The final countdown has already started, we are just a few weeks to end Fab Academy. It´s been a long and hard journey. This is week 15, and it's about Wildcard week. The idea for this week is to do something that we haven't done, try new things and even a new machine. Sincerely I have no idea what i'm going to do, but what I do know is clear................. I got to do something! This week I started by thinking about what I could make and how. I started reviewing the machines I have used so far, so I saw the sewing machine and I thought giving it a try. So know that I know what i'm doing, and as usual, hoping for the best. And of course hoping that "no problems" arise along the way!

This week assignmets are:

Group assignments:

• None

Individual assignments:

• Design and produce something with a digital process (incorporating computer-aided design and manufacturing) not covered in another assignment, documenting the requirements that your assignment meets, and including everything necessary to reproduce it.

In this week assignments i'm using:

Sewing machine, Janome MC 500E

The Janome 500E is an embroidery machine that is perfect for those who want to take their embroidery projects to the next level. With a large embroidery area of 7.9″ x 11″, it can handle large designs with ease. The machine comes with 160 built-in embroidery designs and 6 fonts, and it has a USB port for importing additional designs. The 500E has an automatic thread cutter and a top-loading bobbin system for easy use. The LCD touchscreen makes it easy to navigate through the machine’s functions and edit designs on the fly. The machine also comes with a bonus package of extra hoops and embroidery thread, making it a great value for any embroidery enthusiast. Janome machines can accept two file formats mostly JEF format is used of the modern machines like MC550e, Atelier 9, M17.

Features:

• Maximum embroidery size: 7.9″ x 11″
• 160 built-in designs
• 6 fonts for monogramming
• 2 and 3 letter monogramming
• Embroidery sewing speed: 400-860 SPM
• Flexible stitch traveling (by units of 1, 10, 100)
• Auto return post thread break
• On-screen editing

Data from: Janome MC 500E

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Individual assignments

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A). Setting up the sewing machine.

The materiales I just specify above are the ones i'm using to make my design. Its important to know that the Janome MC500e has more accesories that we can use in case we need them. In my case the ones I already specify are the ones i'll be using for my assignments. So before using the sewing machine I read the Instruction Book and some tutorials jus to be sure and prevent from doing too much "picnic" errors. Well, of course i'm going to document them to prevent future users from doing them , hope to make just a few.

Here's the Instruction book, just in case you want it: Janome MC500e

So lets begin following the steps:

1. First make sure you connect the machine correctly. This may seen unnecesary to document, but we never know.
2. Turn on the machine, the button is on top of the power cord.
• Once you turn it on, you'll see in the screen 3 main options.
• Integrated designs, letters/monograms and the grid (Editing menu).
3. Explore the different menu options that the machine provides.

B). Getting to know the option menu.

A very important part of using a machine, as we all know, is to know the different options we can use and of course reading the manual...... well, you know! So in this next part i'll show the different options the janome-memory-craft-500e has. So lets begin:

B1). Common settings

In this first section we find general options of the machine.

• Setting screen contrast, volume and units of measurement.
• Calibration option, format and time before it goes to stand by.
• Thread options that tells if theres enough of it to finish the design.
• Cleaning options, background color anda reset button.

B2). Embroidery settings

In this part you'll find options that can be modify and sets how the machines will work. So we got to be careful. This are the options:

1. Tension and remaining bobbin thread.
• In the first option I just let it as auto.
• In the remaining option it's important to define a number that indicates in what moment the machine will show an alert that the thread is about to run out.
2. Stitch speed, One stitch stop and grouping color so we don't have to change of colors several times.
3. Hoop options like size and calibration.
4. Border configuration, it recommended to just leave as it shows.
5. Then type of thread.
6. And finally the grid option, which helps see the grid in the screen to make sure the design has the right size and the Resume option ot start were it stop because of a possible error.

B3). Other options

And in the next images you'll see other options. It's important to know them:

1. Language settings, careful leave it in you native language.
2. And in the las option we can find some tutorials.

C). Getting ready to sew.

Now we are ready to start our sewing. We have to prepare the materials and the machine previous to start our design. I've never use an electric sewing machine, I remember that in high school they taught us some basic things like attach a button to a shirt, put a patch on a jeans and now that I remember we did a pillow/cushion and paste some ejes and hair. That was a couple of years ago.... lets begin:

C1). Preparing the fabric.

I follow the next steps to prepare the fabric where I am going to embroider my design.

