How To Embroider With An Embroidery Machine: Easy Guide

Do you want to know how to embroider with an embroidery machine? It’s easier than you think! An embroidery machine is a special sewing machine that uses a computer to make designs on fabric. It follows a digital pattern to sew stitches and create pictures, letters, or logos. This guide will walk you through the steps to start. It’s a fun craft for anyone, including a machine embroidery beginner.

How To Embroider With An Embroidery Machine
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Getting Ready to Sew

Before you make your first stitch, you need a few things ready. This includes your machine, your design, your fabric, and some other helper items.

Picking Your First Machine

If you are just starting out, you likely have a home embroidery machine. These are usually single-needle machines. They are great for learning. You pick a design, load the thread, and the machine sews one color at a time. You change the thread for each new color in the design. These machines are simpler to use for small projects and home crafts.

Finding Designs and Software

Your machine needs a design to sew. Think of the design as the pattern the machine follows. You can get designs in a few ways:

Some designs are built right into your machine.
You can buy designs online from different websites.
You can use machine embroidery software to make your own designs or change ones you bought.

Machine software lets you change colors, sizes, and stitch types. Some software can even turn pictures into embroidery designs. For a beginner, using built-in or purchased designs is a good way to start.

Seeing Design Formats

Embroidery design files come in different types. These types are called machine embroidery design formats. Like how a picture file might be a JPG or PNG, embroidery files have endings like .DST, .PES, .JEF, .HUS, and others. Your machine can only read certain types. You need to check your machine’s book to know which formats work. If you buy a design in the wrong format, you might need software to change it, or find a website that converts it for you. The most common formats are .DST (Tajima), .PES (Brother, Babylock, Deco), and .JEF (Janome).

Getting Your Fabric Ready

Almost any fabric can be embroidered, but some are easier than others for a beginner.

Cotton: This is a good fabric to start with. It does not stretch much and is easy to work with.
Sweatshirts or T-shirts: These can work, but they are stretchy. You will need the right helper material to keep them flat.
Towels: These are thick and have a deep surface. You might need a special topping to keep stitches from sinking.

Wash and iron your fabric first if you think it might shrink. This makes sure your design looks good even after the first wash.

Picking the Right Stabilizer

Choosing stabilizer for embroidery is a very important step. Stabilizer is a material you put under or sometimes on top of your fabric. It helps the fabric stay flat and firm while the machine is sewing. This stops the fabric from pulling or stretching, which would make the design look messy.

Think of stabilizer as giving your fabric a backbone. Without it, the fast movement of the needle can push and pull the fabric, making stitches uneven or causing puckers.

There are different kinds of stabilizer:

Cut-Away: This type is a bit like felt or soft paper. You put it under the fabric. After sewing, you cut away the extra stabilizer around the design. It stays under the stitches to give lasting support. Use this for stretchy fabrics like knits (T-shirts, sweatshirts) or loose fabrics.
Tear-Away: This material feels more like paper. You put it under the fabric. After sewing, you just tear it away from the stitches. It is good for fabrics that don’t stretch much and can handle tearing, like cotton or canvas.
Wash-Away (or Water Soluble): This can feel like plastic film or thin cloth. Some types go under the fabric, and some thin types go on top (called topping). After sewing, you soak the project in water, and the stabilizer melts away. Use this for fabrics where you don’t want any stabilizer left, like lace or lightweight linens. Use the topping type for fabrics with a deep surface (like towels) to keep stitches on top.

Sometimes you might use more than one type. The best stabilizer depends on your fabric and your design. A thick fabric or a design with many stitches needs stronger support, maybe two layers of stabilizer or a heavier weight of cut-away.

Here is a simple table to help you pick:

Fabric Type	Design Stitch Count	Best Stabilizer Type(s)	Why?
Stable Woven (Cotton)	Low to Medium	Tear-Away	Holds fabric flat, easy to remove.
Stable Woven (Cotton)	High	Tear-Away (maybe 2 layers)	Needs more support for dense stitches.
Stretchy Knit (T-shirt)	Any	Cut-Away	Stops stretch, gives lasting support.
Terrycloth (Towel)	Any	Cut-Away underneath, Wash-Away Topping on top	Supports fabric, keeps stitches visible.
Lightweight/Open Weave	Low	Wash-Away	Disappears completely.

Putting Fabric in the Hoop

The embroidery hoop holds your fabric and stabilizer flat and tight while the machine sews. Correctly hooping fabric for machine embroidery is super important for a good result. If the fabric is not tight or is wrinkled in the hoop, the design will look bad, maybe puckered or pulled.

