The rule is to start promoting 4 to 6 weeks before the date and close the order book 7 to 10 days before, because personalized embroidery is not made the night before.

Below, the month-by-month calendar with 2027 dates, what to offer for each and a planning template.

Why does an embroidery shop need a sales calendar?

Personalized embroidery has production time and depends on the customer remembering to order. Shops that wait for orders sit idle in March and turn away work the week before Mother's Day. Shops that plan promote ahead, spread production out and sell higher-priced sets instead of last-minute single pieces.

The calendar also drives inventory (white towels for May, bodysuits for baby season, caps for summer) and your Instagram content, as covered in how to sell embroidery on Instagram and by DM.

What are the key dates of the year for embroidery?

2027 dates. Movable dates (Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday) follow the rules noted and change every year.

Birthdays are not on the calendar, but they are the most predictable sale: the Clients module in Meus Bordados stores birthdays and reminds you to send a message with an embroidered gift idea.

What should you offer for each date?

Mother's Day: the biggest date of the year

This is when monogrammed towels, robes and aprons sell themselves. Build sets at a fixed price (bath + hand towel with monogram, robe + slippers, apron + tea towel) and offer gift wrapping. Open the order book April 1 and close it April 30; in the final days, sell only in-stock blanks with short names. Styles and sizes are in embroidered monograms.

Back to school: volume and repeat orders

Names on backpacks, lunch bags, towels and uniform polos. The sale is about quantity: offer per-item pricing with a break from 5 pieces and work with school parent groups and PTAs. It is also the season to land spirit-wear and uniform contracts with the schools themselves.

Graduation and Father's Day

Graduation brings class tees, stoles and dorm towels in school colors. Father's Day brings men's pieces with a single initial or short name: polos, caps, grilling aprons, golf towels. Block or classic serif fonts, tone on tone.

Holiday season

Two fronts: gifts (stockings, family pajamas, ornaments, robes) and businesses (embroidered gifts and new uniforms for the coming year). Companies decide in October and November; send your corporate catalog in September. Black Friday and Small Business Saturday work best as "order early" incentives, not as discounts on last-minute work.

How do you plan production so you never turn away an order?

1. In January, mark the dates from the chart on your calendar and, for each one, the promotion start (4 to 6 weeks before) and the order cutoff (7 to 10 days before).
2. Work out your capacity: how many pieces can you stitch in a working day? A name on a towel takes about 15 minutes including prep; a uniform logo, 10 to 20. Multiply by the days available before the date: that is your maximum order count. Do not accept more.
3. Prepare templates ahead: monograms in 3 fonts and 2 sizes, saved as .bordado files under My files. On the day, you only swap the letters and export.
4. Buy blanks for the bestsellers (white and gray towels, bodysuits, plain caps) 6 weeks ahead, while suppliers still have stock and lead time.
5. Promote in three waves: launch (6 weeks out), reminder (3 weeks) and "last orders" (10 days), always with a direct message link.
6. Log each order on the Orders board with its due date; the In production column shows whether the queue fits your schedule, and receivables shows pending deposits.

Last-minute orders in Mother's Day week only on in-stock blanks with short names, at a rush price. Taking everything is the fastest way to delay the orders of people who booked early.

Smaller dates worth working for embroidery

• Teacher Appreciation Week (early May): class gifts organized by parents; send the offer to school groups in early April.
• Weddings (May to October peak): couple's monograms on towels, robes for the bridal party, ring-bearer pillows, welcome totes.
• Baby showers: year-round. Blankets, bodysuits, hooded towels and bibs with names, usually ordered by the host 3 to 4 weeks ahead.
• Team season (spring and fall): caps, polos and bags for Little League, soccer and cheer; one order can mean 20 to 60 pieces.
• Local events: town festivals, 5K races, church and school fundraisers that need caps and tees in quantity.
• Corporate year-end and trade shows: polos and caps for sales teams, often decided in Q3 for Q1 delivery.

What is the biggest selling date for embroidery in the US?

Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May (May 9, 2027), with monogrammed towels, robes and aprons. By volume of pieces, back to school in August comes close.

How far ahead should I promote?

4 to 6 weeks before the date, with a reminder 3 weeks out and a "last orders" notice 10 days out. The order cutoff should be 7 to 10 days before the date.

Should an embroidery shop do Black Friday?

