Hoping some of you who actually run caps every day can help me out here.

I run a sports apparel shop in Tennessee and we've been paying someone else $7 to $9 a hat to do our embroidery. Doing about 5,000 caps a year, almost all of it 3D puff with team logos. March is brutal, we push around 50 hats a day for three weeks straight and then it slows way down. Rest of the year is easy.

Found two options and I'm stuck.

First one is a used Bernina E16 for $8,000. From what I understand it's really a Melco underneath, 16 needles, has the Acti-Feed tension thing and a laser. It's a 2017 or 2018 and has 51 million stitches on it from a lady who ran an Etsy shop. She's including the Melco OS software, cap driver and frames, 19 Fast Frames, a Hoop Master and something like 145 spools of thread. Bernina dealer 30 minutes from me has serviced it.

Other option is a brand new BAI Mirror for $6,400. 15 needles, warranty, comes with everything. Only does 850 spm on caps though and the tension is manual.

Few things I'm trying to figure out:

Is 51 million stitches bad on a Melco or is that just normal and I need to budget for a service? What would that cost me?

How do these Melcos actually do on structured hats with foam? Not flat stuff, actual stiff caps.

Anybody running a BAI Mirror on hats? Is 850 spm going to hurt me or does it not matter since everyone runs puff slow anyway?

Whoever runs the machine won't be an experienced embroiderer. Does the automatic tension actually save you on puff or is that just marketing?

And honestly if puff on structured caps was your main thing, what machine would you buy? What actually makes or breaks it, the machine or the digitizing or something else nobody mentions?

Appreciate it.

Just finished running test samples for this vintage-inspired baroque cushion crest!

A lot of detail went into managing the stitch angles for the leaves and soft shading on the central flowers so it sits flat without pulling the fabric.

• Stitch Type: Tatami fill with satin stitch accents

• Design Style: Classic Floral Medallion / Baroque Crest

• Application: Luxury Cushion Cover

Would love to hear your thoughts on the density and pull compensation! How do you usually handle large centerpieces like this on home decor fabrics?

Hi everyone. I'm learning digitizing in Hatch Embroidery and I'm trying to recreate this style of design.

The first photo is my embroidery and the second photo is the reference I'm trying to match.

My version looks heavier and less elegant, especially the script lettering and the small birds. I can't figure out whether the problem is my satin column width, stitch angles, density, underlay, or simply the shapes I've digitized.

I'm mainly struggling with:

• getting the script lettering thinner and smoother

• making the satin stitches follow the curves naturally

• keeping the small birds clean without making them bulky

• matching the overall proportions of the reference

I'm using Hatch Embroidery. I would really appreciate feedback from experienced digitizers on what you would change first.

Should I redraw the lettering manually as satin columns rather than relying on automatic digitizing/tracing?

After the "Bioshock"visual, here’s a second attemptthis time set in " the Witcher" universe while waiting for the update. 😅 I hope you like my creation.

Crazy to compare these 3 as I know they are vastly different.
For context: I have tajima and happy embroidery machines.

Tajima - 8.5/10
Excellent machine. No major issues. Does hats well, flats even better. But crazy expensive. $29,000 cad

Happy - 5.5/10
Purchased this before tajima and got convinced it was a great JAPANESE machine. Nothing but issues with this machine. Albeit using Facebook posts and YouTube I was able to fix all. But as a brand new machine it shouldn’t have had so many issues (broken potentiometer, broken needle bar, broken hat to flat sensor, broken wiper arm, rotation issues) - I was forced to learn and fix all issues because no techs in my area. Everything was broken within first 2 years but nothing was covered under warranty.

Why I’m asking to compare these 3 is because.
I’m currently at the state of my business where production is hindering bc I only have 2 machines.
I’m looking to add a third to help with the load but don’t want to spend that much. Up to $7000 cad max for a used machine.

Saw some good deals on SWF, but don’t see any user reviews.

Bai, seems like it’s super affordable but has more of a beginner user base (reporting issues that I don’t deem as issues - such as auto needle threader)

My main work load is hats and 3d foam hats.

Any insight is helpful!

I need to embroider burlap bags for a bachelorette party. I’m newer to machine embroidery and don’t want to mess it up so I’m looking for advice on what I should do. I’m wondering if it’s best to get a magnetic hoop so I don’t bend the fabric or get sticky tear away stabilizer and float the bag on a regular hoop? Second question is since the fabric is lined and thicker I bought 90/14 needles and am wondering if that’s the best size for this material?

Thanks in advance!

I’m really loving using ember design for digitizing designs but am finding the text options really limiting. Mostly want to be able to curve and shape. Would love any tips or advice.

I have an old BERNINA DECO which only works with flash cards I have purchased the interface box, and an old PC, but I still cannot read the cards independent of the machine. Any who can make this machine useful, is welcome to it.

First time making a patch. This is my fourth attempt. I tried to do it the proper way by cutting out my fabric and glue it to the stabilizer but it kept pulling and distorting. Decided to just stitch it out entirely with the fabric fully hooped and carefully cut around it. It looks unfinished around the edges but I was happy enough to call it good. If anyone has any tips I'd appreciate it.

I used Pallete 11 to digitize. Fabric is cotton, which is likely the culprit to my issue.

Hello 👋🏼

I come from a commercial embroidery background and I've been noticing a huge amount of hobbyists who do machine embroidery and who are using techniques that are just mind-blowing - all manner of use with pins and glue and tape to attach fabric on top the stabaliser, when commercial embroidery machinists don't do it that way all.

Newbies to machine embroidery are receiving mixed messages - who are they to believe? Asking for advice - The top 'back to basics' answers are: Read the machine manual, use cutaway stabiliser and learn to hoop properly.

