A super-easy to learn embroidery program, Perfect Alignment Software, makes creating continuous embroidery a simple task. Here are a few things I’ve learned to simplify the task.
Select your design. I’m using one of the 40 built-in border designs, #37 but you can use any design.
After clicking OK, the design appears on the screen. Since it’s a rather small design, 90 x 20 mm, two will fit in a 130 x 180 mm hoop. Copy and paste the design.
Now, move the second design to overlap with the first. This overlap will appear seamless when stitched on the fabric. Save the design as Border1.
Click on the color swatch on the right side of the screen and assign a new color once the thread chart appears.
I chose pink.
Click on the Placement Marks icon and click the mark in each corner.
Placement marks are now in each corner.
I want to view how the next embroidery design will connect now that I have the placement marks in position. Retrieve the design by clicking on the Continuous Border design icon and select #37 again.
The new design appears in its original thread color and is easily identifiable.
Zoom in the linked area by clicking on the magnifying tool
Select the second design, the green one, and move it to the left to overlap with the original pink design.
Select the placement marks on the right and move them to the left so that they are on the edge of the second design, the green one.
The design should look like this.
The placement marks are in the proper position for easy alignment at the machine but if I move them away from the actual design, they’ll be easier to remove after all embroidery is complete.
Since the vertical placement of the marks is critical, select the marks on the top and move them away from the design. Place the cursor over one mark, then hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the second mark.
Move the marks as one unit by holding the CTRL key and clicking the keyboard’s up arrow to move both marks away from the design.
Repeat for the marks on the bottom of the design.
Delete the second green design, and resave the design. Now you’re ready to stitch this design as many times as you’d like. You can make a border 14” or 56” or beyond!
At the machine, stitch the first design. Remove the fabric from the hoop and hoop a fresh piece of stabilizer. Stitch the placement marks, color 1, on the stabilizer. Spray the hooped stabilizer with temporary adhesive. Place the hoop under the beam of PAL (Perfect Alignment Laser), aligning the placement marks with PAL’s horizontal beam. Slide the embroidered fabric under the beam, aligning the bottom of the stitched placement marks with the horizontal beam. Use the vertical beam to verify the fabric is square in the hoop (it should be shooting directly through the center of the stitched design). Finger press the fabric to the sticky stabilizer and stitch the remainder of the design. Advance through the portion of the design to stitch the bottom placement marks on the bottom of this design. Repeat the process for a continuous design.
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51 COMMENTS
Kathy
12 years agoThe feature that I really like on my embroidery machine is the check placement in the hoop. It outines where the design will be so I can make sure it fits the item. I really would like the camera on the Babylock Ellisimo and drool over it whenever I see it shown at my local store, but at this time I can only dream….
Rose-Marie
12 years agoThe feature I love love love on my Pfaff is the save current position … it makes it easier to stop a large embroidery halfway through and continue later 😀 😀 😀
Carolyn Morgan
12 years agoThe feature I like best on my PR600II embroidery machine and my Designer I sewing & embroidery machine is my self-threader. I’ve had corneal transplants in both eyes and have a slight shadow-vision, similar to double vision. The self-threader makes life so much less frustrating for me.
Wanda Keller
12 years agoThe feature I like most is, I loose power, my embroidery machine remembers where it stopped. When the power comes back on I can restart it where it stopped.
Gail Beam
12 years agoI love the fix stitch on my D1 as I hardly ever hoop anything and the fix stitch enables me to attatch the item to be embroidered to my stabilizer.
Nancy Weber
12 years agoMy favorite feature of my Designer Diamond is the ease of switching from embroidering to sewing. Just put the embroidery machine in Park, touch the sewing machine icon and go!
Bonnie Gray
12 years agoThe ability to go back or forward, if the thread breaks to get back to the right place to finish the design.
This blog looks really helpful for lining up designs., can’t wait to try it. Great ideas this weekend from the Stitching Sisters, really enjoyed it. Thanks Eileen and Marie!
Barbara Rowlan Wong
12 years agoOh my, how can I only select just one!!! There are are so many great helpful features on my Ellegante. But if you insist I only get to name one it would be if my machine must be turned off or if I have a power failure the machine knows right where I should start embroiderying again. Great feature!
Rhonda G
12 years agoI love the fact that I can rotate, flip and move my designs around on my machine. It’a feature I use constantly.
