Legacy. This article will cover:

• Embroidery machines for beginners
• Embroidery thread for beginners
• Embroidery stabilizers for beginners
• Embroidery designs for beginners
• Embroidery hooping for beginners
• Embroidery digitizing & software for beginners

Embroidery Machines for Beginners:

Number one on our list is, of course, the embroidery machine. Without your embroidery machine, you can forget about embroidery. It really is the most important piece to this puzzle. There are tons of machines on the market varying in all shapes in sizes, from single needles to multi-needle machines. Let’s briefly go over each of these machine types:

Single Needles:

Single head embroidery machines are generally more user-friendly and are mainly used for basic sewing and digital embroidery designs. Can you guess why it’s called a single needle machine? Because a single needle stays in place while the embroidery arm moves over the flatbed and embroiderers the design you’ve chosen. A small downside to the single needle is that you have to switch the thread every time you have a color change. These machines are widely available within most shopping centers and sewing stores and will most likely be the easiest machine type for you to find.

Although these machines are user-friendly and great for the hobbyist embroiderer, if you’re looking to start a business or make money with your embroidery, this won’t be the right machine for you. The largest hoop size for most single needle machines is 8×12. This means that embroidering jacket backs, hats & caps, bags, and other larger / uniquely shaped items are extremely difficult or impossible to embroider.

Multi-Needles: 

While they can be slightly more challenging to master, multi-head machines are the “say all be all” for embroidery. Using a multi-needle machine unlocks unlimited potential for your embroidery. Although there is a learning curve when first starting on a multi-needle machine, it’s nothing you can’t handle, especially with all the great educational resources available online these days. These machines contain 4-16 needles, each of which sews its own thread color. This is a huge benefit, as you’ll save tons of run time without switching colors manually.

Another huge benefit to a multi-needle embroidery machine is the hoop sizes. Commonly, multi-needle hoops start at 4×4 and go up to jumbo-sized hoops (jacket backs, etc.). Most even have cap frames that allow you to embroider hats/caps. Click here to learn how to hoop and embroider on hats.

Not only are these machines more useful than a single needle for production, but they also create incredibly precise and detailed embroidery. Plus, they’re fast, which saves you time and allows you to output more embroidery.

It’s important to find the right machine for you. While shopping for a machine, remember to ask yourself, “How often will I be using my embroidery machine?” or “What products do I plan on stitching?”. You’ll likely need a multi-needle machine if you plan on stitching on larger or unique items like hats or jackets. Also, if you plan to use your machine for business purposes, a multi-needle is a must to increase production and more easily embroider tubular items (like shirts). Learn the best embroidery machine to start a home embroidery business.

Be sure to do lots of research when looking for a machine. What’s right for someone else may not be right for you if you have different embroidery projects in mind.

Embroidery Thread for Beginners:

It’s no secret that your embroidery machine uses thread to stitch out your designs. With so many threads to choose from (rayon, polyester, cotton, metallic, etc.) It’s hard to know which one to choose as well as where to start. Before we begin, it’s important we choose and understand our thread weight.

The good news is that almost all machine embroidery designs are digitized for standard 40wt thread. There are some exceptions, but most websites will specify what thread weight they recommend you use within the design description.

Now that we understand thread weights, let’s jump into the different kinds of threads:

Polyester: This is the most affordable and popular form of machine embroidery thread, hard to break, simple to use, and available in every color imaginable. This easy to use thread is a great choice due to its strength and attractive shiny look. This synthetic thread type will last the test of time compared to rayon. Polyester thread is machine washable, making it a great choice for embroidered goods that will need lots of washing (clothing, towels, bedspreads, etc.)

Rayon: Rayon thread is not as synthetic as polyester, and because of this, it’s not quite as strong. This can cause multiple thread breaks with designs that weren’t properly digitized, so I recommend using this thread type with designs from reputable vendors. Rayon is noticeably soft to the touch and produces a beautiful look & feel.  Unfortunately, however, it can be run down over time, especially if repeatedly washed. I always recommend using rayon for stitching out our vintage 1950s free-standing lace (FSL) designs to get a beautiful finished product. Click here to learn other tips on stitching free-standing lace.

Cotton: The advantage of using cotton is it gives a more hand-embroidered look and feel to your designs. This makes cotton threads great for rework designs, quilts, and cross stitch designs.

