Embroidery Machine - Brother Innov-is 750e

Ever wanted to make your own patches or add embroidery to your own clothes?

This machine is designed to embroider patterns onto fabrics. You can either use the built in patterns and fonts to add embroidery to fabric or patch material or you can use Inkscape with Inkstitch extension to create your own designs and transfer the PES files to the machine with a USB.

The machine is found on the shelf above the craft table.

The manuals below show all the information in detail including the patterns, their suggested colours and the numbers to find them on the machine.

Basic workflow:

1. cut fabric and stabiliser to be a bit larger than the embroidery hoop
2. place in hoop and tighten so the tension is similar to a drum
3. switch on machine and follow onscreen instructions for startup
4. put bobbin thread in the bobbin case at the bottom of the machine - same colour is fine for all layers of colour it shouldn't show through and will save time on change the thread between colours
5. thread the 1st colour through the system
6. raise the needle
7. place embroidery hoop on the machine

8. load pattern - from USB or the machine 9. move pattern to the location you want (needle starts in the centre of the pattern) 10. lower the needle and press play

11. change colour colour when required

12. the machine will say when the pattern is finished and its safe to remove the hoop

borther_innovis_750e_quick_reference_guide.pdf

brother_innovis_750e_operation_manual.pdf

• A piece of fabric a little larger than the embroidery frame that matches the size of the pattern you want to embroider.
• A stabilizer material for embroidery to the fabric to prevent poor quality embroidery designs. Use a water soluble sheet on thin materials like organdy and fabrics with a nap like towels.
• For the upper thread, use the embroidery thread or country thread. Ideally use newer threads and not those that have been hanging around for a while as they older ones are likely to snap in the machine.
• For the bobbin thread, use the embroidery bobbin thread. Aim to use a bobbin that is mostly full. If the bobbin is coming near the end the tension will be off and will not give a good result.

Needle Use a 75/11 home sewing machine needle. When embroidering on thick fabrics such as denim, use a 90/14 home sewing machine needle. Memo

Embroidery frames There are now multiple frames available in the hackspace, each with a guide on the embroidery area and holes to mark fabric to make sure everything is in line

• Small - 25mm x 60mm
• Medium - 100mm x 100mm
• Large - 130mm x 180mm
• Extra Large multi-position 130mm x 300mm

If you press the ? button on the machine, it will take you step by step through the loading process.

You may want to press the green button to pause the needle so that loose threads can be cut or removed as you go along to prevent them getting embedded in your design.

Helpful beginners video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Akr8M7b1Uk

It may be worth testing the tension before you start each time, in case someone has modified the tension or with new fabric/stabiliser/thread. Youtube video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR5TOaJ5mLs&t=43s

This is the suggested workflow that I have found works for patches that require no-minimal cutting.

Termogarza – available in black and white, you make your design directly on to this, has a more fabric like feel as you are making it, requires heat via iron or heat plate to begin to disintegrate the fabric. Comes away in pieces. Supplier: https://shop.madeira.co.uk/heat-dissolvable-backing-170cm-x-1m_termogarza-white-xxx-xxx.htm

B-Film or Badge film can be used as one or two layers, without additional fabric and will also dissolve on the application of heat Supplier: https://shop.madeira.co.uk/search/backing-topping--applique-fabrics/topping-and-speciality-backing/other-specialist-backings/madeirasbfilm-100mic-100cmx1m_035asb-m-xxx-xxx.htm Or from UK supplier for non-commercial customers: https://www.barnyarns.co.uk/madeira-b-film-heat-dissovable-fabric-100-micron-50cm-wide-per-meter.html

Guide from Maderia UK on B-film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cliEeeEUjLw

Basic Patch workflow:

