Welcome to Loose Threads! A new series from Embroider Buddy that will educate and illuminate the best ways to embroider and personalize your objects! 

Embroidery can be as fulfilling as a hobby gets. Taking a gift or toy and imbuing it with an extra bit of magic and personalization. At Embroider Buddy, we’ve directed our entire business at making embroidery more fun and easy than ever. The removable stuffing pods on our Embroider Buddy line opens up huge possibilities between you and these plush toys. That said, no great product can overcome bad embroidery habits. Here’s a quick checklist of common mistakes to avoid when machine embroidering!

1) Keep an Eye on that Machine

It’s not just human error you have to account for. There are some top notch embroidery machines, but none are infallible. It may be tempting to walk away from your machine mid-project, fix a snack, stretch your legs or knock off a quick email, but it isn’t worth the risk to return to find a stitch gone awry. Make sure to stay at your station to keep a close eye on how your embroidery is coming along, including a sharp ear for unusual sounds that may signal something amiss in your hardware. If you predict a lack of snacks may be an issue, prepare them ahead of time.

2) Stock up on Thread

It goes without saying but: No thread, no charm! It can be a difficult pain to refill your machine part way through embroidery, so it’s better to make sure before hand that there’s enough inside to see the charm to completion. You should also double check thread color for consistency and ensure you have every color you’ll need for your charm.

3) Use a Proper Sized Hoop

Your hoop is not a searchlight, and just because your entire charm appears to fit on the inside doesn’t mean it can accommodate it. Having parts of your charm too close to the edge of the hoop can lead to errors, so either account for that with a bigger hoop or be prepared to break the embroidering up into stages.

4) Don’t Hoop Too Tight

When hooping it’s good to keep the fabric taught, but you should exercise some caution. It’s easy to be overzealous on hooping but it is also possible to tighten the fabric too much. Leaving the fabric too rigid could warp and stretch your charm all the same if there was too much slack. The fabric should have some bounce to it. Likewise don’t fiddle or tug on the fabric after hooping. 

5) Don’t Skip a Test Stitching

If you’ve found an amazing new pattern that you’re excited to get on an Embroider Buddy, we don’t blame you! But before stitching the Embroider Buddy itself, it’s always wise to test stitch any new charm on a scrap piece of fabric before moving on to your final project. Not only will this give you a better idea of the size and color of your charm, versus seeing a digital image of it, but it can flag any discrepancies that could arise between the design and your materials.

We hope you enjoyed this first edition of Loose Threads! We’ll be reviewing more handy tips, bad habits to kick, machine repair advice and much more in the future. And don’t forget to check out our store page for wonderful gifts, toys and inspiration for your next embroidery!