Yes, as an early-holiday sale: a discount for orders placed by the end of November, which moves December production earlier. Avoid discounting last-minute finished work.

When is Father's Day in 2027?

June 20, 2027, the third Sunday in June. Start promoting May 15 and close orders by June 10.

How do I remember each customer's dates?

Store birthdays in the Clients module of Meus Bordados; it shows upcoming birthdays so you can message ahead. Weddings and births are worth a note on the customer record too.

Before digitizing, simplify: letters under 3/16" (5 mm), gradients and strokes thinner than 1 mm do not exist in embroidery and must be adapted, with the customer's sign-off.

What closes the job without redos is written approval of a stitched sample on the same fabric as the uniform, before you run the batch.

What changes between a printed logo and an embroidered one?

The logo the company sends was made for screens and paper: gradients, drop shadows, hairlines and sometimes a tagline in tiny type underneath. Embroidery is made of 0.4 mm thread and reproduces none of that literally. Digitizing is translating the logo into thread: deciding what becomes satin, what becomes fill, what becomes a running outline and what goes away.

So the first step is not opening the software; it is looking at the logo and listing what has to change. The sooner the customer understands that "the embroidery is a version of the logo, not a copy", the faster the order moves.

• Gradients become a flat color (or two colors side by side, if the customer insists).
• Small lettering: the legible minimum is 3/16" (5 mm) tall in satin; below that, the tagline goes or grows.
• Thin strokes (under 1 mm) become running stitch or thicken to 1.2 to 1.5 mm.
• Black keylines around everything often go, because in embroidery the satin edge already defines the shape.
• Large flat backgrounds become fill or go away, using the garment color as background (fewer stitches, lighter, cheaper).
• Shadows and glow effects go.

What are the standard logo sizes on uniforms?

Make one file per size, not one resized file. The 3.5" chest logo and the 10" back logo have different density, underlay and detail: on the back, the small lettering returns and the background can become fill; on the chest, they go. See why in DST vs PES vs JEF.

How do you digitize the logo step by step?

1. Ask for the logo as a vector (SVG, PDF, AI or EPS) and, failing that, the largest PNG with a transparent background the company has. Also ask for color codes (Pantone, CMYK or hex) to match thread.
2. Set the final size in inches and millimeters from the chart above and the garment being stitched. Write it down.
3. Open the Meus Bordados editor, start a new design and load the image as a background, already scaled to the final size. See turning an image into embroidery.
4. Trace over it with the shape tools: wide areas in Tatami, narrow shapes (up to 10 mm) in Satin, lines as Running-stitch outline. For simple logos with few colors, Instant digitizing generates the areas automatically and you only adjust.
5. Rebuild the text with the Text tool instead of stitching the letters from the image: the software generates clean satin along the font. If the logo font is not on your computer, choose the closest one from the library and tell the customer.
6. Order the objects: backgrounds first, then shapes, then lettering and outlines, grouping by color to reduce changes. See colors and stitching order.
7. Set underlay and pull compensation for the uniform fabric: piqué and knits want zigzag underlay and slightly higher compensation; twill and canvas stay at default.
8. Simulate, check the total stitch count in the footer (a left chest logo usually runs 4,000 to 12,000 stitches) and export SVG for the preview and DST, PES or JEF for the machine.

A logo with a solid white background on a dark polo becomes a 15,000 to 20,000-stitch block, stiff and expensive. Propose the "no background" version, with the logo colors stitched straight onto the fabric: that is what most brands do on uniforms.

How do you get customer approval without redos?

On uniforms, a mistake costs the whole batch. Approval has three stages, each recorded in writing (email or text):

1. Approval of the adaptation (before digitizing)

Send the customer an image of the logo with the changes marked ("tagline removed", "gradient becomes flat blue", "outline thickened") and the size in inches over a photo of the garment. Ask for a "go ahead". This prevents the "but the original has a highlight here" conversation after the embroidery is done.

2. Approval of the preview (after digitizing)

Export the SVG from the editor and send it with the thread list (name and color number). The Meus Bordados 3D preview already shows the texture and helps the customer picture it; still, make clear it is a simulation.

3. Approval of the stitched sample (before the batch)

Stitch the logo on a swatch of the same fabric and color as the uniform (ask the supplier for a sample garment or swatch) and send a photo, or hand over the sample. Charge for the sample (and credit it if the order closes): it is work, and customers who will not pay for a sample tend not to order. Only after the written "approved" do you run the batch.

