Bits and Pieces
Scrambled Cards
Question: At 10:12 AM 2/11/99 -0500, you wrote:
Hi All, I know other people have had this problem, but I can’t remember what they did to correct it. Some of the designs on the blank card look scrambled. I deleted everything on the card and started over, but it still happens. And not to the same designs, so it’s not the designs fault. One of the designs even showed up on the card 5 times and I only put it on once.
Answer: L., I never saw anyone answer your question. I thought surely someone else would tell you, but just in case nobody responded, I’ll answer it here. The card will sometimes scramble designs if you just delete designs all the time from it. You need to at least periodically clear the card. To do this, put the card in the machine, and hold the card button down while you turn the machine on. The machine will bring up a message asking you if you want to clear the card; press okay, and it will ask you to number the card again. Give it a number, and then the card will be ready to accept new designs without scrambling. Sometimes it helps to clear it twice.
Hope that helps.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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2-17-99
Thread breaks on 7570
Hi, J. You don’t say whether there is a tie-down at the start of the jump stitch that causes the thread breakage. If the tie-down is sufficient, I wouldn’t think that the thread would come out. Sometimes it’s a good idea if you are stitching in Big hoop and lining up designs, if you stitch the last few stitches manually. That is, stop the machine, and use the foot pedal to stitch the last few stitches. Then you will have absolute control over the design. If the design is an after-market design and not one of Pfaff’s, you can take the design into your software and add some extra stitches to the end of the design to tie the thread down if you need to. Just be sure that if the last stitch is where you are supposed tostart the next pattern, that you end the pattern in that spot.
Another solution to the jerking of the stitch would be to add some intermediate stitches in the jump stitch in your Pfaff software. They can be long, but as long as you break up the very long jump stitch somewhat that will keep the machine from jerking the thread. Another thing you can do if your thread does break at the end is if you can see the hole where it should have been, you can take a fabric marking pen and lightly dot right over that hole so that the spot is marked for you. Then when you go to line up the second part of the design, the place you need to mesh the designs will be visible.
I think your needle size is fine. I normally use 40 wt. rayon with a size 11 or 12 needle, and I don’t always use a metallica needle, unless of course, I’m using metallic thread. You might find that changing the way the thread is dispensed will help with the jerking of the thread. It might be that a cone thread holder will help, or maybe you need to do something else. Also, you can use a felt pad under your spool to keep it from back spinning when there is a big jump stitch. Sometimes what happens is that the spool quickly spins off a lot of thread and then the spool reverses the spin and traps the thread causing the break. So try a felt pad. You can also try those little plastic end pieces that Madeira now sells to see if that helps.
Backing up the Embroidery Machine
Yes, there is a faster way to back up the embroidery. Instead of hitting the #9 key, waiting, patting the foot pedal and doing it over again until you get to the place you need to go, just hit the #9 key, wait, and hit ok; do that over and over until you are where you need to be, then hit the foot pedal, and the needle will jump all those segments at one time and thedesign should be ready to start over from where your thread broke. This will also work over a thread color change. However, I believe that thethread color number does not change on the screen when you do this. I think it helps to cut your thread when you back the machine up and pull upthe bobbin thread before you begin again. That way, the bobbin thread is not pulled to the top of the embroidery where it is visible.
By the way, it helps speed up things, I think, if you have the presser bar in the darning position and the needle unthreaded when you reposition the needle by backing up with the #9 key. You don’t wind up with unwanted stitches, and it seems to me that the machine finds its place a little faster when the foot is in the darning position. Of course, if you are very close to the start of a color when the thread break happens, then you can hit the #8
key, and it will take you back to the start of the color. Don’t hit the #8 key if you are backing up 6 stitches at a time over a color change. That will pop you into the mono mode.
