The EPIC embroidery features of the HV Designer EPIC

Today's the day! We're going to do some stitch-outs on the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC. And I'll only be scratching the surface of what amazing embroidery techniques are available. More on those another day. 

Let's get started. 

Designer EPIC with embroidery unit attached

Here's a quick tip about those stabilizers. Once you remove the plastic, that label is going to get misplaced and you want to keep it with the stabilizer. Simply tuck the label inside the center of the tube and you'll always know what kind of stabilizers you have.

Insert the stabilizer label inside the roll of stabilizer

Remember, if you've never done machine embroidery before, all the steps are built into the Embroidery Section of the JoyOS advisor. Just follow the step by step instructions. Simple!

Built in step by step instructions for machine embroidery

Here's the design I chose. I'm doing a very simple embroidery, but there are a lot of color changes. 

Design to stitch out

How to hoop your fabric

You want to start by cutting a piece of stabilizer that is slightly larger than your hoop. Layer your fabric (right side up) on top of the stabilizer. I don't bother to cut my fabric down to smaller sizes, but you don't want the piece to be too big either as it'll be moving around as the hoop moves. 

Layer the fabric over the stabilizer

Next up, you're going to open the quick release (the spring) on the outer part of the hoop and place it underneath the fabric/stabilizer combination. 

Place the outer hoop underneath the fabric/stabilizer combination

Place the inner hoop on top of the fabric, making sure that the arrow at the bottom of the outer hoop is matching up with the arrow at the bottom of the inner hoop. Essentially, you don't want that inner hoop to be upside down.  

Press the inner hoop inside the outer hoop. I start at the bottom left and work my way around the hoop until I end up at the bottom right corner which is where the quick release and the screw are located. 

Place the inner hoop over the outer hoop with the fabric and stabilizer sandwiched in between

Once the inner hoop is secured inside the outer hoop, close the quick release and tighten up the screw. There's no need to go crazy on tightening that screw - you want it secure, not break it!

The inner hoop is secured inside the outer hoop

The outer hoop has a tendency to move around and if that is causing you problems, you can purchase a hoop grip that you can slide the hoop connector into, in order to stabilize the outer hoop. I must get one of these as I think it would solve a lot of my hooping issues.

If you're going to do your embroidery on a garment or need the design in a specific location, then find the center of the desired design position and mark two intersecting lines across it. Those two lines will be used to line up with the guide markings on the hoop. I pointed those out yesterday.

In the sample below, I just drew those lines on with a chalk pencil, while it was already hooped. I know - a big cheat, but you get the idea. And note that the center of the design is NOT the center of the hoop. There's a reason why the top half is bigger than the bottom half. That doesn't matter, the centering lines are what matters. Don't eyeball it - you'll be disappointed.

Centering lines for hooping

If I'm using a larger hoop, then I can further stabilize the hoop by using clips at various points around the perimeter of the hoop. They're easy to put on and easy to take off and I've never had one pop out during the stitch out process.

Clips to help stabilize the larger hoops

I've changed the foot to one that is appropriate for machine embroidery. 

Sensor Q-Foot for machine embroidery

My design is ready to be stitched out. I can now proceed to the Embroidery Stitch Out mode. I get a screen reminding me how I need to set up the Designer EPIC for the stitching. Easy to follow instructions, easy to select the options and now I'm ready!

Reminder of settings for machine embroidery

Remember I told you that the Designer EPIC wouldn't let you stitch if you didn't have the correct hoop? The design I'm stitching out recommends a 200 x 200 hoop. That's the minimum size required to stitch the design. I don't have a 200 x 200 hoop, so I choose the next largest one that I had. That was the 200 x 260. I can always go larger, but never smaller. However, I didn't advise the Designer EPIC that I was using a different hoop and so I got a gentle reminder.

Gentle reminder to attach the correct hoop

Notice that it wasn't just reminding me to attach the hoop, but it was looking for the 200 x 200 hoop. AHA - now I understand. Once I changed the settings in the Embroidery Edit Mode to the 200 x 260 hoop, which matched the physical hoop I was using, I was good to go. 

The list of thread colors now appears on the screen. The size of the color block is relative to the number of stitches in the design. In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you can see the total number of stitches in the design and beneath that number is the number of stitches for that color. 

And notice on the bottom left, the hoop size is now 200 x 260. 

The thread color changes are represented on the right

Starting the stitch out

I started the stitch out and went upstairs to edit some pictures while the Designer EPIC was stitching. WAIT! I forgot a very very important step to this embroidery stitch out process.