Metallics: Metallic thread gives an incredible look, and a hard wire feel to your designs but can be quite tricky to master. The reason most people struggle with metallic thread is because of all the thread breaks. A lot of the time, people often get too frustrated and give up on metallic thread. Click here to learn the secret to embroidery with metallic threads, and never deal with a thread break again!

Embroidery Stabilizers for Beginners:

Cut- Away: Cut-away stabilizers are the strongest and most stable. While it can be used on any fabric type, it’s best when stitching on stretchy or knit fabrics. The reason it’s called cut-away stabilizer is because of how you remove it. After your design finishes stitching out, you simply cut away the excess stabilizer left around your stitches. Make sure you leave the stabilizer underneath of the stitches in place, as that will keep your stitches in place indefinitely.

Wash-Away / Water Soluble: Wash-Away stabilizers are great for designs/projects that can’t have any trace of stabilizer once the design is finished. A good example of this would be freestanding lace, or a design that will be looked at from the front and back. This stabilizer isn’t as strong as the others but works wonders. Plus, it’s magic… Simply rub water onto the stabilizer and it will disappear! Hence the name wash-away.

Tear-Away: Tear-away stabilizers are used when you need to remove most of the stabilizer on the back of your designs (between stitches and open areas). Tear-away can be used on almost all fabrics, but exclude stretchy and knit fabrics. To remove this stabilizer, all you have to do is simply cut or find an open end to the stabilizer and tear it away.

Embroidery Designs for Beginners:

Now that you know what you need to start embroidery, you’ll need designs to embroider! Now, you might be thinking, “I can find embroidery designs anywhere online, so why not just use the free ones?”… Well, let me tell you that this isn’t always the best approach. While you can do that, I’m going to let you in on a little secret that will save you tons of time and agony on your machine.

If it’s a free design on a non-reputable website, don’t download it! I often hear of people downloading free designs, but what appears on their computer screen and what stitches out are two completely different things. Not only can the design look like a disaster, but it can have disastrous results on your machine! If the digitizer didn’t know what they were doing, it can cause multiple thread breaks, bird nests, and sometimes even broken needles.

Now you may be wondering, where can I find reputable and machine-friendly designs? Talk to your embroidery friends and see what others recommend! My recommendation is, well… us! Our site has close to 30,000 high-quality embroidery designs to choose from, including authentic vintage lace embroidery designs from the bridal industry in the 1950s, step by step in-the-hoop project tutorials, applique designs, and so much more! I feel 100% confident recommending our designs because each and every design was digitized correctly by John Deer, the world’s most awarded embroidery digitizer. Give any design on the site a try, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Now, if you want to download a bunch of designs from us for free, you’re in luck! With our Free Embroidery Legacy Design Kit you can download the 21 beautiful designs above (no credit card required)! We’ll also throw in some free beginner tutorial videos to help you master embroidering different types of designs.

Machine Embroidery Design File Formats for Beginners:

Now, if you’re starting with machine embroidery, you will notice that there are many different formats with embroidery designs. File types like .pes, .jef, .art, etc. Your embroidery machine will take a specific type of machine file format. These are file formats that your embroidery machine can read like the ones listed above. If you don’t yet know which file format your machine takes, click here for a chart. 

Beyond machine file formats, there are native file formats that embroidery software reads and expanded file formats mainly used by commercial embroidery machines. Don’t worry too much about these for now, as you’re just starting. However, when you do have a free couple of minutes, I suggest you read our article on Understanding Machine Embroidery File Formats to understand file formats in the embroidery world better. Or, check out the video we created to help educate you below:

Embroidery Hooping for Beginners:

Hooping really is the first step when it comes to getting your fabric onto your embroidery machine. If you hoop your fabric too loose and it moves around while in the hoop, you’ll end up with puckering and a finished project that looks horrible. On the other hand, if you hoop your fabric too tight, you will end up with what embroiderers call “fabric burn,” which is when your hoop leaves a permanent mark/indent on your fabric. Hoop burn can be particularly damaging to more fragile fabric types used in machine embroidery such as silk.

Hooping really isn’t too complex once you get the hang of it. Generally speaking, we recommend presetting your hoop to the right size before you actually hoop your fabric. We also suggest you avoid fighting the hoop after the fact, once again, to prevent hoop burn.

Embroidery Digitizing & Software for Beginners:

Create

Embroider

Impress

Finding designs online is great. However, it can often feel impossible to find exactly what you’re looking for. As an embroider, when I have a project idea, I often envision exactly what I want before I can even begin searching for a design to use online. In situations like this, learning to create your own embroidery designs is incredibly useful. However, it does take time.

