Sewing On Course Embroidery Project

One of the most irritating problems for an Embroiderer, is to have the needle crash into the hoop while sewing. This may lead to a broken needle, broken reciprocator, incorrect hook timing, a damaged garment, lost productivity and a whole lot of frustration.

This is a totally preventable problem. It starts by ensuring the correct hoop is chosen. Measure the design carefully, in all directions, in relationship to the center point. Then ensure that the chosen hoop is large enough to accommodate the design. It’s important to visualize the wider/taller points of the design in relationship to the parameters of the hoop.

A design that is three inches tall by four inches wide should fit in a six inch wide circular hoop without a problem, right? Maybe not. The real question is which point of the design is four inches wide? If it’s in the center of the design, then of course a six inch wide circular hoop will work just fine. However, if the four inch wide portion is near the top or the bottom of the design, then it may not fit in the six inch wide circular hoop afterall, since it is only six inches wide at the center, not the top or bottom. So proper measuring is critical. (And don’t forget to account for the pressor foot.)

One of the quickest and easiest methods for verifying that the design fits in the chosen hoop is to see if your software offers a function that allows images of the embroidery hoops to be displayed on the screen in relationship to the design. (Users of Tajima DGML By Pulse should access the Display Hoops function in your software.) This allows you to verify that a design fits within the chosen hoop.

If you don’t have this type of function, you can printout the design (be sure it’s the actual size) and place the desired hoop over the printout for reference.

Once you verify that the design will fit the chosen hoop, hoop the item, place it on the machine and select needle #1. (You will use it as a reference point.) Then use the machine’s trace feature to make sure the design fits within the hoop.

If you ALWAYS follow these steps, you will never crash the needle into the hoop.