Hope that helps.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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3-9-99
Stitching without Thread
C., your machine has the best method of stitching without thread of probably any machine on the market. When you are in your stitch program–that is, the stitch program is on the screen, hit the green info key. Then hit the top blue -> key to the right of the screen. This will give you the screen that controls whether you need to have your machine stop when there is no thread in the machine. To allow your machine to stitch without thread, simply take the X out of the box next to “in sewing mode.” Hit escape to return to the sewing screen. When you want it to stop again if you don’t have thread in your machine, simply go back the same way (info, ->) and put the X back in the box. Easy as pie!
Glynda Black =^.^=
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4-23-99
Straight Stitch Sewing Plate
Question: At 01:43 PM 4/22/99 EDT, you wrote:
I have a 7550 and just purchased the straight stitch sewing plate. Somewhere in all the info I have there are directions as to how to lock my machine so that it will only sew straight stitches just in case I have a “senior moment”. I’ve looked hard this morning to find these directions but no luck. Does anyone know how to do this?
Answer: To get the straight stitch locked for the straight stitch plate, bring up the straight stitch and hit the twin needle key. The machine will flash a sign at you telling you what the twin needle key does for the straight stitch, select the number next to the meaning you want, and it will go away allowing you to sew. BTW, when it allows you to sew, it takes off the needle positions on the straight stitch screen. To go back to using other stitches and multiple needle positions, you need to take the twin needle key off. This is also helpful when you are using the single needle foot. Hope that helps.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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Designs on Memory Cards
Question: At 04:03 PM 5/30/99, you wrote:
I need some help. I have a Pfaff 7570. I am trying to use “Smart Sizer Gold” to change the size of some patterns on Memory Cards. I have tried all the settings from “Send P Memory to the last…I have tried Machine to File…File to Machine and I can not get the pattern to transfer to the Computer. I have done this process when the “Patterns” have come on a “Disc” but what must I do, to use the card the same way. D.
Answer: D., you can’t bring designs from the Pfaff Memory Cards into the software. Only if a design is on a Pfaff Programmable Memory Card can you bring a design into the software to be changed in any way. Pfaff does this as a way to protect the copyrights on the designs.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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5-30-99
Top Thread Jamming When I Change Colors
Question: At 04:35 PM 5/30/99 -0400, you wrote:
I am new to using my 7570. Can anyone make suggestions as to what I am doing wrong? Every time I change colors of thread in a design after a few stitches the top thread gets jammed underneath. After I cut the threads, rip out the jam and re-thread, it works fine for that color with no second jamming of the color. But when it comes time to change colors it happens again! I have tried going slowly with the presser foot, but it still happens.
Answer: J., I suspect that you are not raising your presser foot when you put a new thread in the machine. You *have* to stop, raise the presser foot, remove the old thread, lay the new thread in the thread path, lower the presser foot and then start the machine again. If you don’t raise the presser foot, the thread never gets in the upper thread tension disks, and you’ll wind up with a mess. Obviously, after you get a mess, you are having to raise the presser foot to remove the hoop, and the thread then slips into the tension disks as it should be.
Hope that helps.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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2-21-2000
Needle Falling Out
F. just mentioned privately to me that her needle falls out when the design is too dense, and she’s absolutely right. She isn’t the only one who has discovered that, and I should have mentioned it earlier.
A design that is too dense *will* pull the needle right out of the machine. If you find a design like that, it’s often best to toss it. After all, if the needle can’t get through it, it will be like wearing a board. It won’t be comfortable, and it will be murder to stitch.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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2-23-00
Needle Falling Out, Annoying Low Bobbin Messages
J., I often use the Madeira Embroidery needles, and I haven’t had a problem with them falling out. I’m not saying that isn’t your problem, but for your reference, I don’t recall having a problem with them. I think your note is the first I’ve seen with a 7560 having this problem.
Oh, my pleasure. I’m glad that the tip about opening the bobbin compartment door helped you. You’re right. Sometimes you just have a little way to go, and you *know* you have enough thread, so opening the door down there stops those annoying messages so that you can finish that part.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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5-16-2000
Threads Breaking
Well, M., I guess we just have different opinions on the Pfaff, and that’s allowed. The “weaker” rayon threads you refer to, though, are used all the time by the commercial machines which stitch much faster than even the Pfaff. They were made with the commercial machine in mind, not the home embroidery machines.