1. Create a design/modify or use a design specifically for patches and b-film - see suggested parameters below - these may be different for different designs
2. Cut two pieces of “B”-film – rough sides together
3. Hoop and place in machine
4. Embroider first underlay, horizontal fill stitch approximately 2mm apart
5. Second underlay, vertical fill stitch approximately 2mm apart (change angle to 90 degrees)
6. For design start on large central parts and work outwards
7. Horizontal fill stitch normal density 0.4mm - I found 0.25-0.3mm worked better for my smaller design
8. Then details on this filled parts
9. Then outer fill stitch
10. Badge details class 40 thread,
11. Complete remaining background stitching
12. Fill Stitch 0.37-0.4mm standard density - I found 0.25-0.3mm worked better for my smaller design
13. Add final details and text
14. Zig zag border underlay, make sure fill stitch by 50%
15. Embroider satin stitch border 3-4mm density approx. 0.32mm
16. Once complete remove from hoop
17. Peel off excess film
18. Iron or heat press between 120C -140C for a few seconds to remove backing – this can take longer on the heat press in Hackspace

To add iron on backing:

1. Also create outline of the pattern in running stitch
2. Hoop the iron on backing
3. Stitch the outline
4. Remove from hoop
5. Remove the surface of the backing
6. Place patch in outline (optional use spray adhesive to keep in place)
7. Use heat press to secure in place (temperature and time dependent on backing) (Leaving the protective film on where the patch isn’t should prevent the iron on backing from sticking to the heat press/iron and leave it to be used later – but will depend on type of iron on backing)
8. Cut out patch

As mentioned above I've used Inkscape with the Inkstitch add-on, its not the best software in the world for this as most other embroidery software allows you to place individual stitches ( useful on the finer details and lettering) and allows you to quickly changes settings to parts of the design i.e. satin stitch width or the type of fabric being used. But unlike those pieces of software Inkstitch is free.

Inkstitch have a workflow here: https://inkstitch.org/docs/workflow/. There is also easy access to each of the stitch/fill types etc and a lot of useful information.

If you are working off a design or logo that is already created two methods I have found work reasonably well:

1. Import the image, make it transparent/less opaque,then manually draw in your filled out sections, and then the outlines. Make sure you are happy with the overall design including line width etc and save this copy.
2. Import the image, right click on the image and press 'Trace to bitmap'. There are several options to help create the various layers that will be need for the design. Single scan with brightness cutoff will help with the overall outline. Multi-colour with Colours detection mode will help pull out the other colours. You may need to play around with the settings depending on the quality and simplicity of the original image. But you should be able to quickly pull out the basic shapes and outlines instead of having to manually redraw the entire image. You may need to edit the shapes and outlines. Make sure you are happy with the overall design including line width etc and save this copy.

From either one of these approaches save your finished design and keep a copy in case modifications need to be made to line width etc.

• Create a new version from which the shapes will be converted to stitches.
• On each fill shape go to Extension>Inkstitch>Params and see how the section is filled.
• Is the underlay suitable, row width etc, is it embroidering in the order expected?
• Is the fill pattern what you want?
• With the outlines, you will need to convert the line to a satin stitch ( assuming that is the type of stitch the are looking for). This will convert your line to two lines roughly the width of the final satin stitch with rungs across it. You can change the parallel lines to match the shape of the satin stitch you want. The rungs are more for the angle of the stitch. You will want you satin stitch to be roughly 50% in your fill area and outside of it. Zigzag underlay is also very useful for keeping the satin stitch more reproducible.
• Consider the order of the layers which parts you would like to be embroidered first
• Lettering works best using the inbuilt inkstitch lettering
• It will take a few iterations to get the design finalised.

These videos have been helpful: Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPaGwjwpzWc, Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WPSHcJ03gI

• Top thread breaking: old/cheap/inappropriate thread (use better thread, too much tension (see checking tension in tips), check it's threaded correctly, check needle is not blunt/bent/ or in backwards, stitch density too high, fabric not hooped correctly

• Bird nesting of thread beneath fabric: change needle, may be needle timing - can be seen in tension check - machine may need timing to be checked by experienced user or serviced.

• Needle breaking: stitch density too high, fabric not hooped correctly, needle bent or in backwards.

• Puckering: movement of fabric due to it not being hooped correctly or the type of stabiliser is not correct for the fabric being used, upper thread tension issues, digitiser issues (choice of underlay settings may be unsuitable for stabilising fabric, the angle of the stitches in the fill areas, the density of the stitching in the fill areas the order of which fill areas are stitch (start in the middle and work outwards)). Helpful video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cqV-rXPcMg