Ok so I am one that tends to follow threads rather than post in them especially since being a complete newbee. I bought a used Barudan CBII machine purchased the wilcom e3 software and have been donating approx. 20 hours per week at my local discount mall shadowing the embroidery shop. I appreciate the advice and value what you guys have to say. Is there any classes that I can take online or at a jr. College where I can become better at digitizing? I see this task as being most difficult and want to keep my profits rather than sending all my stuff out due to my lack of competence.
Ok so I am one that tends to follow threads rather than post in them especially since being a complete newbee. I bought a used Barudan CBII machine purchased the wilcom e3 software and have been donating approx. 20 hours per week at my local discount mall shadowing the embroidery shop. I appreciate the advice and value what you guys have to say. Is there any classes that I can take online or at a jr. College where I can become better at digitizing? I see this task as being most difficult and want to keep my profits rather than sending all my stuff out due to my lack of competence.
You're going about this all wrong. Expenses including labor and materials are what you figure when determining the margin in which you extract the profit. Using the most labor intensive part of a process to "keep" your profit is unwise in the grand scheme of business. It takes years to become skilled at digitizing through a plethora of trial and error to get to the point that you can begin to increase margin by self digitizing. You build the cost of digitizing into the job or products based upon your time or contracting out. Either way it is an expense.
I started with 3 hours of training specifically on one brand of machine and the software. I had 20 years of experience working on industrial sewing machines and no experience in software. Basically I had to teach myself through trial and error on how the process worked. Sure, the manufacturer of the machine helped me out over the phone and I also got a bit of help from the software people but I did most of my own training. I also self-taught digitizing to myself but would never sell my services because of the time involved to complete the process.
You shouldn't be donating your time at the mall. Pay the fee to transfer the wilcom if you don't have the license and get started in the online classes for the basics. Then go to the thrift store or garage sale for some old beat up clothes, bags, or whatever else and start with lettering learning the hooping and placement of designs (barudan has the placement advice on their website). Then graduate to purchasing designs if someone wants a stock style design (www.emblibrary.com). They will most likely entail the same placement and hooping exercise as the lettering. Then find someone who will do the designs correctly if you need artwork converted. During this time pay attention to the type of stitches, direction, and order in which they are done. Then use this to start the process of digitizing designs yourself.
Whomever you bought your Wilcom from offers some kind of training, whether it is online, videos or in person. I recommend you peruse any or all offered.
Purchase some professionally digitized designs and watch them sew. Find a good digitizer and contract your design setups with them. I pass this cost along to the customer as part of the cost of the embroidery.
Perfect thank you guys sooooo much. I have contacted wilcom and got them to come do an in person 4 day training on the software here in San Diego. I have also signed up for all the classes online and have been watching old videos/trainings. I agree I need to learn proper placement and hooping and now all I need is finding a good digitizer to do my work and I will begin to start immediately and play with it as I go. Thanks again and I believe this collaborative approach is invaluable.
PLEASE>>>> when they come for your 4 day training.. YOU PICK THE DESIGNS! pick some local eateries, schools, churches, whatever your "niche" is going to be. work through THOSE designs.... otherwise you will be going through stock designs that use special " look at me" effects you will RARELY if ever USE.... .. hear the sizzle .. there must be steak! if they cannot do the designs that are in the market YOU are in... then ask for a new trainer! sew them out as well.. sorry.
If you dont do this they are going to WOW you with all the bells and whistles that YOU WILL RARELY IF EVER USE!. you need practical training, in Your world, Your market. INSIST they show you how to use those features in the software. ANY software anyone buys... solid advice.
Even though you don't buy from a dealer, they may have free resources available. I know that we have tons of training videos on Youtube for the SWF and Avancé commercial embroidery machines, and our support site is public, so you might find some good stuff there.
If you want to compare single head machines, I just finished an article that might help you narrow things down a bit - new or used. Professional Embroidery Machine Comparison
This is how I learned, same as my father & uncle, who learned from his father, who learned from his father, and so on. At this point in the progression its the mid 1800's in the mountains for Switzerland.
That being said nothing is as important as watching expertly digitized sew-outs from the beginning to end. Watching how some computer generated a sew file will teach you nothing. If you can't find a mentor, I could probably send you a ton of stitch files from work I have done for a very cheap price. You need to run your own samples because the final product doesn't tell you the whole story. A lot of people are artists who create beautiful work, but when an embroidery craftsman creates patterns the machine only needs to stop to change the bobbin. Good luck.
I am getting out of the business so I don't really have any use for the designs I have done anyway. 2 quick examples of my work you would probably know. Lets see, the NFL was not happy with the samples their Chinese factories were making for the Super Bowl, So they asking me to create samples to show the quality they expect. I also digitized the Presidential Seal for the flag that is usually in the back drop when the president makes appearances.
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Re: How did you learn to embroidery
