Embroidery Design Too Big for Hoop-- How Do You Handle?
 

Hi--I have a Bernina 830E, am an embroidery newbie, and want to embroider text (name, date & place of birth, height weight, etc.) on the 4 borders of a baby quilt. I haven't invested in expensive designer software because I was told by my dealer my machine could mostly accommodate my modest embroidery aspirations (straitforward quilt design embroidery and quilt label creation). And that's true, I find I can do what I want to do seemingly without even scratching the surface of my machine's capabilities.

But I am currently stumped--the lines of text I want to embroider on the 4 sides of my quilt exceed the sewing dimensions of the largest hoop available. I have created two sets of files in a simple monogram software--one set with text extending beyond the boundaries of the hoop and another set with multiple text sections that fit within my jumbo hoop. But, when I import those files into my machine, I don't know how to break up the text in the single-file set and establish registration lines for continuing the single text design and, in the multiple-hooping set of text sections, the challenges of positioning the stitch starting and ending points of the lettering within a single hooping and then aligning multiple-hooping files for a seamless stitch out seem daunting. My machine manual and accompanying free ARTLink design software do not address how to break up designs into multiple hoopings.

I don't know enough to know if this undertaking is impossibly difficult without upgraded software and/or if I am just ignorant of resources (training videos, blogs, etc.) that could help me figure it out. I have searched on the internet but most how-to embroidery discussions are tied to specific software products costing $$$. A third option is, I suppose, to outsource it to a digitizer but I would first like to try to work through the issues and see if I can do it myself.

What do you advise? Many thanks in advance.

Have you taken the machine master classes with your machine? Do you have the longest hoop? Not the jumbo but the mega hoop?

Candace--Thanks for getting back to me. I have taken the "mastery class" offered by my dealer (doesn't seem as though that's the same class(es) you mention) and am enrolled in a series of classes called "Elite Techniques" that starts next month. I have, however, reviewed the mastery classes on exnovodesign.com. I have also taken a 6-class beginning embroidery class but that class wasn't machine specific and didn't address multi-hooping a single oversized design so much as resizing designs to fit, replicate, or otherwise arrange within a given hoop area and a bunch of other stuff it's really good to know. At my dealer's recommendation for quilt embroidery ("if I were going to buy only one of the larger hoops"), I bought the jumbo hoop, not the mega. They are both the same length (400 mm)--is there something about the mega that makes multi-hooping more intuitive besides the facts that the mega hoop is narrower and probably fits better/more easily on quilt borders?

I keep thinking there is some single feature or utility I don't know about or have overlooked that will allow me to stop stitching an oversized design in one hooping (e.g., in my case spelling out a baby's name--Nathaniel Geoffrey Whitehead-- in 2"-sized capital letters and ~1" lower case letters that I don't want to resize to fit within my hoop), print registration marks, and continue stitching with the rest of the name in a second aor even a third hooping. OR, barring that, the ability to insert registration marks so as to align a bunch of shorter files (e.g., 'Nathaniel' in file 1, 'Geoffrey' in file 2 and 'Whitehead' in file 3). The second option seems awfully crazy making and risky because of the challenges of initital letter placement in the second & third files. If there is such a feature, I can't find any references to it in the manuals--but in my newbie experience that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

So, I was hoping that someone who IS able to do that could tell me if that is something they do with the help of specialized software or if it's a basic feature within their embroidery machine functions. If it's the former I can stop beating my head against the wall and start figuring out the best software to purchase (something I would like to avoid because it's expensive and I am really not interested in digitizing or creating original designs beyond rows of text in a border or a quilt label). Thanks again, Fran.

Fran, when you embroider something out on the 830 you can choose to embroider out registrations marks. I'm not sure if you've gone over that or not. That way you can line up the next hooping exactly. The mega hoop is indeed easier for long, thin areas like borders. I would probably choose to do the long name in two or three hoopings.

I'm not sitting in front of my machine right now, but you can select side arrows and top and bottow arrows to embroider out with your design. I've not had to use this feature in a while. But, I believe you embroider out the one hooping then when finished stitching the 830 will ask you if you're finished or want to select the continuation design so you can select that and do the registration arrows. There's also a 830 group on yahoo that would surely answer your question better than myself. Some of those gals probably use this feature every day:> I've only used it a few times. Hope this helps?

Do you have 4d/5d software? I can type out the info I want to embroider, pick a font and design the "shape" of the text (such as arch, circle, etc). If you can do that, you could arrange the letters in a swirly line and continue the line in the next hooping, it wouldn't matter if it was exact! If you want, I could write the info out for you in your hoop parameters and send it to you. Linda

There's a free program online called Wilcom Trusizer. You download that, pull your design into the program, resize it and save it in the new size as whatever format (PES, JEF, etc.) your machine uses.

Cat--thanks for pointing this out. While researching this issue I have seen references to this program. I just didn't know enough about it to feel safe downloading it for experimentation. Have you used it safely and successfully? Thanks again.