I am glad you started this thread, I have a question, I am new to this I just purchased a Janome 10001 a friend of mine that has been embroidering for a long time showed me how to set up the hoop my question is do you always have to do a top layer over the material and when would'nt you have to and what is the purpose of doing the plastic over the top of the material? I am anxious to hear your replys