Often placement is crucial to embroidery success and little bit of planning will make your embroidery look professional. I recommend printing templates of your design so you can see it in actual size. Once the template is printed, audition it on the garment. In this case, it’s a small flower for a collar point.
Take your time with the placement and try different positions. It’s helpful to use a digital camera (or your phone!) to take a photograph of the placement. Every time you move the template take another photograph.
Do this a couple of times and then review the images on the camera. You’ll quickly know which one is the most pleasing. Tape the template to the collar. Spray the wrong side of the collar with temporary adhesive.
Hoop stabilizer (tear-away, cut-away or wash away depending on your fabric and design). To achieve perfect placement, use PAL, the Perfect Alignment Laser. Place the hoop on a flat surface and turn on PAL. Align the beams with the horizontal and vertical markings on the hoop.
Slip the collar over the stabilizer aligning the template’s crosshair with the beams. Finger press the collar to the stabilizer. For added security, you can always add tape to the edges.
Carefully transport and attach the hoop to the machine, retrieve the design and verify the needle is perfectly aligned with the template’s crosshair. Remove the template and embroider the design.
Using a template, camera and laser ensures a professional finish on your embroidery. What tools do you use when placement is crucial?
9 COMMENTS
Shirley Clark
9 years agoI always print out a template of a design and use the trace button on my machine. Plus I check the needle position. Works every time!
Ruth Margaret Dailey
9 years agoHow can I hoop a baseball cap for embroidery on my Quattro 6000, a single needle machine?
Karen W
9 years agoSometimes the weight of the item will shift things when moving to the machine – even with tape, although painter’s or masking tape probably has the strongest hold. So, I place my hoop over a padded surface & insert a short sequin or a straight pin at 2-3 points well away from embroidery area. Even better, use longer quilting pins, which allow for easing the point back up thru the stabilizer to secure it well. There is no substitute for double-checking needle position! Double-check everything before pressing “start”!
Karin C
9 years agoUsually, I just eyeball it….then I check it with a centering ruler… it has a 0 in the middle and goes out to 4 inches on either side. I line it up so that the same hashmark is hit on both sides, then move my needle to the 0. Most of the time, I’m either dead on or about 1/8th inch off one way or the other. For horizontal and vertical alignment, I’ll draw a chalk line & line that up on the hoop’s hashmarks, similar to the PAL laser lines.
Christine
9 years agoThis was esp good comment
Sara Redner
9 years agoI love to embroider on sweatshirts and tee-shirts. Having the design hit the wrong spot on a shirt can be embarrassing so I almost always print out the template so I can be sure I get it in the right place.
Bruce
8 years agoThat is what I also did. Printing the design to make sure I get it in the right place.
Bruce, https://www.printavo.com
Joan Shriver
9 years agoI always embroider a test embroidery. I cut it out for placement, instead of printing out a template. I always save the test embroidery for future use.
Marcia
9 years agoWhat do I need to print a template? I don’t have any design software. Is there a way without buying software?