Congratulations! You have your first embroidery machine and are ready to dive into the fun! It is so exciting! But do I sense a little hesitation? Does all the terminology baffle you? Trust me when I say we all started at the beginning and had to learn. You are not alone! In this post I am going to teach you some basic terminology to get you started.
But first, I wanted to share a few links to groups, blog posts, and tutorials that will help you feel more at home in this new world of machine embroidery.
The Designs by JuJu Blessings Facebook Group is a wonderful place to share but also to learn about your new hobby. In addition, Designs by JuJu has an Amazon page filled with the team's favorite products: Designs by JuJu Amazon Store.
If you have questions about getting started in machine embroidery, check out these Designs by JuJu blog posts:
- How to Get Started in Machine Embroidery
- Learn Machine Embroidery - Embroidery 101
In the Embroidery Stabilizer Guide, you'll dive deeper into stabilizers, hooping, types of designs, and some favorite tools. These resources cover all the basics.
Choosing the right thread for your project is also a big consideration. This blog post will help you get started: Choosing the Right Thread for Your Next Embroidery Project. Don’t be afraid to experiment with all the lovely threads on the market.
Needles are another important element of machine embroidery. Needle size and thread weight go hand in hand. If you’re unsure about your choices, check out Getting Started with Embroidery Needles for more guidance.
In addition to the blog resources, there are some wonderful tutorials on the DBJJ website: DBJJ Tutorials. Dive in and start learning.
When I learned to machine embroider, my biggest obstacle was all the abbreviations and acronyms. It is a whole new language! Here are a few that you will see often:
WSS, or water-soluble stabilizer, is exactly that. It dissolves when you apply water. Different brands have you do that in different ways, so be sure to read the instructions that come with your stabilizer. It is also referred to as wash-away stabilizer.
I added topper to my terminology list because it can cause confusion if you are new. This is a water-soluble stabilizer that is thin, like a plastic wrap. It is used when you are embroidering on towels, fleece, or anything with a nap that your design could sink into, causing the details to be buried. There is also a heat-away topper to use when you cannot get water on your item.
FSL, or free-standing lace. Think of lacy ornaments or bookmarks. These designs use a wash-away stabilizer (WSS). Below is a beautiful example. I love making FSL ornaments! One thing to remember is to always match your bobbin thread to your front colors so your design is double sided.
HNBL: Heat-n-Bond® Lite is a fusible adhesive product that you can sew/embroider through without gumming up your needle. You will find it is needed for some applique designs, especially those without a satin stitch around them.
ITH: In The Hoop. This is a project that is done all in the hoop—or almost all—with little if any need to go to a sewing machine to finish the project. An example would be a mug rug. I have a lot of fun making and gifting mug rugs! They can be put together quickly with a great result. Look at this fun example below.
There is a whole section of In The Hoop projects on the DBJJ website. Be sure to read the Product Details section when selecting a design. They tell you the hoop size you will need, how many hoopings you will need to do to make the project, approximate sizes and formats available, and include a PDF of detailed instructions. There is a wealth of information under the Product Details tab.
Let’s also talk about file formats a bit. The format is the type of file your machine uses. A design is made by a digitizer who takes a graphic image and, using the computer, changes it to a file format that your embroidery machine can read. Machine manufacturers use different formats. Your dealer (or your machine’s manual) can tell you what format your machine uses. They are abbreviated as JEF, PES, HUS, VIP, etc. Click the More Information tab under the design you’ve chosen and you will find the formats available. There is a lot of information listed with each design and it is beneficial to read it all so you know what you are buying.
One more term I find important to learn is jump stitch. If you notice, in my first photo there are stitches showing between the letters in “placement line” and a few other places. Those are jump stitches. They happen when your needle “jumps” from one place to the next. All of the fonts in my photo are from my Embrilliance Software and I have not learned how to remove those little jump stitches . . . yet. Rest assured you will not have to remove jump stitches using JuJu’s fonts! JuJu’s digitizers are amazing! They program the fonts to tie off and start each letter, so you don’t have to deal with a bunch of pesky jump stitches.
Finally let’s talk about design density. This generally refers to satin stitches and fill stitches. A dense design has many stitches per inch (SPI) and requires good stabilization to support all of those stitches. Often a design has a “variable density,” meaning the underlying stitches are more open and the fill stitches on top are closer together, like satin stitches. In this way, your finished design will not be stiff but will have a nicer drape. It is important when choosing a design to look at the number of stitches in the design. You want to make sure your fabric (and your stabilizer) can support the number of stitches.
The opposite of a dense design would be a sketch design. In this type of design, your thread “paints” the design and it is very open. You can see your background fabric easily. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Here is a denser design shown below. The design is made of many stitches, yet it isn’t heavy because the stitches you cannot see support the stitches you do see.
Next is a sketch design. It is a very “open” design with straight stitching instead of satin stitching.
I hope I have helped to demystify machine embroidery terms and acronyms for you. Have fun learning your new hobby.
Please stop by the Designs by JuJu Blessings Facebook Group and share your projects, or anywhere on social media using the hashtag #designsbyjuju. We love seeing what you create!