Hi! I am having a lot of trouble serging around the sleeve head of doll dresses (16″ dolls) using my BabyLock Evolve. It goes so fast, and I end up chopping of parts I don’t want to! Turning the corner on the sleeve head is very tricky. Whatever can I do, other than years of practice ? Thanks for any help. - Dianne

Hi Dianne
 
Thankyou for your question. Using your overlocker for small jobs does have its problems. There are a few things I can suggest, so I hope these ideas help.
 
Firstly while you are practicing I suggest you stitch it on the machine first. This will stop the two layers separating as you sew, then you can just concentrate on the curve. You can eliminate this step once you are feeling confident. Also any sleeve is easier to set in if you do it prior to completing the side seam. I would also suggest you use a very small three thread seam or rolled hem until you wish to try it with four threads. Using three threads and as a consequence one needle will be easier to navigate the turn.
 
For fine dolls clothes you may find the roll hem is the best solution. You could also try lowering the blade and not cutting if your serger/overlocker has the option. That way you are not cutting into the curve before getting to it!
 
This and many more of those tricky questions are answered on our Basic Overlocking DVD. It is like having a tutor sitting right next to you whenever you need advice!
 
Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions,
 Jo Strong
1800 Sew Help Me

Hi Carolyn,
I am using Embird 2004 build 7 and I also have the digitizing. When I get scanned images of art to digitize, they are sometimes crooked. I can digitize them ok but I was wanting to know if there is an icon in Studio that I can turn them to be straight? When I get them in Editor some of the lines aren’t straight and hard to fix in Studio. If you could help me on this I would appreciate it. Thank you -  Carolyn, South Point, Ohio

Hi Carolyn

Yes you can alter the image in Studio if it has scanned crookedly. Open Embird Studio and open your image. Then go to Image/Edit Image Window. Move the direction lag on the Rotation circle or left or right mouse click on the numbers to change the rotation degree. The image will move each time you change the direction. Once you have the image in the position that you prefer then click Apply. This will place the image in the preferred position on your Design Page ready to digitize.

I hope that works for you. Best of luck.

Kind regards
Carolyn
www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step Guides for all Embird programs.
*Pure New Zealand Merino Wraps and Beanies for Baby*
www.babylovemerino.com

What do you know about PE Design Lite?

Hi there,

PE Design Lite is a condensed version of PE Design which is suitable for people who just want to import and edit designs, make some adjustments to the designs such as add lettering etc and then write them to their machine.

I had a quick look at the program at a Stitches and Craft show and feel it would be good for those that don’t want a full blown program but want a little more than PE Basic.

Kind regards
Carolyn
www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step Guides for all Embird programs.
*Pure New Zealand Merino Wraps and Beanies for Baby*
www.babylovemerino.com

I am using Embird 2003, when I open my folders to view the pictures in Jeff format they come all come up as little flowers. What am I doing wrong? I have un-installed Embird and re-installed it but it makes no difference. Is it worth my buying the latest version? I do hope you can help me. - Joyce

Hi Joyce

No, you won’t need the latest version of Embird in order to see your images of your designs again. It’s just a setting that has somehow changed itself and is easy to remedy if you own Iconizer.

Open Embird Manager and go to the Menu Bar and choose Options/Iconizer Settings.

Place a check mark in the Box “Select All” in the top two sections of the screen that appears. Then click OK. That should fix the problem. When you open Embird or Windows Explorer the next time you should be able to see all your embroidery designs as images.

I hope that works for you. Best of luck.

Kind regards
Carolyn
www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step Guides for all Embird programs.
*Pure New Zealand Merino Wraps and Beanies for Baby*
www.babylovemerino.com

I have sulky invisible thread but it still breaks as if the thread is too tight to go through the machine … any suggestions? I am trying to quilt an applique instead of the overcasting stitches, as they seem too large. Thank you - Connie

Dear Connie,
 
Invisible thread can be tricky to work with. I find that it’s best to let the thread feed off the spool in the same way it was wound on. Many machines come with an upright spindle or a horizontal one that allows for this. If not, you can experiment with your own configuration!
 
You may wish to try other brands of invisible thread. Some do perform better. Good luck!
 
Evy
www.abitofstitch.com

I have the 4D Pro and would like to know if the Iconizer will work with it? Would love to be able to see pictures in Explorer. Thanks - Eileen

Hi Eileen

I do not have the 4D software that you mention however I can see no reason why Iconizer would not work with your designs in Explorer. If you already have Embird, or are thinking of purchasing it then you can install the program and then check in Explorer to see if you can see your designs as images/icons. Embird will allow you to view a sampling of your designs even if you don’t own Iconizer. You won’t see very many images/designs but at least you’ll be able to see a few samples which will allow you to see if it works or not. Make sure when installing Embird that you click on “Enable Iconizer”.