Some of the problems associated with thread breakage come from people using the small spools of thread (250 yd.) that sewing shops commonly stock. I do not recommend the small spools of rayon thread, although I own a lot and use with care. The Sulky brand on the small spools, in my experience, breaks often simply because the small spools are sometimes wound so tightly that the machine breaks the thread trying to unwind it. Thread on the 1000 meter tube breaks because the thread gets caught on the spindle. (Folks, *always* hold those tubes between your two fists and push the thread to the center before you put it on the machine. That helps a whole lot.) I prefer to stitch from cones of machine embroidery thread, and Madeira is my favorite, although I often use other brands. (Madeira’s small spools work wonderfully, btw.) You can start using cones by buying just the primary colors, and then slowly adding colors to that. It is more economical to buy that way, and the thread lasts a long time.
Also, the way the thread is delivered to the machine is very important. I seldom use the spindles on my machines. I use a thread cone holder, or I use a horizontal delivery system I’ve jury-rigged. There are commercial thread delivery systems that do this, but before any of them came out, I found that if I put a horizontal serger thread holder on my upright Pfaff spindle (your dealer can get one for you), I could turn the serger thread holder to whatever position I needed to get the thread to feed into the machine without breaking. It has worked so well that I never use any other system. I don’t use a thread disk on the serger thread holder, btw. To explain further, the serger thread holder on the upright Pfaff spindle makes an upside down L. I position the serger thread holder on the upright Pfaff spindle so that it angles toward my face as I sit at the machine. This enables the small spools and tubes to feed from the side of the spool or tube instead of over the end. This is also the way that Sliver and metallics feed best into the Pfaff. [There's a photograph of this here.]
I do appreciate your comments on my designs, M. I really am glad you like them. I work to make my designs stitch without problems as I detest having to stop and fiddle with a poorly designed pattern. I can’t stand hoop embroidery with gaps, dense stitching, no underlay, and excessive jumps.
I too still use my 1475. It’s a wonderful machine for everything except the buttonholes.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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11-23-2000
Thread Caught in the Bobbin Area
If you find that your machine jams from thread caught in the bobbin area, one way to release stubborn thread is to unplug the machine, carefully place the machine on its back, and put a drop of sewing machine oil in the hook area. Leave it for a little while. The oil will seep into the caught thread. Then you should be able to turn the hand wheel and remove the caught thread.
Sometimes, if I can just see a bit of thread caught in the bobbin area, but I can’t remove it, I’ll let a drop of machine oil from the tip of the plastic bottle of oil touch the thread and absorb the oil. Then I leave it, and when I come back to the machine, I can remove the thread by turning the hand wheel.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Glynda Black =^.^=
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2-24-2000
Jumping Designs
LOL! A., you are correct. You really need to watch what the arm of the embroidery unit might hit. Cats are not good for machines. They love to lie where they can feel the warmth of the light, and if possible, they will lie under the arm of the machine. When Charming was a kitten, she slept under the arm of my machine while I did something else. She loved that light. Thank goodness, she’s too big for such shenanigans now, but I had to really make it clear to her that she wasn’t welcome there. Another cat of mine always wanted to catch the fly wheel. I had to shut her out of the sewing room altogether. Cats don’t have any business on a sewing table anyway–they lie on your fabric and knock your spools and cones of thread off onto the floor, but convincing them of that isn’t always easy.
Anytime you have to take the hoop off the machine in the middle of an embroidery design, you must be especially cautious. Don’t move that carrier arm.
A poor design is a really good reason for a jumping design. I think very dense designs sometimes pull a machine off track.
Thanks for the note.
