5 Tips for Machine Embroidery Beginners
Are you new to the world of machine embroidery? First and foremost, welcome! Machine embroidery is a wonderful form of art. If you have invested money and time into getting equipment, tools and designs, you might now be wondering, what’s next? You have come to the right place!
Imagescapes Embroidery and Screen Printing provides 5 great tips for beginners to get started in machine embroidery in order to achieve success:
1.Read All You Can About Machine Embroidery:
Books are a great resource when it comes to just about any topic and machine embroidery isn’t any different. Machine embroidery books can be very helpful as you build sharpen your skills. But there are also a lot of other great resources too such as newsletters, e-books, magazines, internet and social media.
Newsletters are great because they are usually free and easily accessible just by signing up with your email address with your favorite embroidery-related shops. You can also find numerous e-books that some companies provide as an incentive for embroiderers to visit their websites and they are easy to download and can be accessed and read from just about anywhere (mobile device, laptop, tablet, etc.).
Magazines provide project inspiration as well as education in techniques and utilities such as stabilizers, threads and needles. Many magazines are also available electronically nowadays for instant download; sometimes they are free and sometimes you can obtain them at a reduced cost and publishers oftentimes even offer past volumes at a discount.
You can never really go wrong with the internet, it is vortex of resources! There are thousand of independent bloggers and most commercial websites have their own blogs as well. Today we also have they advantage of social media and many companies post sales and free designs through their social medial accounts so make sure to follow your favorite embroidery resources on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest!
2. Keep Good Notes:
Even the greatest scientists keep immaculate notes while doing research and beginning embroiderers shouldn’t be any different. Consider keeping an embroidery journal in which you document your projects and will help you learn what works, allowing you to easily mimic a project at a later date. Think of your notes as your embroidery recipes.
3. Take Classes:
Taking a class is not only educational but it can also be fun. Project classes further sharpen your skills and provide additional support from instructors and peers. Whether you take a class in person or online, embroidery classes are great for any level embroiderer because they help reinforce basic skills and machine functions.
Online classes and even YouTube tutorials are becoming more and more popular and the advantage of this resource is that you can view these instructional videos whenever, wherever and for as long as you want, plus you can use your own machine which is an opportunity to become familiar with your own tools and equipment.
4. Get to Know Your Dealer:
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or experienced embroiderer, your machine dealer is your single best resource because manufacturers require dealers to be technically adept users of the machines they sell, making your dealer a true expert! Although all machine embroidery machines basically do the same thing, each machine is unique and operates in different ways. Most dealers are happy to provide owner classes that will help their customers become familiar with options specific to their own machines.
You can gain the knowledge, enthusiasm and confidence you need in order to succeed. Dealers become personal cheerleaders and offer and endless supply of tips, ideas, support and encouragement.
5. Schedule Time to Sew:
Learning machine embroidery does not happen over night, it is a progressive process and like anything else, practice makes perfect. Which is why it is important to make time for your embroidery passion whether you read, do research, take a class or sew (even if you only spend 30 minutes a day).
Remember that the more you stitch, the better your skills, knowledge and experience will grow and you will be a pro in no time! The time invested will definitely pay off and don’t forget that the most important thing is to have fun during this process. In the meantime, if you have any questions about machine embroidery or have any embroidery needs, contact Imagescapes Embroidery and Screen Printing!