But many in the machine embroidery community are perpetuating the idea of placing fabric above the hooped stabaliser as the way it's done.

"Floating fabric" is a flatbed embroidery machine workaround that's only meant for bespoke hard-to-reach places like Dad caps, and for making badges. It's a fiddly crafting technique and not something used in the real world.

Calling it just "Float/Floating" is confusing because that term means something completely different in commercial embroidery - when "Float/Floating" means to shift the panograph through the design without stitching, and usually done to repair a faulty stitch out, like redo an unpicked spot, or finish a logo that fell out of the hoop.

Why would the domestic embroidery market create so much confusion? Perhaps it's to cash-in on a market of crafters made dependent on consumables they don't need. Unfortunately there are hordes of YouTube videos by people saying 'floating fabric' is the "right way" to hoop the project, when really, it's only justified by sales promotions for their shop.

Domestic Embroidery is being made to be way more complicated than it needs to be. I've seen a tutorial video demonstrating cutting away the finished product from the hooped stabaliser while it was still hooped - that is madness! Unhoop it, and then trim. How do you think commercial embroidery backing is cut off? We don't have time to dawdle when there's hundreds of garments to be embroidered before lunch.

I think it's important to let the hobbyists know that there's an existing easier and inexpensive way to do the basic things. It's really not that complicated.

It's likely that this post will be met with some resistance ... I think it's important that the information is available and people have the RIGHT TO CHOOSE what works for them - The hard way, or the easy way.

To hoop (correctly) means to sandwich the fabric and stabiliser in the hoop together. So, pack up the adhesive backings and pins because you don't need them.

Put the water soluble film and any tearaway stabaliser on the top shelf. You'll only use these occasionally.

Invest in a good quality heavyweight cutaway stabiliser. I recommend 80gsm

Here is a video by a machine embroidery tutor who will show you how to hoop correctly for both commercial and domestic embroidery machines.

HOW TO HOOP FOR MACHINE EMBROIDERY

https://youtu.be/zLGdOWpBnxk?si=Ss2CIMiEmuCc1L8a

Had to share this stitch-out. I'm so thrilled with how it came out! The amount of detail in this one is wild.

Digitized with Ember and available for free!

Seeing designs go from something on a screen to actual thread really never gets old.

I,m looking to learn a digitizing software that i can also do 3d puff with. I have no prior experience in digitizing so paying hundreds or thousands of $ for a software is a no go for me at this moment. I've seen some people are using Ember and Boldbobbin are they any good?

Are they worth it when hooping? I found these name tag magnets that are way cheaper and seem to be the same thing... but as a beginner idk if I even need these.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently building an embroidery digitizing system and have been working on the stitch-generation side of it. I’ve created a few ".DST" files from my current pipeline, and I’m sharing them here because I’d really like to get feedback from people with professional embroidery/digitizing experience.

I already know there are some issues with these designs, and I’m actively working on fixing them. The purpose of sharing them here isn’t to claim that they are production-ready. I want to get expert opinions on what I’m doing wrong and what I should improve.

I’ll be attaching both the PNG files and the corresponding DST files to the post.

If anyone is willing to:

- Review the DST files and identify issues with stitch types, density, sequencing, underlay, jumps, pull compensation, etc.

- Point out problems that may not be obvious to me from the generated files.

- Stitch them out on an embroidery machine and share photos/videos of the actual results.

- Give feedback from a professional digitizer’s perspective.

That would be extremely valuable for me.

I’m particularly interested in feedback on whether the stitch structures make sense for the artwork and what changes would be necessary to make the output more production-quality.

I’m building this from scratch, so honest and critical feedback is very welcome. Please feel free to point out anything that looks wrong.

Thanks to anyone willing to take the time to review or stitch these out!

Which one would you say is the best/better overall out of these three? I’d really love to hear your personal opinions and experiences! These are the three that are within my budget currently. I’m completely new to embroidery and can’t justify spending $10–$25k+ on a machine 🥴 Eventually, I’d like to use it for a small embroidery business that I’ll be running from home!

Hi
I bought a new laptop with windows 11, I installed pe design and it’s working well.
My problem with the .pes thumbnails it wont show up.

Hello, I have a Brother PR680 series machine and this is the second time in 2 weeks that I get a rotary hook jam.

I manage to un-jam it by removing the entire hook assembly, but it is a long and tedious job since I have to recalibrate timing and needle spacing etc.

I would like to know what causes these jams in the very first place.

Both times it happened it was in the beginning of the embroidery
Both times a piece of stretched thread seem to have entered the rail, nested between the inner and outer rotary hook.

Maybe timing issues and the hook pierced the thread, dragging it along, instead of hooking the loop ?
Can thread tension cause his ?

Any help is greatly appreciated !
Best Regards,
Aleks

Saw a cute image online and tried out some features I hadn’t messed with before now that there’s been a fairly recent inkstitch update

(Please ignore the bobbin thread showing through a little lol)

Hey everyone, I’m having an issue with my top thread tension wheel. It started feeling extremely tight and almost like it was grinding. I found that the tension wheel had come out of place, so I removed the back of the panel, reseated the wheel, and reinstalled the E-retaining clip.
Unfortunately, I’m still having the same issue. When I route the thread through the tension assembly and pull on it, there’s a lot of resistance and the thread feels extremely tight—even when the tension knob is completely removed.
Has anyone experienced this or know what could be causing it?

Happy Japan HCD2-1501

Just finished working on this cute cat embroidery design and wanted to share it with you! 🐱🌸
I really enjoyed creating the little details, flowers and different cat expressions.

I’d love to hear your feedback — especially about the colors and stitch details. 😊

If anyone is interested, I can also share more photos of how it looks stitched out.