Getting Organized Embroidery Project

Do you remember when you first got your embroidery machine? Like us, you probably got a sample pack with some backings, threads, bobbins, machine oil, needles, etc. It seemed like so much “stuff,” didn’t it? We got an entire 100 yard roll of backing in our intro kit. The other things seemed reasonable enough to me, and something I could wrap my brain around, but that backing! I didn’t think I could ever use that much backing in my lifetime! Boy, was I wrong! I wonder how many rolls we have ordered since that time, plus the different types… tear-away, cut-away, the various weights, cap backing, and toppings. It’s almost too much to imagine.

And thread! Before I started embroidering, thread was thread, and that was all there was to it. Oh, I guess, as an amateur seamstress, I knew that there was serger thread and cotton thread and polyester thread, but I didn’t make so many choices when I was sewing. I wound my bobbin thread and had matching colors every time…just like every other seamstress out there. Everything was pretty basic. Embroidery, however, opens up a whole new world in the area of thread. So many kinds, so many colors! (Or should I say, “Sew many kinds, sew many colors, sew little time!”)

Well, I can’t list all of the little things in a shop, or this article would become a catalog. Suffice it to say that years later, when I think of all the little “things” in our shop, the ones that come immediately to mind are thread spools, bobbins, bobbin cases, spare parts, needles, scissors, trimmers, rippers, tweezers, tools, oil, canned air, disks, computers, etc. 

	Embroidery Headquarters

Many backings come on rolls, but it is also available in pre-cut pieces of varying sizes. Because backing is bulky, it is sometimes difficult to find a place for that. We solved our problem by building a hooping table that is actually more of a cabinet. The bottom portion of that cabinet has large closet poles mounted facing forward. The poles can be removed to put rolls of backing pm them. There is also a shelf that holds pre-cut backing pieces and small hoops, which are stored in bins when not in use. Hoops need to be near the hooping area, which needs to be near the machines. In a commercial setting, especially when paying an employee, you don’t want any wasted steps that equate to wasted time. Therefore, everything needs to be handy.

I’m pretty proud of our organization in the embroidery area of our shop. It works efficiently, and the embroiderer hardly ever leaves the area to get anything related to embroidery. The shop is set up in a square. Three walls of the square have counters. Two of those counters have commercial machines placed on them. The third is a work area. The center of the square contains four other commercial machines that are set up back to back. The hooping cabinet, which I mentioned earlier, is next to those machines.

File cabinets line the fourth wall. The cabinets hold information relating to our customers since we began our business in 1990. That’s a long time. Much of that info could be transferred to the computer now, but, given the experience of years of working with computers and realizing how volatile information really is, (especially for those of you who don’t back it up,) I am reluctant to give up those paper files.

Speaking of backing up information, part of being organized is getting that done! I learned my lesson right off the bat! One of the things I didn’t realize about sending designs from the computer to the embroidery machine was that the computer saved a copy of the design as an ASD or AutoSend Design. Since I hadn’t learned that I needed to delete those designs occasionally, I filled up my hard drive pretty quickly. (Remember that in 1990, computers did not have the memory that they do today.) My computer froze as solid as ice in the Arctic. I lost every design that I had ever touched.

Think me an overachiever, I care not! Since that day we have saved nothing on our embroidery computer. We have saved two copies of every design on disk. We have graduated from floppies to CDs and finally external drives, but there you have it. To this day, we can retrieve all of our designs because of the system we have devised. There are many who cannot say that.

The file cabinets also hold catalogs and price lists, alphabetized by company. Sometimes it seems that we are overrun by industry catalogs, but it is nice to have them at your fingertips when customers come to call. Also on the fourth wall is a closet. Part of the closet has shelves, which is used to store those pesky items we’re not using yet, like hundreds of extra cones of thread, canned air that we order by the box, new trimmers, needles, backing, etc. The other part of the closet has no shelves and is used to store larger items that are not in constant use.

One of the biggest problems in embroidery shops is where to put the garments as they come in for embroidery. We have an area off to the side where boxes can be stacked and orders can be organized. Because our embroidery area is compact, we can get by with that system. Larger shops, though, often use wheeled carts to get garments to the machines. Some seasons are more taxing than others when it comes to inbound orders. Christmas can be an especially trying time, since that is the season that most shops find to be the busiest. During those seasons, we are content to let our boxes spill out into other areas of the building because we are grateful for the business.

Organization should be set up so that all the tools of the trade are at your fingertips. This is easier said than done when there are so many tools. We have changed our embroidery area almost as many times as the number of years we have been in business. The nice thing about that is that the whole shop gets a thorough cleaning when someone has a good idea about where things should be placed!

On the surface, things don’t always seem so organized. However, that old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place” is a good way to get started. Then, thinking about how many steps you have to take to get the job done should be a guideline for setting up your work area. Getting organized is easier than you think.