Gerry Barrett
12 years agoOn my Diamond that little flower thingy you can click on & then find the center, corners, etc of the design & line it up with your fabric. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I use it all the time!!
Jean
12 years agoThe one life saving feature on my Baby Lock 6 needle….if powered off during a stitch out it saves the location and will continue when powered back on. Recently my kitten jumped on the power cord and unplugged the machine while I was stitching a jacket back.
Linda S
12 years agoThe feature I absolutely love on my embroidery machine is the outline feature – I get to know exactly where the design will stitch so I can get it where I want every time!
Shirley
12 years agoToo many to name on the Babylock Ellegante, but I love this very simple and elementary one – no jump stitches; it automattically cuts and ties the thread at each change of color.
Sharon Aiken
12 years agoI love the fact that my EMP6 changes colors automatically, and “remembers” a color that will be used twice in the same design.
Sandra Fidler
12 years agoI have a Babylock Ellageo, and the thing I like best is that it shows the number of stitches as it is stitching. I have used this feature several times to return to the correct place when I had to interrupt my design stitching for some reason. I can note the stitch number that it is on when I have to stop stitching (to remove the hoop for whatever reason) and then replace the hoop back on the machine and return it to the correct point where it stopped stitching.
Pat Fritze
12 years agoThere are so many nice features on the Baby Lock Ellisimo, but the automatic threader is great.
Donna Jones
12 years agoThe feature I like best on my Pfaff 2170 is that if the thread breaks during an embroidery session, I can calculate my machine to go back any desired number of stitches by coding it into my machine.
Barbara
12 years agoWow! It’s hard to say — my Brother Duetta does so many things to make embroidery fun, but the memory features (returning to the design after shutoff and stitch count) are the ones that help me most often. Then there are the placement tools, the jump stitch cutter, the bobbin thread alert system — gosh, looks like I really CAN’T limit myself to one!
Kathy M.
12 years agoOh I so love my Singer XL 5000! Too bad they don’t make them anymore. I think my favorite features are the automatic needle threading and the automatic bobbin winding. I would hate to have to do without those!
Adele
8 years agoHello people welcome to a friendly world..,if you want a nice place in all over the world..join me to open this site… wwldeinatravewa.venturrs.com..hope you will enjoy..thank you.
Carol Schoenig
12 years agoI have both the Viking Diamond and the Brother Quattro @. My favorite on the Quarttro is the scanner feature. I had completed a square for a quilt. Unhooped and sewed it to the other squares.
Then I saw–the stitches did not take on the word “the” I had to rehoop the design, scan it reload the design and matched it up. It was so perfect you would never know it was rehooped etc.
Margaret Brantley
12 years agoThe automatic needle threader on the Ellisimo is a great feature.
Pam J.
12 years agoI love the automatic needle threader on my Baby Lock Ellure, as my old eyes aren’t what they used to be! That is a big time saver, especially if I have a lot of thread changes!
M
12 years agoSince I go back to learning on a treadle machine, I love the needle down feature on my 580. Of course, it can do so much more that I am thrilled with the finished product every time I embroider or sew. The automatic needle threader is wonderful but I can thread the needle before I remember to use it!
Becky
12 years agoMy favorite feature on my Pfaff 7570 is the speed. I always use it when I have a design that is 4 x 4 or under. On my Baby Lock, I would say that I love that it has an automatic thread cutter. I never thought that would be so helpful.
Betsy
12 years agoHow do I pick just one favorite feature? Today’s machines are incredible. Who would have thought 50 years ago when I first began sewing, that one day my machine would do embroidery? It’s amazing…so even the automatic threader is a favorite feature!
judy williamson
12 years agoAfter wanting an embroidery machine for several years and finally getting a Babylock, I am thrilled with the whole machine! I guess my very favorite would have to be the automatic needle threader. On all the other machines I have used, I would have to get down to the needle and it would take me sometimes 3 tries to hit that little eye!
Beth R
12 years agoDesign positioning is my favorite feature on my Designer Diamond DeLuxe. I love being able to position my design correctly if I don’t have my fabric hooped exactly where I want, and the feature has saved me numerous times when something didn’t stitch quite right – I could go back and redo the specific part of the embroidery that I needed to.