1. Measure the hoop to make sure we have enough fabric, blanket and pelum (no idea of the translation).
2. Cut both fabric a little bigger then the size of the hoop.
3. Assemble the hoop with the fabric.
4. Secure it with the clamps.

C2). Preparing the machine.

Once we have the fabric ready for our design, we have to prepare the machine and the thread. This was kind a tricky becuase I had to do several steps to prepare the thread correctly. So, instead of images I record some videos with all the steps.

C3). Sewing our design.

Now that we have prepare the fabric and machine we are ready to start sewing. In this part i'm going to show you some results. In each result you can see the front and back of each design.

• Result #1:

• Result #2:

• Result #3:

Now in this part I didn't use the pelium so it shows the difference on the backward part.

D). Another design

In this part of my assignment I decided to use a design from the internet and not a pre design that comes with the machine. This what I do:

• The first thing I had to do is to verify the format of the design. In my case my Snoopy design was in a .jpg format so I had to convert it to .jef
• I watched several tutorial of software I could use. I think I tried like 3 different software and finally I decided to use Sewart 64 (trial version)
• SewArt helps convert the image you which to .jef format and prepare it to use it in the machine.
• In case you wish to use the Sewart embroidery digitizer, you can downloaded from here: Sewart embroidery digitizer
• This is just a trial version, but in the web page you can find a way to purchase it.

D1). Preparing for the machine

To start the sewing process of the image I:

1. Upload the image to the SewArt 64 software.
2. Use the "magic assistent".
• Reduce the amount of colors, in my case 2
• Put together similar colors.
• Reduce specks for better sewing.
3. In every step you can choose one of the options but you have to check if the one you chose is ok by looking at the right image.

D2). Converting the design format to .jef

Now that the image has been prepare I have to change its format.

1. Now I use the option to convert the image to stitches.
2. The stitch all colors and wait for a little while.
3. In the rigt part of the screen you can see all the stitching process that the machine is going to do.
4. Before saving the design you can erase any part you know is unnecesary, for me the background which is the number 1 stitch.
5. Just right click tha stitch and erase color.
6. Always check the result.
7. Save the design, I save it as bmp and followed by that SewArt is going to ask you to save it in another format, .jef for me.
8. Next, it'll show you the final result.

D3). Using the Embroidery editor

Before using the machine, I use the Embroidery editor (machine software) that will copy the image correctly so it can be read by the machine. Here are the steps:

1. Choose the correct size hoop.
2. Go to design button and upload the .jef we prepare in the last step.
3. Use the button write a design.
4. And finally you can change the name of the design (red rectangle), select the usb (yellow rectangle) and transfer (green rectangle).
5. Now we are ready to sew our design.

D4). Final result

Here are the results I got from the sewing process.

Result #1:

For some reason it didn't do the body, maybe a problem of design. And yes, yes!.... I know, snoopy is black and white. So I gave it another try.

Result #2:

It took about 3 hours to complete this one, for some reason the thread came off the needle several times. I think the type of thread I was using.

Just a few details, but I like it better.... of course snoopy is black and white! Here is a picture of the final result and a few videos of the sewing process.

P.I.C.N.I.C section

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A). Thread

So this was my first p.i.c.n.i.c error of the week. I hope is the only one. While I was trying to thread the thread into the bobbin. My error was that I didn't read that part of the manual because I thought it didn't matter which way I wound the thread, guess what? Big, big, big mistake! Look where the thread was wound

B). No palium

And another one came up. I make a test and decide not tu use palium under the fabric. The result shows that the stitches didn't look ok and the thread could get ruined easily. So palium is very important to get a better result in the final result.

Final part

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Files

This are the files for my snoopy design:

• Design: Snoopy design

Conclusions and recomendations

What did I learn in this week?

• Document, document, document it's very important that you don't wait until last minute, so do it as you go.
• As documentation, compress images and videos as you go and make sure the formats are the required.
• Get to know the materials, equipment and components.
• Read the manual, read the manual, read the manual don't think that the machine works the way you think! Big mistake.
• Make sure you use the right materials, specially the thread.
• Get help from people with experience, when I bought the materials I ask people to give me advice on what I was planning to do.
• The type of thread that is going to be used is very important. Yes, the machine is going to sew but the thread will come out of the neddle.
• Even though I got good quality/type thread I had several issues. So, I think that if I had the brand/type of thread I wouldn't have had that problem.