Well...I've done it...I've ordered my first embroidery machine..SWF1501C-HoopMasters, Fast Frames, everything. I sure hope I can actually make this new career work. Please someone reassure me that embroidering isn't as hard as it looks. My head is spinning with questions, doubts, ideas, excitement.
First, congratulations on the purchase of your SWF. Hope your business plans turn out to be all that you want them to be.
As far a reassurment, I could say .... all you have to do now is pop a design into your machine, hit a button and the customers will be beating down your door. But that simply is not the way a good embroidery business is built.
The truth is, embroidery has a pretty steep learning curve and you have plenty to learn. First and foremost, learn to operate, adjust and service your machine ..... its the heart of your embroidery business and should be treated as such.
Do not be in a big hurry to immediately sell your stitching. Truth is, some of the first stitching you do will be crappy .... not a reflection on you or your SWF, instead just an indication of how much there is to learn in embroidery.
If you purchased digitizing software with your machine, put that software aside for now. Learn to operate your machine first ..... once you are completely comfortable with your machine, then start working on the software.
You might want to consider purchasing a bobbin tension gauge and a top thread tension gauge. They go a long way in helping you maintain proper thread tensions on your machine.
The download is free and gives you a good insight into embroidery designs.
A quality digitized design, the right stabilizer and proper hooping go a long way in creating a quality stitchout.
When it comes to buying designs, the number of poorly digitized designs available greatly outnumbers the well digitized ones. Just because someone is selling a design, that does not mean they know how to create a quality design.
I say all this not to discourage you or to create fear. I do it because if you want to succeed, it is important that you are realistic in your embroidery plans and know there will be hurdles to clear.
Knowledge takes time the more you research the more you will know but it takes time so take the time and don't give up. My rule of thumb is there will be ups and downs just keep going and things will clear up and sort out then again I am a Capricorn. I have learned a lot of stuff on this forum and watching youtube videos so that might be a start you can learn a lot of tricks of the trade on youtube. I am going to get a copy of the free version of Stitch Era so I can play with the artwork and digitalizing on the graphic end the more you play with it the better you get and you will learn a lot about it as you go. I do not intend to do any embroaidery as of yet but want to learn the graphical end.
On the business end there is some basic knoledge you would want to learn well expecially about mark up and break even points which helps with pricing and also your inventory etc. Break even, you can stock 1,000's in supplies but will have to sell so much to get your investment back so it can be a fine balance. It is worth learning everything usefull you can as one day you might need it.
It's good to have a well thought-out plan. If your plan includes corporate logos, you should probably find a digitizing vendor you can trust to start. Observe how their patterns sew and try to duplicate your own... a great way to learn without the risk of alienating a customer.
Worry first about the basics... there are a lot of counter-intuitive things in embroidery. For example, getting a knit nice and tight in your hoop will make it pucker more not less because the fabric is stretched larger than the design to begin with.
Try lots of backing options... error on the side of too thick instead of not enough.
Budget for spoiled garments. I can't tell you all the ways you can nip a hole, oil them up, sew them together or just get a design wrong. Some errors you can correct... expect not all.
And relax and have fun! If it isn't fun then its work.
Fellow Texans always succeed Practice, practice, practice. You can and will learn embroidery. The hardest part is pricing and selling. Find your niche, price for profit, not just to sell, and you will be fine. It is a fun occupation if you find your niche, it just takes time. Don't be afraid to experiment and make our suggestions fit your way of doing things. Central Texan here for your help.
Congrats! We got one of the bigger brothers earlier this year, the E/1501-T. Join the SWF Owners Yahoo group and download the FOX and H test patterns. First thing you should do when you receive the machine is run the FOX and H patterns as many times as necessary until you get the tensions set correctly. DO NOT assume they are set correctly when you receive the machine like we did.... I was so frustrated with the machine I was ready to take a baseball bat to it.
Since ours has the sequin attachment, they sent a tech to our house to set it up and show us how to use it. The first thing he did was readjust all the tensions and we were amazed at how much better it stitched.
Also, you NEED to attend the machine training as well as the software training. Without that, you will be beating your head against the wall. Trust me, we've been embroidering on Brother machines for 3 years and still had a large learning curve on this type of machine and software.
Good luck and if you have any questions, ask away!
Fellow Texans always succeed Practice, practice, practice. You can and will learn embroidery. The hardest part is pricing and selling. Find your niche, price for profit, not just to sell, and you will be fine. It is a fun occupation if you find your niche, it just takes time. Don't be afraid to experiment and make our suggestions fit your way of doing things. Central Texan here for your help.
Congrats! We got one of the bigger brothers earlier this year, the E/1501-T. Join the SWF Owners Yahoo group and download the FOX and H test patterns. First thing you should do when you receive the machine is run the FOX and H patterns as many times as necessary until you get the tensions set correctly. DO NOT assume they are set correctly when you receive the machine like we did.... I was so frustrated with the machine I was ready to take a baseball bat to it.
Since ours has the sequin attachment, they sent a tech to our house to set it up and show us how to use it. The first thing he did was readjust all the tensions and we were amazed at how much better it stitched.
Also, you NEED to attend the machine training as well as the software training. Without that, you will be beating your head against the wall. Trust me, we've been embroidering on Brother machines for 3 years and still had a large learning curve on this type of machine and software.
Good luck and if you have any questions, ask away!
Well...I've done it...I've ordered my first embroidery machine..SWF1501C-HoopMasters, Fast Frames, everything. I sure hope I can actually make this new career work. Please someone reassure me that embroidering isn't as hard as it looks. My head is spinning with questions, doubts, ideas, excitement.
The embroidery part is easy, it's everything else with running the business, getting work, keeping customers happy, finding the right digitizer, the right distributors, keeping the money coming into make those machine payments... If you work a full time job and are starting out doing this part time, expect every waking hour of your day running or promoting your business. If you actually succeed with a singe head you'll need to invest in a multi head to actually make a decent living... my two cents
need reassurment 