Paula Roney
12 years agoI love everything about my Ellisimo, but my absolute favorite feature is the camera scan for perfect placement. I’ve unhooped, rehooped, scanned, and changed colors on a design with perfect results. It makes it so easy to put designs exactly where you want them. It’s also great for saving a design that doesn’t come out the way you thought it would. I thought the snowman was great but the upgrade to scan the hoop is the best thing since sliced bread!
Pam
12 years agoThe camera for positioning my designs. It is a great asset to my machine.
Donna
12 years agoI have to say that everytime my machine threads its only needle I smile! I also love turning it on and hearing the music as it powers up. That sound means I will be spending some time at my favorite hobby and it instantly relaxes me!
Anne Rita
12 years agoThere are so many nice things, but I am surprised how convenient the automatic thread cutter is.
Rosalyn
12 years agoI love so many things about my Babylock Ellegante, but the one feature that I enjoy the most is the automatic threader.
Michele McKay
12 years agoI LOVE everything about my Babylock Ellisimo machine but the feature I love the most about the embroidery aspect of it is the camera feature, plus how it saves my work right where I last was embroidering. This came in real handy when we had one of our typical Texas storms come up on us so fast and the power went out. I almost cried because I was in the middle of making a gift and everything shut down! Lo and behold when the power came back up the machine asked if I wanted to resume where I last left off! That was a big YEP (Texas accent of course)!
Susan J
12 years agoI have to agree with a number of the posts. I have a Brother Quattro and the needle threader is awesome…never misses, but the camera with scan and perfect placement is even beyond awesome. I love pretty much everything about my Quattro, but those two features are my absolute, use-them-everytime favorites!
LeAnne L
12 years agoI bought my Diamond because of the design positioning feature. It has a lot more more bells and whistles than my old machine, but by far that one is my favorite.
Doreen
12 years agoI like the direct connect from the computer to the embroidery machine.
Charlene Perron
12 years agoMy favorite feature on my Babylock Esante is the needle threader. It makes thread changes a breeze.
Patty Sack
12 years agoI have a Janome and my favorite thing is that I don’t have to carry the embroidery module separately. It is all on the machine! Yeah!
BETTY SMITH
12 years agoWhere do I begin on my new Ellisimo? The lighting, the effortless threading the needle, and the “power failure” feature starts exactly where I left off when I return to embroider.
Karen
12 years agoThe auto save and perfect placement.
Nell Summerlin
12 years agoI love everything about my Designer Diamond but with my aging eyes I have to say the needle threaded!!!!
betty malicoat
12 years agoDoes prfect alignment work with bernina deco 650
Denise
12 years agoHi Betty,
Thank you for the question. The software reads ART format however it does not save in the ART format. Technically, the Perfect Alignment software will work if you have additional software (Bernina software) that saves in ART. You would use the Perfect Alignment software then save the design in a format other than ART. Then using your Bernina software you’ll open the design then save to ART.
Specs:
Reads multiple formats: 10ο, ART, CND, CSD, DAT, DSB, DST, DSZ, EMD, EXP, GNC, HUS, JEF, KSM, MHF, PCS, PCM, PES, SEW, SHV, SST, STL, TAP, UXY, VIP, VP3, XXX, ZSK
Saves in multiple formats: 10ο, A:U01, CSD, DAT, DSB, DST, DSZ, EMD, EXP, HUS, JEF, KSM, MHF, PCM, PCS, PEC, PES v1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, SEW, SHV, SST, TAP, UXY, VIP, VP3, XX, ZSK
Diane Marshall
12 years agoI have a Singer Futura Quartet and need to know if any software you sell will work on it please. Thanks
Mary Ann
12 years agoI love the built-in Disney designs on my Brother Innovis 4000D!
beth daniels
12 years agoMy favorite feature is the machine embroidery itself. My Elna Xquisite II gives me no problem when doing embroidery. It takes rayon or polyester embroidery thread, no real problems with any brand of machine embroidery thread. It tells me how long each piece takes to embroider the certain color and the entire time it would take to do the embroidery. That is my favorite feature along with the embroidery itself.
Linda Hobart
10 years agoI just bought a new Baby Lock Unity Embroidery and sewing machine and am just making my way through the manual and learning about the machine. I just made my first embroidery design and was so pleased with how easily and quietly it operates! I think my favorite feature at this new point is that it threads itself!! That and the smooth operation and quietness of operation! Love this machine!
Belinda Germain
10 years agoFavorite feature, auto needle threading, so much easier than manually threading!
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