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Machine Embroidery Basics

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There is a learning curve to everything. Once you learn these machine embroidery basics, you will be on your way to enjoying many successful stitching projects!

Proper hooping

You may have a top of the line machine, top of the line embroidery threads and the best stabilizers, but if you hoop your fabric incorrectly, your stitched design could turn out to be very disappointing.

Truthfully, how do you achieve hooping success? Practice, practice, practice because hooping is the most frustrating of all the machine embroidery basics you will learn.

Believe me, the process will make you want to pull your hair out from time to time. Believe this too, you WILL get the hang of it. You can look at tutorials on the web, you can read books and look at photos for help, but this is one technique that really does require real time practice to get it right.

Having said that, I also want to say this: When you are new to machine embroidery, don't let the hooping process frustrate you! There are many hooping aids and tools available to help you with alignment and proper placement of your design. They are a good investment.

Every embroidery machine comes with at least one hoop. The more expensive machines come with several - usually small, medium and large. Extra samll and extra large hoops can be purchased as well. The same technique for hooping applies to all of them. Your machine's manual will give you detailed information and illustrations. Keep it handy and refer to it often.

Do remember that your fabric and stabilizer must be in the hoop with no ripples in the fabric. You will hear (and read) that your layers should be tight, like a drum. However, take care not to over stretch the fabric when hooping or it will spring back once you take it off the hoop which could adversely affect your stitching.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There will be times when you will have perfectly hooped your project and the darn hoop will pop off right as you are getting ready to put it on the machine, or worse yet, when it's already on the machine. It happens to everyone. Your favorite descriptive words, expressed loudly, will help you feel a lot better when this occurs. This type of expression is one of the many machine embroidery basics we master sooner than later.

Stabilizing the Fabric

After hooping, I believe this is the next most important step to successful machine embroidery. (Some people might place it as number one in the list of machine embroidery basics.) Understanding how to stabilize becomes critical when working with stretchy knits and delicate fabrics.

Machine embroidery stabilizer comes in these basic types: wash away (i.e. water soluble), tear away, cut away and adhesive. Within these types you will find different weights for use on different types of fabrics.

You can get excellent advice from sites that sell stabilizers. Just remember, if a site sells one brand, that’s the brand they will claim is the best. That’s to be expected! I have tried several different brands over the years. I have been happy with the brands sold in fabric stores as well as those made and sold by specialty vendors. I don’t recommend one over the other. Everyone winds up with their own favorite brands and you will too. I do however, like to buy pre-cut sheets for the small (4x4) hoop and rolls for everything larger.

Stabilizer Tips:

  • Cutaway provides better stability to your fabric than tearaway.
  • Unstable fabrics (such as stretch knit, jersey) require heavier backings.
  • Use no-show mesh stabilizer with light colored fabrics.
  • Use adhesive stabilizer with hard to hoop items or invest in special hooping aids designed just for this purpose.
  • After hooping and placing your hoop on the machine, you may want to "float" an additional piece of stabilizer under the design. Just slide an extra cut piece, usually a tearaway, under the hoop to add stability.
  • To keep stitches from disappearing into fabrics with deep pile (i.e. towels, fleece) as well as on many knits, always hoop a sheet of a water soluable topping, which looks like plastic wrap, on top of your fabric.

Threads and Tension

Proper tension of the threads can make or break (no pun intended) your stitch out. Your machine's automatic tension settings used for regular sewing may not be quite the right settings to use when doing embroidery. Unless your machine is capable of automatically adjusting the tensions for you when you switch between sewing and embroidery, you may need to manually make them yourself. If you are trying out a new design, test it first on a piece of fabric BEFORE you embroider on the real thing. I keep old knit shirts, towels and various cotton items handy just for this purpose. Many times a minor tension adjustment (usually on the upper thread) is all it takes to fix a stitching problem.

When it comes to embroidery threads, you get what you pay for. The cheaper threads do break more and that can be pretty frustrating when stitching out a design. Rayon or polyester are the two types most used for machine embroidery. Personally, I love the Floriani line of threads. However, when I was just starting out and only sewing for a hobby, I bought most of my threads from ThreadArt (on the web) as they are quite affordable though they do tend to break more often than the more expensive threads.

Use the Right Needle

Just like with regular sewing, successful machine embroidery depends on the use of the right sized needle for the fabric you are stitching on and embroidery needles come in the same sizes as regular sewing needles; however, embroidery needles have a specially designed eye and shaft which makes them unique.

Change your needle often to keep it from dulling, especially if your designs have high stitch counts or are dense. A dull needle does not move through the hooped layers smoothly and will promote fraying and thread breaks. If you use adhesive stabilizers or spray adhesives when hooping, you will also need to check your needle from time to time to see if any buildup has occurred. If so, there are cleaning products made specifically for this. Note: I find regular 409 sprayed onto a cloth (never directly onto your machine) works pretty well to remove sticky residue.

Happy stitching!

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