Table of Contents
Embroidery Machine
There is a Brother Innov-is M330E (10×10 cm embroidery surface, custom designs via USB) in the craft room.
You should be inducted before you use it. Please see inductions.
If you are comfortable using a sewing machine, a lot of the skills and knowledge will transfer over.
Here is an introduction to machine embroidery:
…and some examples of what can be made on such a machine:
Manuals
Manuals are good, actually. For the M33E we have:
- (log in to download) operation manual
- (log in to download) quick reference guide
- included accessories (download from above)
- inbuilt designs (download from above)
You should read the operation manual.
Use
You should know how a sewing machine works, and hopefully have used one. There is a great video explanation by Tim Hunkin (shorter version)
To use the embroidery machine, you should know how to:
- wind the bobbin
- remove and replace the bobbin
- threading the upper thread
- check the needle is in good order
- adjust thread tension and why you would do this
- fasten material into the embroidery hoop
You should be able to consider:
- what type of fabric would be good or bad to embroider
- what type of thread would be good or bad to embroider
- why you might want a stabiliser backing
To run a machine embroidery, follow the steps from the operation manual:
| Step # | Aim | Action | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Checking the needle | Use needle 75/11 for embroidery | 24 |
| 2 | Embroidery unit attachment | Attach the embroidery unit. | 25 |
| 3 | Bobbin thread setup | For the bobbin thread, wind embroidery bobbin thread and set it in place | 17 |
| 4 | Fabric preparation | Attach a stabilizer material to the fabric, and hoop it in the embroidery frame. | 27 |
| 5 | Embroidery frame attachment | Attach the embroidery frame to the embroidery unit. | 29 |
| 6 | Pattern selection | Select an embroidery pattern. | 30 |
| 7 | Checking the layout | Check and adjust the size and position of the embroidery. | 32 |
| 8 | Embroidery thread setup | Set up embroidery thread according to pattern. | 33 |
Making custom designs
You can make any SVG into an embroidery pattern, using Ink/Stitch, an Inkscape extension. You want to use the Brother
.pes
filetype.
Please read:
You can make a PNG into an SVG using Inkscape's trace bitmap function, e.g.,
| PNG | SVG |
|---|---|
 |  |
To make patches, have a look at:
How to
- where to buy fabric and thread
- best place is probably the Moor Market, on the Moor. There's a great haberdashery.
- how to create patterns larger than 10×10 cm?
- see manual page 38
- cut felt to size for patches
- use scissors, or (if inducted!!) laser cutter with approx 160mm/s, 28% power.
- how to do anything else
- see manual or ask Alfie
to-do
- buy some stabilizer (see edutech wiki)
- buy a large roll of default/cheap bobbin thread
- buy some more felt/test fabric for inductions/experiments