TECHNIQUE: Embroidery

·  Modern days, most machines computer operated

Free motion embroidery

 Uses machines, but user moves fabric and lowers “feed dogs” by hand.

Closest to at-home embroidery you’ll get in a commercial setting.

Uses mostly zigzag and straight stitching.

Only uses one needle at a time, so colors must be switched out manually.

Bad for multiple identical embroidered products, as the needed conformity of a computer can’t be reproduced easily by human hands.

Computerized embroidery

We have this here

Need to decide and load what colors will be needed BEFORE embroidery starts

Can make many different effects, e.g. shimmers, glitter, chain stitches etc.

Image files must be made or imported in embroidery-specific software

We want you to start with vector art of high-res jpeg to create the embroidery file.  You can think of an embroidery machine as basically a simpler form of a CAD-Machine.  A "program" has to be created to tell the machine which needles to use in which order to create the design.  The program used to be called a tape from back in the days when computers were run by cards and tape.  To create the program, a person or another program has to create a new program telling the machine which needle to use and where to go.  This is what is called setup.  While programs assist with this, some human interaction is needed to create the best design.

“You can machine-embroider any fabric, including silks and soft wools. But producing exquisite embroidery that is well suited to the fabric, doesn't pucker, or change the fabric's drape, involves the interaction of all the following elements: a machine that's well-tuned and set at the appropriate needle and bobbin tensions, a well-prepared and positioned design, the correct needle and thread for the job, and a good understanding of the fabric you're embroidering so that it's properly hooped and stabilized. I'll examine these essentials, but I want to concentrate on how to choose designs and fabrics that are compatible with each other and tell you what to do when they're not.”

Sourced @ http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4411/machine-embroidery-a-marriage-of-fabric-and-design#ixzz3qdvz5OuU