Keep the physical sample with the customer's name and date. On the next order it is the reference for color and size. In Meus Bordados, attach the .bordado to the order card and register the company under Clients, with the contact who approves.

How do you charge for digitizing and the batch?

The trade charges a digitizing fee once per size, plus a per-piece embroidery price that drops with quantity (breaks at 12, 24, 48, 100 pieces). The chest file costs less than the back file, which has more stitches and detail. If the customer brings a file digitized elsewhere, charge a check-and-test fee, because you will stitch the sample all the same.

Spell out in the quote what happens if the logo changes later (new file, new fee) and that turnaround counts from sample approval, not from first contact. See the full method in how to price custom embroidery.

What is the standard size for a left chest logo?

3.5 to 4" wide and up to 3" tall, centered 7 to 9" below the shoulder seam and 4 to 5" from center front. Horizontal logos can reach 4.5" wide at 2" tall.

How big should a full back logo be?

8 to 11" wide, centered 3 to 5" below the collar. It needs an 8 × 12" hoop or larger.

What size logo fits on a cap?

Up to 4.5" wide by 2 to 2.25" tall on the front, depending on the cap style and cap frame. Letters at least 5/16" (8 mm).

Can I use the same file for the chest and the back?

No. Resizing more than 10% to 20% ruins density. Make one file per size: the back file brings back details the chest file simplified.

The customer sent a tiny JPG. Now what?

Ask the company's designer or printer for the vector; almost every company has one. If it does not exist, trace the shapes over the image in the editor and rebuild the text with the Text tool in the closest font.

The criteria that matter, in order: the embroidery field, whether it does caps, the number of needles (automatic color changes), the formats it reads and service near you. Brand and speed come after.

Below, a general comparison of the three categories and the questions to ask before you pay.

What should you evaluate before looking at brands?

The machine is the biggest purchase in the shop, and the marketing talks about speed and "thousands of built-in designs", which are the least important items. Evaluate in this order:

• Embroidery field (maximum hoop size): it defines what you can sell. 4 × 4" covers names, small monograms and left-chest logos; 5 × 7" opens up baby items, towels with designs and two-line names; 8 × 12" and up allow jacket backs and blankets. See hoop sizes explained.
• Caps: only free-arm machines with a cap frame embroider structured caps. If caps are in the plan, that rules out flatbed home machines.
• Number of needles: one needle means stopping to rethread at every color; 6 to 15 needles change automatically. On a 6-color logo that is 5 stops per piece.
• Formats it reads: PES on Brother and Baby Lock, JEF on Janome, DST on nearly every commercial machine. Meus Bordados exports all three, so any machine works; check the manual. See DST vs PES vs JEF.
• Service and parts in your area: a machine down for 30 days waiting for a part costs more than the price difference between two brands.
• Speed (stitches per minute): matters less than it looks. A home machine at 650 spm takes about 8 minutes on a 5,000-stitch name; at 1,000 spm, about 5. The real productivity gain is in needles and fewer stops, not speed.
• Total cost: add extra hoops, the cap frame, a stand, thread, stabilizer and digitizing software. The machine is about half the investment.

Home, multi-needle or commercial: what is the difference?

We do not quote prices for specific models because they change constantly and vary between dealers. Always compare the price with hoops, stand and warranty included, and be wary of listings that call a home machine "commercial".

Which models are common in each category?

A few examples to guide your research, with the specifications the manufacturers themselves publish. This is not a ranking: the best machine is the one with service near you that fits your plan.

Home single-needle

Brother PE535, PE800 and PE900 (the PE900 has a 5 × 7" field and up to 650 stitches per minute, per Brother's page), Brother SE1900 and Innov-is models (sew and embroider), Baby Lock, Janome Memory Craft 500E and 550E (the 550E has a maximum area of 7.9 × 14.2", 860 spm and reads JEF, JEF+ and JPX, per Janome), Bernina and Husqvarna Viking. They read PES (Brother, Baby Lock), JEF (Janome) or their own formats; many Brothers also read DST.

Single-head multi-needle

Brother PR680W and PR1055X, Baby Lock Array and Venture, Janome MB-7, Ricoma EM-1010 and MT series, Tajima SAI, Happy HCH, Melco EMT16X and SWF MAS. The Brother PR1X, a single-needle with a free arm and cap frame, sits between categories: a 12 × 8" field and up to 1,000 spm, per Brother. All of them embroider caps and read DST (the Brother PRs also read PES).