I grabbed my smart phone and downloaded an app - mySewMonitor App. I very quickly created an account with mySewnet. No machine on-line.

Shoot - I've already started the embroidery. Can I connect the Designer EPIC while it's stitching? The answer is YES. I brought the sewing machine online and connected to my account on mySewnet.

Setting up mySewnet account while the Designer EPIC is stitching out a design

There's my account on mySewnet. Since I've just opened the account, there are no files to sync. BUT - look what happened next. 

mySewnet account is synced

YES - the app on my cell phone now shows me the status of the stitch out. Isn't that just the most awesome feature? I see the status of the entire design, I see the status of that particular thread color. Basically, the same information that is on the screen.

It means that I don't have to be in the same room as the Designer EPIC, nor do I have to periodically hang my head over the staircase to hear if the machine is still stitching. I got a nice gentle reminder on the phone every time the thread needed to be changed. I think at one point, the thread broke and I was reminded of that as well.

Even when I took a run to the local coffee shop and my phone was temporarily off my home network, the moment I arrived in my driveway, I got a reminder to change the thread. I LOVE this feature!!!

Status update on the phone app

Notification to change the thread

I love that the "thread" on the spool in the forefront "emptied" to show the progress of that color in the stitch out. You have to remember that it doesn't take much to amuse me.

The color on the thread spool shows the progress of that color

Close to finishing the stitch out

The stitch out is complete!

Complete!

The finished stitch out. He's pretty cute. Notice that I didn't follow the colors suggested in the thread color chart. Since it's my stitch out, I can do what I want!

Pretty cute design!

The plan now is to make something with those coorindating fabrics. I more or less chose the colors from those two fabrics. My plan is to make a zippered tote. There's no time to finish that off today, so you'll have to wait to see the finished bag. 

Fabric to make a zippered tote with my embroidery design

Is the week over already? I barely scratched the surface of what I want to show you with the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC. There are many more exciting things we can do with this sewing/embroidery machine.

I hope you enjoyed this little adventure and that you learned some tips along the way. The capabilities of the Designer EPIC and the attention to detail has my head spinning.

If you're into serious machine embroidery, the Designer EPIC is your machine. I don't think there's anything that this machine can't do.

I'll be back with more great ideas and more great designs. Stay tuned for that. Have a great day!
Ciao!

Inspira stabilizers save your machine embroidery work

Welcome back. I'm going to make you wait one more day before I reveal the stitch-outs on the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC, as there's an important step to share with you when machine embroidering.

 

Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC with embroidery unit attached

Stabilizers are critical to the success of your machine embroidery. Without a stabilizer, your work will pull, warp and pucker, making a very unattractive and hard to work with design.

There are many stabilizers on the market. Not only different brands, but many different types and while you might be able to substitute one type for another in a pinch, it's very important to use the correct stabilizer for the job at hand. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble. 

The Inspira brand of stabilizers is excellent and comes with a wide variety of types. 

Small selection of Inspira stabilizers

Wait! Before you say that this is going to get complicated - it's not! Remember, I mentioned the Knowledge Center on the JoyOS advisor - that's the first screen you see when you turn on the Designer EPIC? Instead of hitting Start New, or the User's Guide, or the Embroidery Techniques, I'm going to the Knowledge Center. Guess what's in there?

Yep - all kinds of information about stabilizers. I told you this entire process is so easy. No hunting on the internet, no trying to find a lost manual - it's all built into the Designer EPIC.

Stabilizer guide selected in the Knowledge Center

There are different categories of stabilizers. The one selected above is the specialty category.

The one below is the Tear A Way products. Don't know what a tearaway stabilizer is? The description is shown below the row of gray boxes.

Tear A Way stabilizer menu

Did you notice that the labels on the screen are the same as the actual product? That makes it super easy to know you have the correct stabilizer. And if you need more detailed information about the stabilizer, just click on the icon for that particular one and you get all the information you could possibly want. You get an in-depth description of the stabilizer, when to use it, and detailed instructions on how to use it.

I told you - it doesn't get any easier!

Information on Tear-A-Way Stabilizers

List of water soluble stabilizers

OK - it's time to get to work. I want to get out of the Knowledge Center and into the work area. I simply hit the START NEW button on the bottom right of the screen.

Press Start New to get to work

But wait! I need to sew something before I start my embroidery project. No worries. I can sew WITH the embroidery unit attached. I simply toggle from embroidery to sewing mode in the top right hand corner.

Toggle switch between embroidery and sewing mode

Now that the sewing mode screen is up, I can choose the stitch and the appropriate settings that I want. 