If you want to learn how to create your own embroidery designs (i.e to learn embroidery digitizing), it’s important to understand the theory behind digitizing first. Knowing what’s happening behind the scenes on your machine and within your software is key to optimal results!

If you want to create or edit your own embroidery designs, I would highly suggest starting with our free Embroidery Digitizing 101: Cheat Sheet PDF & video course. As of right now, it’s 100% free and will teach you some basic digitizing theory that’ll improve EVERY aspect of your embroidery. Click here to enroll in the course now.

If you don’t yet have embroidery software, there are many free trials out there. Always try before you buy!

Conclusion: The Next Step of Your Embroidery Legacy Starts With Ours

You now know what you’ll need to start machine embroidery. Learning to embroider is an exciting journey, and we’d love to be a part of yours! Whether you use any of the products we sell or simply subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook for free education and giveaways, we look forward to seeing your progress and growth!

If you did enjoy the videos provided here as well, please don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Do you have a specific question about starting machine embroidery or enjoyed this article? Be sure to leave a comment below or join our Machine Embroidery & Digitizing Made Easy Facebook group.

It’s finally time to take the next step. You’ve been embroidering for some time now, and you’re consistently working on small projects for friends or family. The thought has probably crossed your mind a few times: “Should I turn my hobby into a business?”

We have to start somewhere, and it’s not easy to decide when we should officially become a small business. It’s not easy because of the intimidating amount of information you have to digest before turning your passion into a money-making machine.

“Where do I even begin?” is a commonly asked question. If you’re working on projects for friends and family, you’ve already begun. It’s time to start making an income from your creativity and your machine. You have a skill, and charging for it is a must. After all, fabric and thread aren’t cheap.

You have invested your time and money into providing value for your friends and family, so it’s time that you get the compensation you deserve. That’s how every business comes to life. You offer great value, and in exchange, you earn money. True customers will always understand that.

Understanding the three personalities of every new business owner

The journey of starting your business begins by wearing the hat of the technician.

The Technician

This is the part of you that fell in love with embroidery in the first place. You enjoy doing the work, creating the art. You are the technician. You’ve honed your skill and, at some point, decided that you should get paid for it.

The Manager

This is the part of you that craves order and organization. The manager puts systems and processes in place to ensure that things get done efficiently.

The Entrepreneur

The entrepreneur is the reason why you’re reading this article in the first place. This is the part of you that has the vision to learn how to start an embroidery business, to start taking names and kick butt. The part of you that knows you can get more out of your hobby by turning it into a hustle.

Understanding how they work together

The problem is that these personalities don’t always get along, and that’s when a business typically fails. The technician dislikes doing managerial work. The technician wants to create art and be left in peace.

The manager doesn’t always get along with the technician. The manager wants the technician to do things in an orderly way, and the technician doesn’t always agree because it’s getting in the way of the art.

The entrepreneur only shows up in the beginning, gives you that spark, and leaves you to figure out the rest. The entrepreneur drags the technician and manager towards bigger and better things, whether the technician and manager are prepared for it or not.

When learning how to start an embroidery business:

This is the key to applying the following points properly. When starting a business, we forget that working on the systems that drive your business is just as important as the craft of machine embroidery itself. You must approach the systems that run your business with as much enthusiasm as you approach embroidery.

Having a hobby that can earn you money is a dream for most people. It’s challenging to find something that you like to do with your time and earn an income from it. This doesn’t mean that you need to quit your job and begin your embroidery business, no. It means that you can start small and begin to grow and adjust as demand for your work increases.

Chances are, if you’ve invested this much time, energy, and money, you owe it to yourself to start generating a return. There are a few essential secrets that you need to know before embarking on your journey, things that will help you figure out precisely what you need to learn before moving forward.

1. How to start an embroidery business: Create a website

Yes, it can be disconcerting to try and wrap your head around the process, but these days it’s much easier to build a website than you might think. If you can set up your machine, digitize your designs, or embroider garments for friends and family, then you can build a website.

Easy to use drag and drop website creators like Wix and Squarespace allow you to put a fully functioning website together in a short amount of time. Still uneasy about building your own website using these tools? Sites like Udemy provide cheap courses that will teach you to build your website in a day. You’ll surprise yourself, your friends, and your family.