Commercial

Tajima, Barudan, ZSK, SWF, Ricoma and Happy build machines with 1 to 12 or more heads, 12 to 15 needles each, used by apparel decorators serving resellers and corporate accounts. The used market is large; a serviced single-head commercial machine can be a better entry than a new multi-needle, as long as there is a technician in your area.

New or used?

An embroidery machine lasts decades with care, so used is a real option, especially for multi-needle and commercial machines where the price gap is wide. Before buying used: ask to see it stitch a file of yours (bring a DST with satin and fill), check the stitch counter if it has one, listen to it at top speed, make sure all hoops are included and ask who did the last service.

For home machines, used makes less sense: the savings are small and you lose the warranty. Buying new from a dealer who includes training usually pays off.

Does digitizing software count?

It does, and many people forget it. The machine only stitches what it receives ready; to sell names, monograms and logos you have to create the design file. Options range from one-time-purchase programs with expensive licenses (Wilcom, Pulse, PE-Design) to subscription and online tools.

Meus Bordados runs in the browser, generates names, lettering and logos in DST, PES and JEF, shows them in 3D and includes the shop's order and customer tracking, on a monthly subscription with a free trial. For someone starting with a home machine, it is a small cost next to the machine. See the comparison of online vs installed embroidery software and the plans.

Before you choose the machine, decide what you will sell in the first six months. Towels and baby gifts from home: a 5 × 7" home machine. Uniforms and caps for businesses: a multi-needle, even used. People who buy a machine "for everything" tend to overpay and use half of it.

Checklist for the dealer visit

1. Bring a USB stick with your own file (a 2.5" satin name and a logo with fill) in DST and PES, exported from the editor.
2. Ask them to stitch your file on a knit scrap and a terry scrap with the stabilizer they recommend. Look at the back.
3. Ask: maximum field in inches and millimeters, hoops included, whether it does caps (and the cap frame price), formats accepted, warranty and where service is done.
4. Ask the price of a service visit and of the wear parts (needles, bobbin case, trimmer blade).
5. Confirm whether the dealer includes training and in what form (in person, video, group).
6. Write everything down and compare two or three options at home, never at the store.

Can you start an embroidery business with a home machine?

Yes, and that is how most people start. A 5 × 7" home machine handles baby gifts, towels, names, monograms and patches. The limit shows up with caps and multi-color uniform orders, where manual thread changes add up.

How many needles do I need?

For names and monograms, one needle is enough. For company logos with 4 to 8 colors in volume, 6 needles or more save hours of rethreading every week.

Is a combination sewing and embroidery machine worth it?

If you also sew (baby items, bags), yes: it saves space. If you only embroider, a dedicated embroidery machine usually offers a larger field for the same money.

Which machines read DST, PES and JEF?

Brother and Baby Lock read PES (many also DST); Janome reads JEF; multi-needle and commercial machines read DST, and the Brother PRs also read PES. Meus Bordados exports all three, so the format should not decide the purchase.

Is a used commercial machine a good way to start?

It can be, if there is a technician in your area and you have demand for uniforms and caps. For baby items and small pieces at home, a commercial machine is big, loud and unnecessary.

What sells is not follower count but three basics done right: sharp close-up photos, a catalog with starting prices, and a message script that answers fast and asks the right questions.

Below, each piece step by step and a ready-to-adapt message script.

Why do Instagram and messaging work so well for embroidery?

Embroidery is visual and personalized. Visual because the customer decides from the photo: she needs to see the thread texture, the finish and the whole item. Personalized because almost every order has a name, a color or a size to settle, and that takes a conversation. Instagram handles the first part, messaging the second.

Most orders for a small shop come from referrals and from people in the same town or region. That changes the strategy: you do not need to go viral; you need people who already know you to find good photos, a starting price and a button to message you. The rest is customer service.

Which embroidery photos sell?

You do not need a professional camera. A phone, window light and a clean background are enough. What matters is showing the embroidery the way the customer will see it in real life.