Here’s how to hoop:

Choose the Right Hoop: Pick a hoop that is a little bigger than your design. You need space around the design for the hoop to grab the fabric. Your machine came with hoops of different sizes.
Place Stabilizer: Lay the outer part of the hoop flat on a table. Place your chosen stabilizer over it.
Add Fabric: Lay your fabric on top of the stabilizer. Make sure the spot you want to embroider is in the center of the hoop area.
Put Inner Hoop On: Take the inner hoop (the one with the screw or clip). Push it down into the outer hoop. It should fit snugly, holding the fabric and stabilizer tight like a drum head.
Tighten the Hoop: If your hoop has a screw, tighten it a little.
Pull Fabric (Gently): Gently pull the fabric from the edges of the hoop. Pull just enough to make it smooth and tight, but do not stretch the fabric itself, especially if it’s a knit. The goal is flat and tight, not stretched.
Final Tightening: Tighten the hoop screw or clip completely. The fabric and stabilizer should be smooth and have no wrinkles inside the hoop. When you tap it lightly, it should sound a bit like a drum.

Make sure the hoop is on straight and the fabric grain (the direction of the threads in the fabric) is straight within the hoop. This helps the design stay straight on your item.

Setting Up Your Machine

Now that your fabric is ready in the hoop, it’s time to get your machine ready to sew.

Picking Needles

Like sewing machines, embroidery machines need the right needle for the job. Embroidery machine needles types are made to handle the speed and the different threads used in machine embroidery.

Embroidery Needles: These are designed with a special scarf (a groove on the back) and a slightly rounded point. This helps the needle go through the fabric without damaging it, and it protects the thread from breaking at high speed. They are usually size 75/11 or 90/14. Size 75/11 is good for lighter fabrics and smaller threads. Size 90/14 is better for heavier fabrics and thicker threads.
Sharp Needles: These have a very sharp point. They are good for woven fabrics like cotton or canvas, where you need the needle to pierce the fabric cleanly.
Ballpoint Needles: These have a rounded point that pushes fabric fibers aside instead of piercing them. Use these for knit fabrics (like T-shirts) to avoid making holes or breaking threads in the knit.

Always use a sharp, new needle for each project, or at least every 8-10 hours of sewing time. A dull or bent needle can cause problems like thread breaks, skipped stitches, or damage to your fabric.

Choosing Thread

Embroidery thread types are different from regular sewing thread. They are often shinier and stronger.

Rayon Thread: This is a traditional embroidery thread. It is very shiny and gives a bright look. However, it can be sensitive to bleach.
Polyester Thread: This is stronger and more colorfast than rayon. It keeps its shine and color better after washing and can handle bleach. Many machine embroiderers prefer polyester for its strength and durability.
Cotton Thread: Gives a matte, traditional look. It’s not as strong or shiny as rayon or polyester and might not work as well in some high-speed machines.
Metallic Thread: This thread contains metallic fibers and is used to add sparkle. It can be tricky to work with and often requires a special metallic needle and slower machine speed.

You will also need bobbin thread. This is the thread that shows on the back of your embroidery. It is usually a lighter weight thread than the top thread. Bobbin thread often comes in white, black, or beige because it should not be very visible from the front if your top tension is set right.

Getting Thread on the Machine

Threading an embroidery machine is similar to threading a sewing machine, but with a few extra steps. Your machine’s manual is the best guide, but here are the general steps:

Place the Spool: Put your chosen top thread spool onto the spool pin on your machine. Use the correct size spool cap to hold it in place.
Follow the Guides: The machine has a path for the thread. It usually involves going through guides, around tension discs, and through a take-up lever. These are often marked with numbers or arrows on the machine.
Go Through the Take-Up Lever: Make sure the thread is securely in the take-up lever. This lever moves up and down as the machine sews and helps control the thread.
Thread the Needle: Bring the thread down and thread it through the eye of the needle. Most embroidery machines have an automatic needle threader, which is a great help! Follow your machine’s steps to use it.
Install the Bobbin: Put the bobbin with bobbin thread into the bobbin case. Then put the bobbin case into the machine. Pull the bobbin thread tail out. Some machines drop the bobbin in from the top, others use a case in the front. Again, check your manual.
Bring Up Bobbin Thread: Close the bob bobbin door. For some machines, you need to hold the top thread, turn the handwheel, and catch the bobbin thread loop to bring it up through the needle plate hole. Newer machines might do this for you automatically when you start sewing.