Remember to upload some high-quality images of your work and add contact information on the front page. There is no use in having a website if people can’t see your work and don’t know how to contact you.

If you’re looking for quality embroidery designs that’ll make your work stand out and impress, check out our giant collection of close to 30,000 embroidery designs! As long as you give us credit by posting a link back to our site when you use our designs in the sample photos posted on your website, you’re welcome to use our designs to showcase your work online.

2. Find a Niche by letting it find you

This is important if you want to grow and increase your income over time. Contrary to what many people believe, offering embroidery services in all sectors of the market will not land you more customers.

Think of the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none.” If you try to cater to everyone, your marketing message won’t be clear, and you won’t be catering to anyone. Having a clear niche allows you to target a specific audience and provide the specific services the audience requires. Here are just a few examples:

• Athletic teams/Schools
• Weddings and bridal parties
• Moms/Moms-to-be/Grandparents
• Focused Niche Market

It might be hard to find a niche right away. This is because you haven’t experimented enough. Start broad. Yes, finding a niche is crucial, but first, you must start broad and then narrow it down.

In the beginning, do precisely the opposite of niching down. Then find out what sort of machine embroidery you like most and can generate a decent profit. That’s the secret. When you’re just getting started, don’t worry about finding a niche immediately. It will eventually come to you – just don’t stay broad.

3. Invest in embroidery software that saves you time

One of the hardest things for new entrepreneurs to learn is to walk past a small pile of money to get to a bigger pile of money. I’m talking about reinvesting your dollars on software or systems that do time-consuming tasks for you and generate more income in the long term.

For example, these days, you can have your groceries delivered to your front door. Some people might scoff and say, “I’m not that lazy to have someone else deliver my groceries for me!”- those people aren’t entrepreneurs. Bear with me.

The entrepreneur understands that time saved is time that can be reinvested into the business to improve its systems and generate more profit. Paying someone to deliver your groceries might cost up to $10 and take over an hour.

What if instead of doing it yourself and saving $10 an hour, you pay someone $10 to do it for you, and make $50 an hour embroidering at home? Not only have you enjoyed embroidering for an hour, but you’ve also made $40 working for a customer.

4. Invest in an embroidery machine that you can rely on

To produce consistent results and guarantee the same high-quality work on all of your orders, you need a machine that can deliver. It is one of the most critical aspects of your business. The more time your machine is up and running, the more value you can offer to your customers, and the more money you can earn.

Many embroiderers learn to embroider on low to mid-range machines, and it’s completely understandable. However, if you plan on turning your hobby into a business, this is a necessary investment – a machine that is reliable and will last you a lifetime.

There are many options to choose from, and it can be quite intimidating. I want to make it easy for you. If you’re going to take your business seriously and rest assured that your machine will deliver what you promise to your customers, I highly recommend using a multi-needle embroidery machine to increase your workflow. Now when it comes to making money with multi-needle machines, there are a ton of factors to consider so I suggest checking out our article What is the Best Embroidery Machine for a Home Business if you’d like to learn more.

Remember, you are the artist, and your customer trusts you to put their vision onto fabric. If your tools can’t deliver your promise, well, it’s a recipe for disaster.

5. Test and Practice

The most important promise your business makes to its customers is the ability to deliver high-quality work. It doesn’t matter if you have the best machines, the best thread, or the best systems in place if your embroidery skills aren’t up to par.

Knowledge and practice are two things you can impact the most starting now. The central theme of this article is investing time back into yourself and your business. It’s a sure-fire way to grow and become profitable. We are here to help you with that.

We want to give you the tools you need to succeed. Want to improve your hooping skills? Check out this video. Want to improve your understanding of thread types? Click here.

Conclusion: use these 5 steps at any stage of your business for better results

Whether you’re thinking about starting your own business, or have grown your business successfully, using these five crucial steps will benefit your business. Create a website; this will allow you to access a more extensive network of clients. Let your embroidery business niche find you; start broad and narrow your options down. Invest in the proper embroidery software and a reliable and high-quality machine; these will save you time and earn you more income.

Lastly and most importantly, you must always deliver high-quality work, which occurs with practice and knowledge. Since you’ve got practicing covered, let us help educate you on making money with embroidery.

P.S. Ready to improve your embroidery skills and get the best results without wasting time? Our Free Beginner’s Embroidery Course is perfect for you! This course covers the essential techniques and tips to help you avoid common mistakes and ensure your projects turn out great. Don’t waste time on trial and error—start learning the right way today!