Best of luck. Sorry that I am not a great help but I just don’t have the 4D program.

Kind regards
Carolyn
www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step Guides for all Embird programs.
*Pure New Zealand Merino Wraps and Beanies for Baby*
www.babylovemerino.com

Hi Carolyn,
 
My question is when you have all your designs open in Embird thumbnails and you click the box there beside the thumbnail to pick out a couple or a for a few designs, how do you bring up those designs when you are finished picking them out and then save them to my desktop file called “Ready To Sew”? I have a Brother PE750D machine and I have to use PED-Basic to load my embroidery card and need a way to bring those designs that I have to my desktop folder in order to send them to my card.

Hi Belinda

I think you may be taking one too many steps when selecting your designs for embroidery. I can understand why you use Deduper to get rid of unwanted file formats but I don’t think you need to convert your Pes designs once you have extracted them using Deduper as they are already PES designs. Not having to re-convert the designs will save you some time.

Personally - if I wanted to send selected designs to a folder on my Desktop ready for embroidery I would select the designs I wanted to use from the Right Panel in Embird Manager. Hold down the CTRL key and select each design you wish to use and then right mouse click and use the Cut and Paste command - or Copy and Paste command (if you wish to retain a copy in the original folder). Move to the folder on your Desktop using Embird and then right mouse click and paste the designs into your Desktop folder.

In this Desktop folder and using Embird, select the designs once again and using the Right Panel and the Right Panel command you can select the designs and then right mouse click and choose to either Export/Color Layers (or one of the other selections) and the color layers will be saved as JPG into the same folder as your designs are saved in. You can then open this JPG and print out the color layers or alternatively you can just select the designs, right mouse click and choose Print/Print Color Layers. Just use which method you find easiest.

From this folder you can also open PEDS Basic - using the Long Right Mouse click (I have a free Embird Club lesson on this if you are in my Embird Club) and choosing Open with/PEDS Basic. This is useful if you don’t have the Associate Extensions set up with Embird. I don’t use PEDS Basic - only PE Design - so I am not 100% sure if PEDS Basic has an option to send more than one design at a time to your card. I would think it would have this option and if it does it should be under the File Menu. Look for the “Send to Card/Other designs” (or similar) option.

Hopefully that will speed up your process. There is nothing worse than spending a day fluffing around with designs on the computer and at the end having achieved nothing, is there?  -VBG!!

Best of luck and happy embroidering

Kind regards
Carolyn
http://www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step lessons for Embird and PE Design

I am about to pull my hair out. I have been trying all day to make a label for our church quilt, using Font Engine. The label turns out beautiful but my machine won’t recognize it. I saved it in Jeff format. I have tried everything I can think of. Please help!! Thanks - Fanny

Hi Fanny

I am assuming from your email that you have a Janome machine but you don’t mention your machine or your model number so I will just have to give you some suggestions.

There are two Jef formats available in Embird. Have you used the correct one for your machine? If one doesn’t work then try the other one and see if that works.

Then you could also check that you haven’t created the design too large for the largest hoop for your machine. If the design is larger than the machine allows then it is possible that your machine will not recognize the design.

I hope that helps but if you need more help please write back and let me know the make and model of your machine and also the finished size of the design you wish to use.

Kind regards
Carolyn
http://www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step lessons for Embird and PE Design

Hi Carolyn, When I open a design in Editor, it is very small. I know about the zoom to enlarge it, however, I was wondering if there is a feature that would allow the design to open in a larger size, closer to the size the design is when you open it in Manager? Thanks - Norma

Hi Norma

Yes there is a way to view your design at its true size in Embird Manager. Go to Options on the Menu Bar and place a check mark beside View 1.1. This will fix it for you. Also make sure that you have done your Screen Calibration - Display Calibration (also found under Options) as this will make the viewing of your design in Manager even more accurate size-wise.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
http://www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step lessons for Embird and PE Design

Hi, I would like to know how to do a hand look chain stitch on a motif stitch to use as outline or fill in PE Design 6, please? Thank you. - Sarita

Hi Sarita

If you use Motif 04 which is found in the Motif folder in PEDS V6 you will get a stitch that is very like a hand chain stitch especially if you use a 30weigth embroidery thread. If you find this stitch is a little wide for you then you could make your own Motif stitch modeled on that sample. Create your own motif stitches in Programmable Stitch Creator.

I hope that helps
Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
www.carolynkeber.com
Step by Step Guides for all Embird programs.
*Pure New Zealand Merino Wraps and Beanies for Baby*
www.babylovemerino.com