Always thread the machine with the presser foot up. This opens the tension discs, letting the thread sit in them correctly. If the foot is down, the thread won’t go into the tension discs right, and you will have thread problems.

Checking Thread Tightness

Embroidery machine tension settings control how tight the top thread and bobbin thread are pulled. If the tension is wrong, your stitches will look bad.

Too Loose Top Tension: You will see loops of top thread on the top of your fabric.
Too Tight Top Tension: You will see bobbin thread loops pulling up to the top of your fabric. The fabric might also pucker.
Too Loose Bobbin Tension: You will see loops of bobbin thread on the back of your fabric.
Too Tight Bobbin Tension: You will see top thread pulling through to the back of your fabric.

For machine embroidery, you want the top thread and bobbin thread to meet between the fabric and the stabilizer. When you look at the back of your finished embroidery, you should see about one-third bobbin thread and two-thirds top thread stitches. It should look like the top thread is just slightly wrapping around the bobbin thread.

Most tension adjustments are made with the top thread dial on your machine. Start with the setting your manual recommends (often the middle setting). Sew a test design on a scrap of your fabric and stabilizer. Check the back. Adjust the top tension dial:
* Turn it to a lower number to make the top thread looser.
* Turn it to a higher number to make the top thread tighter.

Bobbin tension is set on the bobbin case itself. For beginners, it’s usually best not to change the bobbin tension unless your manual says so or you are having major, unsolvable issues. Changing top tension usually fixes most problems.

Making Your Design

Everything is ready! The fabric is hooped, the machine is threaded, and the design is loaded.

Starting the Machine

Attach the hooped fabric to the embroidery arm of your machine. Make sure it clicks into place firmly.
Lower the presser foot.
Double-check your thread color against your design plan.
On your machine screen, select the design you want to sew. Place it where you want it within the hoop area shown on the screen. Most machines let you move and turn the design.
Press the start button!

Watching it Sew

Your machine will now sew the design stitch by stitch. It will likely sew one color block at a time. Stay near your machine while it is sewing.

Watch that the thread is flowing smoothly from the spool.
Listen for strange noises.
Look for any problems like thread breaks or loops forming.
When the machine finishes a color block, it will stop. Trim any jump stitches (the threads that connect parts of the design) if your machine doesn’t do it automatically.
Change the top thread to the next color needed for the design.
Press start again.

Repeat this process for all the colors in your design.

After Sewing is Done

Your machine has finished sewing the last stitch. What’s next?

Taking Fabric Out of the Hoop

First, take the hoop off the machine. Then, loosen the screw or clip on the hoop and gently take the inner hoop out. This releases the fabric and stabilizer. Be careful not to stretch or pull the fabric aggressively when taking it out of the hoop.

Making it Look Nice

Now you clean up your project:

Trim Threads: Use small, sharp scissors to trim any jump stitches on the front and back of the embroidery. Trim the threads at the start and end of the design. Get as close to the fabric as you can without cutting the stitches.
Remove Stabilizer: How you do this depends on the type you used:
- Tear-Away: Gently tear away the stabilizer from the back of the embroidery. Try to tear close to the stitches.
- Cut-Away: Use scissors to carefully cut away the extra stabilizer from around the design on the back. Leave about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 0.5 to 1 cm) of stabilizer around the edge of the stitches. This leftover stabilizer continues to support the design.
- Wash-Away: If you used topping on the front, gently pull away as much as you can. If you used wash-away under the fabric, or to get rid of the topping completely, soak the project in water according to the stabilizer maker’s directions. The stabilizer will dissolve. You might need to rinse and soak a few times.
Pressing: Lightly press the embroidery from the back using a pressing cloth. Do not iron directly on the stitches, especially shiny ones, as this can flatten them.

Your first machine embroidery project is finished!

When Things Go Wrong

Even with careful steps, sometimes troubleshooting machine embroidery is needed. Problems happen, but they can usually be fixed.

Finding Common Problems

Here are some issues you might see:

Thread Breaking: The top thread keeps snapping while sewing.
Loops on Top: The top thread forms loose loops on the front of the fabric.
Loops on Back: The bobbin thread forms loose loops on the back of the fabric.
Skipped Stitches: There are gaps in the design where stitches should be.
Fabric Puckering: The fabric is wrinkling or gathering around the design.
Design Looks Messy or Gappy: Stitches are not covering the area they should, or the design looks uneven.

Simple Fixes

Do not get frustrated! Most problems have simple causes.