• What brand of stabilizer should I use?
• Why did my design pucker (Why is stabilizer is so important)?
• What are the main types of stabilizers and when should I use them?

This guide will help answer these questions and more to help you get more professional results and become a better embroiderer. Now if you’re more of a visual learner, this embroidery stabilizer and toppers video is a great resource as well:

What Brand Of Stabilizer Should You Use?

Now, in most cases, we shop for stabilizers based on price point, rather than who they’re made by because most stabilizers are created by a handful of main manufacturers and then white-labeled by different embroidery brands. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule. Mainly, avoid purchasing stabilizers from “big box stores” (such as Walmart or Michaels). Sure, you can get stabilizer probably at a cheaper cost, but when you are contemplating buying from the “big box stores” always keep in mind that old adage, “You get what you pay for”. As a general rule of thumb, if you look at a stabilizer and see lighter areas and darker areas, you can be assured you won’t get a consistent stitch.

Why Is Stabilizer So Important?

Commercial embroiderers always used a Tear Away or Cut Away backing, and they used a wash away product on top of fabrics that had a nap or raised fibers. Home embroiderers knew they needed something to stabilize their fabric, so they became very creative. They used coffee filters, typing paper, saran wrap, paper towels, wrapping paper, etc. and wondered why their stitches didn’t line up correctly and their fabric puckered. Usually, the first thought is to blame the machine or the way the design was digitized. Although a poorly digitized design is often the culprit, remember that you will always struggle to get quality results if there is a lack of proper stabilization. To this day, we still hear of embroiderers using those products and wonder why they skimp on one of the most important aspects of embroidery.

The Main Types of Embroidery Stabilizers and When to Use Them

1. Tear Away
2. Wash Away
3. Cut Away

Each of these three types of stabilizers may also be available as a fusible and or tacky. When making your decision on which type of stabilizer to use a good rule of thumb is to:

• Use Cut Away stabilizer if the fabric has any stretch – t-shirts, sweatshirts, knits, etc.
• Use a Tear Away Stabilizer if the fabric is stable woven.
• Use a Wash Away if using a sheer fabric or freestanding lace design such as our Vintage Lace, 3D Flowers, 3D Butterflies, or 3D Leaves, etc.
• And whenever possible, fuse your stabilizer to the fabric.

In addition to the three types of stabilizers, most brands also have specialty products to use in your embroidery. This includes fabric preps that help stabilize fabrics that unravel, distort, or pucker. However, it adds stitch counts to your fabric, so it’s ideal to use with a heavy stitch count design. There are also products that add varying textures. They add a firm shape or a soft foam shape, which help with applique without adding any bulk, and cover the stitches so they won’t irritate your skin. These products do not replace stabilizer by any means, but can all be used with tear away or cut away stabilizers.

1. Tear Away Embroidery Stabilizer

Most Tear Away, tears away very clean (hence the name). Just make sure when you start tearing it away, you place your finger on the stitches and tear it away from the stitch instead of toward the stitch. Like Cut Away stabilizers, Tear Away comes in different weights. Use a heavier stabilizer with a thicker fabric and higher stitch count design. Use a lighter stabilizer with a lightweight fabric and lower stitch count design.

Most brands have water activated and tacky tear away for holding hard-to-hoop items in place, such as towels, the corner of napkins, collars, cuffs, or any fabric that might be damaged in the hooping process. It’s great to use when making bags and In-the-Hoop projects.

2. Wash Away Embroidery Stabilizers

When you have finished embroidering, trim away the excess stabilizer and rinse the design in warm water. There are different types of water, some are harder than others, and that could have a bearing on removing the stabilizer. To test yours, put the stabilizer under running water. If the stabilizer doesn’t start disappearing immediately, you can add a bit of hair conditioner, Calgon bath powder, or fabric softener to your warm water to aid in removing the stabilizer.

For freestanding lace designs you would want to remove the entire stabilizer so the lace is nice and soft. Click here for a complete tutorial on how to properly embroidery freestanding lace designs. For a 3D project embroidery designs, you may want to remove just enough of the stabilizer so you don’t see it.

