New User help needed - digitizing/sewing

[JuneForever]

I am a new user and haven't gone to the training yet, but am in need of some help. I have a design that I digitized, using the digiizing wizard and then tweaking. I am sure it is far from perfect, but on a couple test sew-outs, it seemed to work well. I am trying to sew this design now on a "Flex-Fit" mesh hat and am having many thread breaks/frays. I believe part of it is my hooping, but I think I have that down better, and I believe my design could be at fault. I was wondering if anyone would like to look at the design and give me a few pointers on what to do to make it better.

[Jason]

Hello, I am not expert either, been doing it for 1 yr now and do most of my own stuff, I can take a quick look if you like, until someone else looks at it

[email protected]

Jason

[Shuffletown Embroidery]

Since you're sewing on hats, make sure your presser foot is raised almost to the top. You may have to experiment with the exact height; if it's flagging, lower it a little.
Hopefully Jason has helped you with your design by now.
Mary

[JuneForever]

I just sent the file over for Jason to look at (Thanks Jason!!) and am struggling through the hats I am making now. I do have the presser foot up. By the way, these are mesh hats if that makes a difference in your suggestions.

Thanks all for the response and I look forward to the day when I can help others...

[Rod or Sharon]

For the XT Amaya...the presser foot should be all the way down and up a couple of clicks....Big Reds(older) Amaya's should be all the way up and down a couple of clicks. Big Reds use a raised needle plate, whereas the XT's do not and pretty much treat caps the same as flats as far as presser foot height is concerned.

Rod Springer
Amayha Tech & Trainer

[Joanna W.]

Thanks for this basic tip. I'm a newby in the group and I really appreciate the short simple pieces of advice. Don't feel like "everyone" knows that.

So on that note....what would be an exception to that rule. Seems like I was sewing something out that did better with a lower pressure foot..small letters maybe? Would that seem logical?

[levelbest]

BTW, just a note - many big red owners don't actually use the raised needle plate on hats including myself. So, if you don't - you can run down with one or two clicks up. If you douse it, then you definately want to follow Rod's advice.

We just never found it made much if any difference using the raised plate.

[Shuffletown Embroidery]

Hi Cindy,
I apologize for the incomplete information. I should always let these answers come from the experts.
I hope you've solved your problem by now.
Mary

[Rod or Sharon]

Lowering or raising the presser foot really has nothing to do with the size of the embroidery involved, lettering or otherwise.

The job of the presser foot is to hold the material down until the needle breaks free of the material. It doesn't look like it, but that needle is wedging itself in the material and without the presser foot holding it down will raise the material with the needle stuck in it on it's upstroke. This is called "flagging", and is not acceptable. It will also cause lots of thread breaks.

The presser foot, on flats, needs to "compress" the material, i.e., things like sweatshirts, sweaters, jackets, blankets, towels, etc. Think of squeezing the material between your thumb and forefinger taking all the poof/fluff/space out of it. If you have the presser foot too low on sensitive garments such as suede, velour, velvet, etc, then , the presser foot will beat the material and leave a footprint....in these cases you have to find that happy medium between holding the material down vs no footprint that is damaging the garment........

On caps, the same principle is involved. John is right. Some folks do diviate from the raised needle plate, leaving the flat needle plate on thereby being able to treat the material and the use of the presser foot just the same as if you were sewing flats. I have tried this and it does work on the Big Reds......I only gave you the original instructions in presser foot/needleplate use.....I kind of figured ole John would come to my rescue and give you this tip.... Thanks John...

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

If you are sewing caps on an original Amaya and are NOT using the raised needle plate, consider this: The presser foot works it's magic on it's upstroke. And for this to function correctly, there should be minimal "play" between the underside of the fabric and the top of the needle plate. Therefore you would want to run with the presserfoot in it's lowest position (give or take a click depending on the thickness of the fabric). When sewing this way, the presser foot will have to "push" the fabric down prior to the stitch being formed and it is here where registration problems could result because the fabric has the chance to move to one side or the other a little. This, of course, greatly depends on the operators hooping ability and the fabric (or cap) type. For example: an unstructured cap could potentially give you more registration issues and thread breaks over a structured cap. Becuase it's more softer or floppier.
Point here is that you want to eliminate as much movement in the fabric as possible. As Rod said, this is called "Flagging" and is unacceptable by smooth sewing standards.

Ed Orantes
Melco Tech & Trainer
504-258-6260

[levelbest]

Ed:

I hear you and certainly understand the theory of it all, but in personal experience, caps I have done seem to sew better without it. I encourage everyone to try it both ways and see what you think. What works for one might not work for the other. A while back when we were having issues trying to get caps to look their best, someone suggested removing the "arms" from the cap driver and also giving it a shot sewing with the standard needle plate. It worked, and we've been doing it ever since. Maybe I'll have to go back and try it again just for kicks. [img]smile.gif[/img] Thanks for the info.

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

John,
I'm all for "whatever works" as long as it's not detrimental to the machine or operator. And I know it's a pain in the pipe to have to change over to the raised needle plate everytime you sew caps. But from an engineering standpoint, there is a logical reason for the raised needleplate on the original Amaya and that's all I was trying to describe. The cap driver cap supports were originally designed to give the cap a smoother sliding arc from side to side. The larger support were for the old "trucker" style caps and the smaller ones were to be used with today's more popular styles. But you are correct in that there will be times that you can sew just fine without those cap supports on the cap driver.
Ed

[levelbest]

Ed:

Just tried the rasied and the standard needle plate back to back on a design I know runs well. Raised needle plate - 3 thread breaks. Ran all the way up and a click or two down. Second with standard, no breaks. Same machine.

It appeared that the material thickness and thread tension was very taught with the raised plate on and that auto did a better job on the standard. In fact, after the first two breaks, I set the minimum MT to 5 but it still broke one more time.

Checked the sewout results - can't say I could really tell the difference.

This was an otto structured low profile hat.

Of course, this could be a PEBKAC issue - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Just Sew It]

I am going to jump in here and comment on the cap setting on the Big Red Amaya. I use the WACF, the raised needle plate and standard tension. for 6-panel structured caps, I set the number as hight as 18. For unstructured caps, 13 or 14 may work best. Each of my machines takes a slightly different setting for the same cap. I always click the presser foot all the way up and then down one click. I watch the stitching, maybe down another click if the thread breaks several time. Looping a tiny bit, lower the standard feed one number. Machine clattering on bottom of design, raise the design up a little,
It is like cooking; to get a perfect simmer, right size pot for the burner and make adjustments to the heat.
JO

[email protected]
Just Sew It Custom Embroidery
14893 Deer Run Rd
Delta, Colorado 81416

970-874-7899

[JuneForever]

OK. Working with this again and I am still getting many, many thread breaks... What I notice is that the thread seems to have a LOT of play in it while it is sewing, It looks very loose coming down the machine at certain points and usually that is when a thread break occurs. This also causes the trim not to work because the thread is not pulled tight enough to trim...