Creative articles about embroidery

Upgrading existing clothes with an embroidery machine

Everyone is bound to have at least one boring garment in the wardrobe. The magic word is embroidery machine ‒ and the garment becomes a unique item. 

Place the embroidery designs next to seams

It is possible to embroider over seams, but often the material, especially denim with its voluminous felled seams, is too thick and the result would not be satisfactory. Therefore it is better to place the embroidery designs next to seams. Of course, holes or stains can also disappear by overstitching! If necessary, a seam must be undone to be able to embroider certain parts like sleeves. Alternatively, a small motif can also be embroidered with the freearm; refer to the machine instructions to learn more about freearm embroidery. Stretch materials, such as our denim jacket example, have to be stabilized in a special way.


NOTE

If no suitable embroidery fleece is available, several layers of thinner stabilisers are also suitable, such as the self-adhesive Filmoplast or the iron-on fixing stabiliser (Vlieseline).


Selection of the embroidery file

Allowed is what you like, but a test embroidery on a similar material with your embroidery thread of choice is recommended. It may be necessary to adjust the embroidery density of the design, to remove individual elements or, if necessary, to skip them when embroidering. Some of these adjustments can be done on your embroidery machine, some need to be done with an embroidery software.

Re-colouring the embroidery files

If you don’t want to work with the suggested colours of an embroidery file, the BERNINA embroidery software allows you to replace colours and change individual elements for better visualisation. Under “thread colours”, colour numbers can be assigned from various tables of thread manufacturers.

Another option is the program BERNINA Embroidery Software ArtLink 8 which can be downloaded for free at BERNINA.com, Software, ARTlink 8. In ARTlink the embroidery designs can also be re-coloured. Some embroidery machines also enable you to change the colours of your design on the screen of your machine.

Image of BERNINA Embroidery Software ArtLink 8.

BERNINA Embroidery Software ArtLink 8

Open and export embroidery designs – With BERNINA ARTlink 8 you can open a range of native ART files and many other embroidery file formats. It includes a wide range of standard hoops to select from.

Learn more

Printing and arranging the embroidery files

Print out the desired files in the BERNINA embroidery software or ARTlink in original size and cut them out roughly. Arrange the motifs on the denim jacket and pin them in place. This will give you a rough idea of how the designs will look like on the garnment and you can play with the placement of the designs until you are happy with the arrangement.


Embroidery preparation

Hoop the Filmoplast (or other stabilizer) in the embroidery hoop, remove the backing paper and, in the case of our denim jacket with stretch fibres, stick two more layers of Filmoplast over it to prevent stretching. Stick the fabric of the area to be embroidered in the middle of the hoop.

Attach the embroidery hoop to the embroidery module. If the rotation direction of the file does not correspond to the desired position, the motif should be rotated first.

Pinpoint placement

If your machine has the feature “Pinpoint placement”, then placing an embroidery design exactly where you want it to be is a lot easier. Select the icon “Pinpoint placement” ( via the “i” dialog box in the Editing menu ). Then click on the butterfly symbol with the two plus signs “Place points freely”.

Use the touchpen to set a first marker point in the embroidery design. Turn the two multifunction knobs to move the needle to the desired position over the embroidery area. To be sure that you are embroidering with pinpoint accuracy, turn the handwheel down a little and check the puncture point. Confirm the selected position with the “SET” icon.

Select the second positioning point in the opposite corner, align the position in the same way with the multifunction knobs and confirm with “SET”.

Exit the Editing menu by clicking “×”. Before embroidering can begin, check the placement once again with the “check” function if necessary. The outline is scanned as a rectangle in four steps.

If you do not have Pinpoint Placement on your embroidery machine, use the rotating and up/down/left/right movements to place your design.

Embroidering

Fix the fabric on the embroidery stabiliser with the function “Baste the outline”.

Embroider the design and remove the hoop. Undo the basting stitch and tear away the embroidery stabiliser around the embroidery motif. 

Your old-new garment is ready!

Additional BERNINA tips for you

You may have noticed that we have already published a few blog posts with helpful tips. These tips are written for various BERNINA inspiration magazines.

Are you looking for a specific topic right now? You’ll find a lot of supporting content on this page. And if the topic you’re looking for isn’t listed yet, check back regularly for the latest tips.

If you have any other useful tricks, feel free to share them below in the comments. Let’s take your sewing experience to the next level! 🙂 

Creative regards,
Jasmin 

 

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