Preparing the border fabric with the stabilizer
The hoop itself has a lever to the right front of the hoop. Moving it to the
left opens the hoop and moving the lever to the right to about the 1:00 o’clock
position closes it.
There is a movable guide on the right side that you place the right edge of the
fabric against to make sure it is straight at all times. So, it is up to you
to decide how far from the right edge you want the border to be
and adjust the guide accordingly.
When you get ready to do a stitch out on the endless hoop, cut a piece of stabilizer
the full length of the fabric you intend to sew the border on. I like to make
sure my stabilizer and fabric are cut very straight with the rotary cutter so
I will have a nice even edge. Then I decide exactly how far from the edge I want
the border. I do a printout to help with placement.
I also like to pin the stabilizer to the fabric at several places along the right
edge just to keep them together and make sure that right edge is always right
against the guide on the right . Most of the time, they don’t interfere
with the hooping. But, just be careful and remove any that might interfere with
the hoop.
I like to draw a horizontal line at the place where I wish the stitching to start
so I can make sure that is where the machine will place the placement stitches.
The machine always starts at the center and then jumps to the top where it will
make the alignment stitches.
When I make my own endless hoop designs, I use X’s for my alignment stitches.
You can use any color you want for the Xs I use for alignment.
Some designs are created for the endless hoop and they will have a small stitch
at the beginning and end so you can match up the alignment stitch from the end
of the first stitch out to the beginning alignment stitch of the next stitch
out.
Choose the design on your machine and make sure the 100 X 170 hoop size is chosen.
Then touch the “ + stitches” button (stitch advance) so the hoop
will move and the needle will be at the top of the design to stitch the alignment
stitches.
Now is the time to make sure the needle will go down into the very spot where
you want it to start. So, release the lever if you need to and make sure the
guide is moved to the position for the right edge of the
fabric. Make sure the fabric is nice and straight all the way down the guide.
Touch your “start” button so it can stitch out the alignment stitches
and then the rest of the design.
When the ending alignment stitches are stitched and you get the message that
the design is finished, touch OK. Then touch the “+ stitches” button
(stitch advance) so the needle will move off the center again and up to the top
to align with the previous alignment stitches on the above design.
Release the hoop lever and move the fabric with the stabilizer towards the back
of the hoop until you see the left side X (or the alignment stitch) is right
under the needle. Turn the hand wheel towards you a little bit so the needle
will go down so you can see that it will land directly on the first stitch of
the “X placement” or the alignment stitch that the digitizer used.
I don’t actually sew on top of MY X‘s. I just make sure my needle
is low enough so that as I touch the “advance stitches” button, I
can see that the needle will land properly in each part of the X’s and
then jump to the other X. Turn the hand wheel lower ever so often as you advance
to be sure it lands correctly into the right side X too.
OR, make sure the needle lands directly on top of the previous alignment stitch.
If your fabric is always lined up perfectly with the fabric guide on the right
side of the hoop, the stitches should land perfectly. But, sometimes, you may
need to adjust the fabric slightly when you see the needle isn’t going
into the same holes on the X placement stitches.
***I just advance through those placements and then when color #2 comes
up, touch the advance button again and the needle should line up perfectly with
the previous design.
IMPORTANT: Each time you finish a color, make sure you click on the "stitch
advance" so it will move to the exact spot for the next color to start stitching.
This avoids that long jump stitch.