Thread Breaking:
- Is the machine threaded right? Re-thread the machine carefully with the presser foot up.
- Is the needle bent or dull? Change the needle. Use the right type and size for your fabric and thread.
- Is the thread old or poor quality? Try new, good quality embroidery thread.
- Is the tension too tight? Lower the top tension setting.
- Is the design too dense for the fabric/stabilizer? Maybe add more stabilizer or use a denser stabilizer.
- Is the bobbin area clean? Lint can build up and cause problems.
Loops on Top (Top Thread Too Loose):
- Is the machine threaded right? Check the thread path, especially the tension discs and take-up lever. Re-thread with the foot up.
- Is the top tension too loose? Increase the top tension setting.
Loops on Back (Bobbin Thread Too Loose or Top Thread Too Tight):
- Check the top tension first. Is it too high? Lower it.
- If lowering top tension does not help, check the bobbin threading. Is the bobbin in the case correctly? Is the bobbin case put into the machine right?
- Rarely, the bobbin tension might be too loose. This is harder to fix and might need looking at the bobbin case screw (usually a job for a repair person unless you know how).
Skipped Stitches:
- The needle is likely the problem. Is it bent? Is it the wrong type for the fabric (e.g., sharp needle on knit)? Change to a new, correct needle.
- Is the fabric hooped correctly? It needs to be tight like a drum.
Fabric Puckering:
- This is often a stabilizer issue. Is the stabilizer strong enough for the fabric and design? Stretchy fabrics or dense designs need a cut-away stabilizer, possibly two layers.
- Is the fabric hooped correctly? It must be smooth and tight, not stretched.
- Is the top thread tension too tight? Lower the top tension.
Design Looks Messy or Gappy:
- This can be caused by many of the above issues (wrong tension, wrong stabilizer, bad hooping).
- Check the design itself. Is it a good quality design? Sometimes poorly made designs sew badly.
- Make sure you used the right needle and thread for the design and fabric.

When you have a problem, stop the machine. Write down what happened. Try one fix at a time. Sew a little bit to see if it helped. This helps you learn what causes different problems.

Simple Steps for Beginners

Starting machine embroidery is exciting! To make it easy as a machine embroidery beginner, here are a few simple tips:

Start Small: Choose simple designs with fewer colors and stitches for your first projects.
Use Easy Fabric: Cotton is a great choice to begin with. Avoid very stretchy or very delicate fabrics at first.
Learn Your Machine: Read your machine’s manual. It has specific steps for threading, hooping, and using its features.
Test, Test, Test: Always sew a test design on a scrap piece of your fabric and stabilizer before sewing on your final item. This helps you check tension and design placement.
Get Good Supplies: Use good quality needles, thread, and stabilizer. Cheap supplies can cause many problems.
Join Groups: Look for online groups or local clubs for machine embroidery. Other people can offer help and tips.

Learning machine embroidery is a process. Be patient with yourself. Each project teaches you something new!

Questions Many People Ask (FAQ)

What kind of machine do I need?
You need a machine made specifically for embroidery. These are different from regular sewing machines. Some machines do both sewing and embroidery. For a beginner, a single-needle home embroidery machine is a great start.
Can I use regular sewing thread?
It is best to use thread made for machine embroidery. Embroidery thread is stronger and shinier. Regular sewing thread can break often at the speed of an embroidery machine.
How do I know what stabilizer to use?
The best stabilizer depends on your fabric and design. Stretchy fabrics need cut-away. Stable fabrics can use tear-away. Fuzzy fabrics like towels often need a wash-away topping. Look at charts or guides for help, and test on scraps.
My thread keeps breaking. What is wrong?
Many things can cause thread breaks. Check that your machine is threaded correctly with the presser foot up. Change your needle – a dull or bent needle is a common cause. Check your tension; it might be too tight. Also, check if your thread is old or low quality.
Why is my fabric puckering?
Puckering often happens because the fabric and stabilizer are not hooped tight enough, or you are using the wrong type or amount of stabilizer for your fabric or design. Stretchy fabrics need cut-away stabilizer to prevent puckering. Also, check if your top thread tension is too tight.
Where do I get designs?
Your machine comes with some designs. You can buy many more designs online from different websites. You can also use machine embroidery software to create or change designs.
Do I need special software?
You need software if you want to create your own designs, change purchased designs a lot (like resizing greatly or combining designs), or convert designs between different machine embroidery design formats. If you just plan to use built-in or purchased designs as they are, you might not need separate software right away.

Machine embroidery is a fun and rewarding craft. By following these steps and tips, you can start creating beautiful embroidered items with your machine! Happy stitching!