3. Cut Away Embroidery Stabilizers

Most brands have different weights of Cut Away – Heavy, Medium, or Mesh. The heavier the stabilizer, the more stitches it will support. Different brands base the type of stabilizer you should use and the number of layers of stabilizer with the stitch count of the design. In our opinion, you should never have more than three layers of product under your fabric. If you check out our Large Legacy Designs, which can be found by clicking here, you will see some of our designs have upwards of 300,000 stitches (given the incredible amount of detail digitized into them). The last thing you would want is to add a heavy stabilizer to an already heavy design, but you need the support more than ever, so what do you do? One of our fan-favorite designs is the Dolphin Scene, which can be found by clicking here. It has 280,954 stitches in the 13”x15” design… no, that’s not a typo, it really has 280,954 stitches. We wanted to stitch the design on a Quilter’s Cotton, so the first thing we did was fuse a fabric prep to the back of the fabric to help prevent puckering. We also fused a Mesh Cut Away to the fabric.

Remember, fuse your stabilizer whenever possible. After we hooped the fabric, we decided to float another layer of Mesh Cut Away under the hoop by gently lifting the hoop’s corner and sliding the mesh under the hoop at a 45° angle. We then secured the topper in place. When the design finished stitching, beautifully I might add, we trimmed away the mesh that was floated close to the stitching line. We then gently released the fusible mesh and trimmed it close to the stitching and left the fabric prep in place. If you have issues releasing a fusible stabilizer, you can lightly press it to release it.

Mesh Cut Away Stabilizer

With most apparel, our go-to stabilizer is a Mesh Cut Away. When embroidering on any fabric with stretch, you always want to use a fusible mesh to prevent the fabric from stretching and puckering. You have two options for hooping a stretchy fabric (like t-shirts, sweatshirts, onesies, etc.) 

• You can cut your fusible stabilizer the size needed for your hoop. For instance, if you are using a 5″ x 7″ hoop, you would cut your stabilizer 10″ x 12″ and fuse it to the back of your garment and place it in your hoop.
• Another great method is to cut our mesh stabilizer a few inches larger than the design. Turn your t-shirt, for instance, inside out and fuse the stabilizer to the back of the t-shirt where the design will stitch. Hoop a Tacky Tear Away Stabilizer drum-tight, score the protective paper, and remove it from the hoop. You now have a tacky surface to hold your t-shirt in place. With the t-shirt still inside out, line it up with the markings in your hoop and smooth it out. You can then tape or pin the fabric out of the stitching area without worrying about stitching the front to the back. Place your topper of choice over the area to be stitched, secure it in place, and stitch your design. This is a great solution if you’re worried about hoop burn, pinholes from hooping too tightly, or damaging the garment somehow. For more tips on how to embroider a tshirt, click here.

Embroidery Toppings

The most important specialty product is Toppings. Toppings can be Water Soluble or Heat Away and are both used to place a barrier between your stitches and the fabric, so your stitches don’t disappear. You shouldn’t hoop your topping, but you do have to secure it. We suggest cutting a piece a bit larger than the embroidery design, and then securing it to the area to you’ll be stitching. You can do this by moistening the water soluble topper, pin it, or, as we prefer, tape it in the corners to hold it in place. A water soluble topping tears away very easily and disappears completely once it has been wet. A heat away topping also tears away very easily but requires direct heat from an iron or a press to disappear. For that reason, heat away is our topping of choice.

We know that with washing and drying, our design is still supported, so the nap of the fabric can’t work its way through the design. If you have small areas of a design, such as the letters; o, b, or d, it can be hard for you to heat press the topping. We suggest to use the tip of your iron set on a silk setting and touch those areas. Then the topping will disappear.

Guide Conclusion: You Need All 3 Types of Embroidery Stabilizer

Stabilizers come in different sizes and colors, and are used for different fabrics and design types. Depending on what you embroider, you do need the 3 main types of stabilizer:

1. Tear Away: used for any stable woven fabric that doesn’t stretch, such as leather, towels, vinyl
2. Wash Away: used for any sheer fabrics, such as organza, freestanding lace, 3D and cutwork designs
3. Cut Away: used for products that are worn and washed regularly. The most stable and good to use for heavy designs with large stitch counts.

As you’ve now learned, using the proper stabilizer is a crucial step towards achieving a perfect sew out and by applying the knowledge found in this guide, you too can get great results! If you’d like to test what you’ve learned, we offer close to 30,000 quality embroidery designs for you to choose from. Or, you can try us free with our Free Embroidery Legacy Design Kit. Happy stitching!