Glynda Black =^.^=
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12-7-2000
#8 Key
Well, I knew someone was going to stand behind stitching with that #8 key, but I can tell you after years of working with the Pfaff programs that if you stitch the design as it comes up in the machine EVERY time, (ignoring that #8 key) no matter whether the design looks pretty or not on the screen and no matter whether it is a converted design or not, you will have the design stitched in the order the designer intended. If you use the #8 key you may wind up with a mess. The only time to use the #8 key is if you have a problem with the stitching.
S., because you are converting the design to .pcs format before you use it in PCD, you are ensuring that the design will be stitchable with the #8 key. It has nothing to do with what program you use to digitize the design. The thing is that Buzz Tools Plus, and maybe the other conversion programs too, have ironed out that problem for you. If you use white in two places on a Janome design and then convert it to the Pfaff format, the conversion program tells the Pfaff program that that second use of white is another color number. Therefore, it doesn’t try to use the same color number for white in the machine for both places in the converted design. As a result, you haven’t had a problem using the #8 key.
However, someone downloading an unfamiliar design in the .pcs format from the internet doesn’t always know whether a design has been converted or not. If a design is created in PCD and the user wants to go to all the trouble to use that #8 key, the digitizer has to use a different color right down the color bar for every single change of color to be sure that the user has the right order and the right color number on the machine showing on the #8 key screen. Therefore, if the digitizer has two parts of a body that should be the same color when it is stitched out but there is an intervening color, he must use two different colors on the Pfaff color bar for those two parts of the same body to accomodate the #8 key. If the digitizer doesn’t use two colors for the two parts of the body, when you use the #8 key, the machine will not allow you to stitch the second use of that color without some trouble. (You’d have to bring up the color and run through the whole first part of the color use again without thread in the needle just to get to the second use of the color.)
Also, a digitizer can use the ugly Pfaff colors for a design and digitize them in the order in which he needs them, and wind up with something that still looks ugly on the screen and which will not stitch right using the #8 key. Again, if he uses a color twice using the Pfaff colors, the #8 key will not recognize the second use of the color even if it is the ugly Pfaff colors.
It is so much more trouble to mess with that #8 key to get iffy results, I don’t understand why some of you persist in using it as your normal way to stitch designs. If you simply stitch the design as it comes up in the machine without touching the #8 key, you will have a much better product. Ignore the color numbers that the Pfaff machine tells you to use. Pretend they aren’t there. Get the colors from the text file which, I hope, accompanies the design (the colors may be in the remarks section of the file–File/Remarks) and line your colors of thread up on your sewing table in the order in which they are needed. When the machine tells you to change colors, ignore the color number completely, and pick up the next color your digitizer has told you to use. That way, you will NEVER have a problem of sewing the wrong color at the wrong time.
Using the #8 key may mean (1) more thread jumps to clip out, (2) the order of the stitching may not be in the order in which the digitizer intended it, so you may wind up with traveling stitches or even underlay going over areas that they should have been hidden under, and (3) you won’t always wind up being able to stitch the second use of a color. There are a lot of amateur digitizers on the net, and you can’t be sure that that person knows about these strange Pfaff color problems. Why waste your stitching time with messing with that #8 key and winding up with a disaster?
When there is a way to have a beautiful design on the screen as well as one that is easily stitchable on the machine (with the use of PCD-More), why would anybody persist in being satisfied with a design that looks terrible on the screen and then be satisfied to go to all the trouble of messing with that #8 key that may ruin the design? If you are bound and determined to use that #8 key and chance messing up a design, go ahead, but don’t complain when a design doesn’t stitch well. After all, the reason the machine brings up the design and allows you to stitch it AS IT COMES UP in the machine is that that is the DEFAULT (preferred) way to stitch the design. The #8 key is an escape mechanism to use if you have a problem. Period.
BTW, digitizing a design so that it is lying down on the computer screen is not always the best way to digitize a design. Our hoop is not square, and sometimes to get the dimensions of the design correct, you HAVE to make the design stand up on the screen as it is viewed on the computer. It’s a simple thing to hit that 90 degree turn key. In addition, it’s my finding that most people do a better job of digitizing if the design is standing up as they want it to appear on the fabric.
Glynda Black =^.^=