Choose the stitch and the appropriate settings

And yes - I can SEW with the embroidery unit attached. This is fabulous. It saves having to remove the embroidery unit, find a safe place to store it and then put it back on when done stitching.

I would be careful of the size of project that I work on. While I could work on something fairly large, I wouldn't want my project catching on the embroidery arm.

Sewing with the embroidery unit attached

I'm not going to have a chance to hoop anything today, but wanted to show you that on all the hoops, there are four notches that assist you in lining up your design on your fabric. It takes a bit of practice to get that right. While I'm doing an okay job with hooping, I do try to hoop a big piece of fabric and then cut my image after. That's the cheating way to do it, but it works!! I'll  have more on hooping tomorrow.

Four guides to help position your item when hooping

The hoop has a spring lock on it and a screw to help keep that fabric and stabilizer tight in the hoop. The last thing you want is to have ripples or movement during the machine embroidery process. 

Spring and a screw to tighten the embroidery hoop

In addition, there are clips that help stabilize the larger hoops. 

 

Clips are used to help stabilize the larger hoops

While it sounds like there are a lot of steps to do machine embroidery, don't forget that they're all documented in the JoyOS advisor. Step by step!

Let's not forget that if you don't want to sit at the sewing machine to browse the User's Guide, you can download it to your tablet and read it at your leisure. I wasn't a fan of e-books until recently. Now I think they're great. Very handy, very useful and easy to use. That's important to me, especially since I can be very technically challenged sometimes!

User's Guide on a tablet

That's it for today. I'm off to try out some different styles of embroidery which I'll share with you tomorrow. Oh my - where am I going to start? I want to stitch them all out!

The Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC has so much to offer. It's like being a kid in a candy store with your Dad's VISA. You can try it all!

Have a great day!

Ciao! 

Easy to embroider on the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC

Today, we're going to have a look at some of the embroidery features of the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC. While the Designer EPIC is a fabulous sewing machine, it's embroidery capabilities are spectacular. I remember my first embroidery sewing machine. The design work was done on a computer and then transferred to the sewing machine via a 3½ʺ floppy disk. Does everyone even remember floppy disks? Probably not and you don't want to go there.

Let's get started and see what the Designer EPIC has to offer.

Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC

The first thing you have to do is to remove the accessory tray. That's easy, it just slides off leaving the machine in the free arm position.

Accessory tray is removed to allow free arm sewing

Now slide the embroidery unit onto the Designer EPIC. The unit is very long so you want to make sure that you have plenty of space around the machine. The hoop will need space to move as well behind the sewing machine.

Designer EPIC with the embroidery unit attached

Wow - that looks exciting. That's a LOT of space to play with. Wait until you see the size of the hoops.

You're probably thinking that machine embroidery is going to be complicated, however, it's much easier than you think. Don't forget that the Designer EPIC has the JoyOS advisor and the User's Guide built in. There's a lot of information right at your finger tips and I'm going to show you just how easy it is to learn.

The JoyOS advisor is the start-up screen when you turn on the Designer EPIC

This screen may look intimidating when you first turn on the Designer EPIC, but in fact, it's very easy considering all the available options. If I'm going to sew, I hit "Start New" to take me to the sewing mode. If the embroidery unit is attached, when I hit "Start New", I'll be taken to the screen where I edit my embroidery design.

Should I want to do a sewing technique that I'm not sure of, I can choose from one of the options shown above. If I want to learn about an embroidery technique, then I select Embroidery and if I want to learn some other things (which I'll show you tomorrow), I'd choose the Knowledge Center. 

And the entire User's Guide is right there as well if I need to find out something specific. No searching for misplaced papers or manuals. I love this feature!

I started off by choosing the Embroidery section of the JoyOS advisor so I can learn a different embroidery technique.

I can change the background color in the hoop area that will appear on the screen. While this doesn't seem like a big deal, it's a big deal. Depending on the color of the stitches on the screen, you may need to change the background color so you can see the stitches properly. A very useful feature indeed!

Then you have various embroidery techniques that you can do. There's a selection menu and within each menu, there are sub categories - each explaining an embroidery technique.

First page of the embroidery tab in the JoyOS advisor

In the photo below, I've chosen Specialty Hoop techniques (these are non-standard hoops that are necessary to perform various techniques). Within this category, you can see there are four separate topics that I can select. 

Available topics in the Specialty Hoop technique section

Here's another category called Surfaced Embroidery. Don't know what this means? There's an explanation right below the grey boxes. Surfaced Embroidery is all about dimensional effects. Again, there's information on the three techniques.

