How did you learn to embroidery

Generally, there is a period of training with an experienced operator, which will be in addition to being shown the specific operation of a new machine by the supplier. However, this isn't hard and fast and would depend upon your experience of machine sewing in general.

Many of the basic problems that you get with industrial embroidery relate to a basic understanding of sewing, in terms of tensions, needles, and the nature of stitch formation. If you have a good grounding in that then the rest almost falls into place.

Of course, whether you enter the field would depend upon how honest you are about your abilities. I happen to be extremely lucky in that I only need to be shown something once and will remember it, irrespective of the complexity. I'm also very capable of working out how things operate, so I found embroidery machines reltively easy and am pretty well self taught. That said, some of my career was spent with the largest embroidery company in the world (at the time, but not now).

Good luck!

not sure where you are located, but here in the US most Malls have an embroidery Kiosk... where they will sew hats or shirts or pillows, etc.... hang out there for a while, buy a hat watch what they do, etc. Most love to talk about what they are doing.

YouTube is another great source... look up any keywords you can think of.

Many of the machine sites themselves have tutorials or links to such.

If there is a local sewing center... join. Most are home sewing and embroidery machines, but many of the techniques and problems are the same.. hooping, thread and bobbin tensions, correcting mistakes, etc.

Attend a regional show.. ISS or tabletop, etc. You can watch machines in action and ask questions from different people... ask the same question at different booths and see if there are differences.. probably are.

My wife and I started out with used machines and no experience. If you like punishing yourself then go for it. Myself, I think I'd rather just go ahead and slam my finger in a door jam and be done with it than go at it again. We watched countless You Tube videos and trainings and scoured the internet for articles. As helpful as they all were there are tricks to the trade that can only be learned by experience. I am technically minded so when someone says turn the knob to left and this will happen that is what I expect. Not so in our case. We followed all the advise, turned the knobs, greased the gears, and kicked the frame and a lot of the time it seemed like nothing changed. Is it digitizing, tensions, worn parts or a little bit of all. There are a lot of parts that can wear on a machine and trying to figure out why you can't get a good stitch with an older machine can be daunting. We are still trying to find solutions to problems that according to everyone we ask shouldn't be a problem. If you have someone that will mentor you then become his or her new best friend. Work for them for free, pay them, mow their lawn or whatever it takes. Their experience will save you a lot of tears.

Basic steps to start embroidery - http://www.instructables.com/id/Embroidery-101/

I have downloaded the free tutorials provided by OregonPatchWorks. They have mentioned step by step instructions in their tutorials.

Ok so I am one that tends to follow threads rather than post in them especially since being a complete newbee. I bought a used Barudan CBII machine purchased the wilcom e3 software and have been donating approx. 20 hours per week at my local discount mall shadowing the embroidery shop. I appreciate the advice and value what you guys have to say. Is there any classes that I can take online or at a jr. College where I can become better at digitizing? I see this task as being most difficult and want to keep my profits rather than sending all my stuff out due to my lack of competence.

Perfect thank you guys sooooo much. I have contacted wilcom and got them to come do an in person 4 day training on the software here in San Diego. I have also signed up for all the classes online and have been watching old videos/trainings. I agree I need to learn proper placement and hooping and now all I need is finding a good digitizer to do my work and I will begin to start immediately and play with it as I go. Thanks again and I believe this collaborative approach is invaluable.

PLEASE>>>> when they come for your 4 day training.. YOU PICK THE DESIGNS! pick some local eateries, schools, churches, whatever your "niche" is going to be. work through THOSE designs.... otherwise you will be going through stock designs that use special " look at me" effects you will RARELY if ever USE.... .. hear the sizzle .. there must be steak! if they cannot do the designs that are in the market YOU are in... then ask for a new trainer! sew them out as well.. sorry.

If you dont do this they are going to WOW you with all the bells and whistles that YOU WILL RARELY IF EVER USE!. you need practical training, in Your world, Your market. INSIST they show you how to use those features in the software. ANY software anyone buys... solid advice.

Even though you don't buy from a dealer, they may have free resources available. I know that we have tons of training videos on Youtube for the SWF and Avancé commercial embroidery machines, and our support site is public, so you might find some good stuff there.

If you want to compare single head machines, I just finished an article that might help you narrow things down a bit - new or used. Professional Embroidery Machine Comparison

This is how I learned, same as my father & uncle, who learned from his father, who learned from his father, and so on. At this point in the progression its the mid 1800's in the mountains for Switzerland.

That being said nothing is as important as watching expertly digitized sew-outs from the beginning to end. Watching how some computer generated a sew file will teach you nothing. If you can't find a mentor, I could probably send you a ton of stitch files from work I have done for a very cheap price. You need to run your own samples because the final product doesn't tell you the whole story. A lot of people are artists who create beautiful work, but when an embroidery craftsman creates patterns the machine only needs to stop to change the bobbin. Good luck.

I am getting out of the business so I don't really have any use for the designs I have done anyway. 2 quick examples of my work you would probably know. Lets see, the NFL was not happy with the samples their Chinese factories were making for the Super Bowl, So they asking me to create samples to show the quality they expect. I also digitized the Presidential Seal for the flag that is usually in the back drop when the president makes appearances.