Surfaced Embroidery categories

Below is a picture of the STEP BY STEP and very detailed instructions on how to do basic embroidery. You get the list of materials/equipment required and how to set up the Designer EPIC. This is the first page of the instructions. You have to scroll down to get the rest. It really doesn't get any easier than this. The hardest thing now is to choose a design!

Note these detailed instructions are included for any of the embroidery techniques that you choose!

Step by Step Instructions for Basic Embroidery

If you turn the Designer EPIC on and the embroidery unit is attached, this is the pop-up message you're going to get. It's a reminder to move everything out of the way of the arm so it doesn't get damaged when it starts up.

I love these reminders. We think we know how to operate the machine, but then we forget about the simple things, like moving stuff out of the way, which can cause a lot of damage. And there's no time to have a machine in the repair shop!

Pop up message to clear the area around the embroidery unit

There are many built-in embroidery designs that come with the Designer EPIC. In addition you can incorporate the fonts and the decorative stitches. The possibilities without ever buying any other designs is mind boggling. 

In the burgundy area below the designs, are the other design menus. Within each menu there are  numerous designs. 

You can also see that my hoop area is blue which is the default. 

One of the embroidery design menus

Remember that this screen is similiar to a tablet. I can swipe up and  down to scroll through the designs in one menu. Very useful and so easy to use. 

Scrolling up and down through one menu of embroidery designs

In this photo, I'm scrolling side to side. Scrolling side to side will allow me to scroll through the various menus. An easy way to find the category of embroidery designs you're looking for. 

Scrolling side to side through the various embroidery design menus

In this photo, you can see that the pink tab opens up the embroidery design menus. I can also load a stitch (blue tab), load a font (green tab) or bring a saved file in from the file manager (red tab). The brown tab is the JoyOS advisor project tab. YES - there are designs available depending on the specialty embroidery technique you've chosen in the JoyOS advisor. This is so awesome! The bottom tab is the thread color edit tab.

Remember that the Designer EPIC has internet capabilities. That means files can be downloaded directly to the Designer EPIC. I can upload saved files to the mySewNet cloud.

These capabilities are totally amazing. Remember I said that on my old embroidery machine that all of the design work was done on the computer and then loaded via a floppy disk? There's just no comparison between the two machines. What was once a very laborious and technical task, is so easy that anyone can do machine embroidery. Using MANY different techniques. 

Lots of options to bring files/designs into the Designer EPIC

Once I choose a design (in this case, Number 1 from the L Heart and Butterfly Designs menu), then information about that design appears at the bottom of the screen. I get the file name, the size, the number of stitches and how many thread colors there are in the design. All of this is very useful information when you want to stitch something out.

Information about the selected design

Something else that's very important is selecting the correct hoop size. The Designer EPIC will NOT start a stitch-out if an appropriate hoop size is not selected. This is a safety feature and a very important one. No danger of starting a design and realizing the hoop isn't big enough. You can see that there are lots of options for hoops. I like to select the smallest hoop possible for the design that I'm working on.

My biggest issue with hoops? The sizes are metric. There are many things that I can deal with in metric, the temperature outside, driving a car, but for some reason, inches and centimeters just don't translate for me. I must make this a "must learn" item for this year. It would save me a lot of time, not just for hoops, but in general.

 

Wide variety of hoop sizes and types available

Three hoops come standard with the Designer EPIC. I'm going to talk a bit more about the hoops and how to hoop your fabric later this week.

The three sizes are:

360 x 260

260 x 200 

120 x 120

In case you're like me and those numbers mean nothing to you, the equivalents are:

14" x 10"

10" x 7½ʺ

4½ʺ x 4½ʺ

Three hoops come standard

There's a very large hoop that you can purchase separately. It's called the Majestic Hoop and measures 360 x 350 or for the metric challenged among us - that's 14" x 13¾ʺ. Now that's huge!

Here's a design that I selected to stitch out. Yes, there are loads of buttons and options on the screen. The good news is you don't have to touch any of them in order to stitch out a design. Simply go through the menus, select a design, thread the embrodiery machine, hoop your fabric and select GO. But once you get the hang of those basics, they will go along much quicker and you're going to want to do a whole lot more!

And if you forget a step, you can simply follow along on the handy built-in instructions on the tablet like screen!

 

One of the many built-in embroidery designs

Oh - the possibilities are endless. I'll be doing some embroidery later this week but I wanted to give you a peek under the hood just in case you thought it was complicated. There are loads of options and once you get comfortable, then you can start to use those options. There's plenty of stuff to keep you busy while you learn. 

Stay tuned as tomorrow we delve a bit more into the mystery of machine embroidery with the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC. 

Have a great day!

Ciao!