• Close-up of the stitching (the hero shot): 8 to 12" away, with side light from a window so the thread relief shows. No flash, which flattens the stitches.
• The whole item: the towel folded, the shirt on a hanger or on someone, the cap from the front. The customer needs to judge the embroidery size against the item.
• In use: towel in the bathroom, bodysuit on the baby, uniforms on the crew. Real-life photos convert better than studio shots.
• Before and after: the customer's logo on screen and the finished embroidery side by side. It shows your digitizing work, which is invisible to people outside the trade.
• Short process video: 10 to 15 seconds of the machine stitching, original sound. It is the content that gets the most saves and shares for embroidery shops.

Photograph every piece before delivery, in the same corner with the same light. In three months you have a photographed catalog with no extra effort. Ask permission when a piece has a child's name or a company logo.

How do you build an embroidery catalog?

The catalog is what saves you from answering "how much?" fifty times a day. It does not need fixed prices for everything (custom work varies), but it does need starting prices ("from $X") and what is included.

Organize by item type, not by technique: the customer thinks "towel with a name", not "satin stitch at 60 mm". For each item: photo, what is included (blank + embroidery or embroidery only), design size, turnaround and starting price.

To set starting prices, work out your cost per design and your margin as explained in how to price custom embroidery. Prices that are too low in the catalog attract the wrong customer and keep you busy all month without profit.

What is the message script?

Most orders are lost between "hi, how much?" and the deposit, through slow replies or missing information. A script fixes that. Save the messages below as saved replies (Instagram) or quick replies (WhatsApp Business) and adapt the tone.

1. Immediate reply (even if you are at the machine): "Hi [name]! Thanks for reaching out, this is [your name] at [shop]. Tell me: what item do you want embroidered and with what (name, logo, design)?" An auto-reply can send this first message for you.
2. Questions that set the price, in one message so it does not feel like an interrogation: item (or do you supply it?), what gets embroidered, approximate size, quantity, fabric color, date needed.
3. Preview: for a name or monogram, build it in the Meus Bordados editor and send the image (Export → SVG or a screenshot of the 3D view) with the chosen font and color. For a logo, send a before-and-after of a similar job. The preview is what raises your close rate the most.
4. Clear quote: "Bath towel with name at 2.5", font X, thread Y: $00 (towel included) or $00 (you supply the towel). Turnaround: 5 business days after deposit. 50% deposit to get on the schedule."
5. Closing: when the deposit arrives, confirm in writing everything that will be stitched, with the exact spelling. "Confirmed: ANNA-LOUISE, with hyphen, font X, navy, white towel, ready Friday." That text is your insurance against redos.
6. Ready notice with a photo of the finished piece: "It's done! Here's a photo. Pickup or shipping?" The finished photo is also the moment to ask permission to post it.
7. Follow-up, one week later: "Hi [name], how is the towel working out? Want me to send you ideas for [next date]?" That is where repeat orders come from.

Never start stitching without the spelling confirmed in writing by the customer and without the deposit paid. The two rules sound strict, but they prevent the two biggest losses in the shop: the misspelled name and the finished piece nobody picks up.

What should you post every week?

Consistency beats volume. Three posts a week in the same visual style do more than ten one week and none the next. A simple plan:

• Monday: last week's finished piece (close-up + whole item in a carousel), with what was ordered and the starting price in the caption.
• Wednesday: behind the scenes or a short process video; or a useful tip ("why towels need a wash-away topping") that shows you know the craft.
• Friday: a call for the next date ("3 weeks to Mother's Day; last orders by the Xth") with a direct link to message you. See the sales calendar for embroidery shops.
• Stories every day: the machine running, the thread you picked, the piece coming off. Stories keep the shop top of mind for people who already follow, and are the place for the poll "which font do you prefer?".

In captions, always write the town and the service ("custom embroidery in Asheville"): that is how Instagram and Google show your profile to people searching nearby. Hashtags help a little; location and plain wording help a lot.

How do you keep track of orders that come in through messages?

Past five orders a week, your inbox turns into chaos: you do not remember who paid a deposit, whether the name had a hyphen and when it was due. The fix is to pull the order out of the conversation and onto a board.

In Meus Bordados every job becomes a card under Orders, moving through Quote, Approved, In production, Ready and Delivered, with deposit and balance recorded, the customer linked (with a WhatsApp button under Clients) and the .bordado file attached. When it is time to stitch, you open the card, open the file and export, without digging through chats. The financial dashboard shows what came in this month and what is still owed.

Even without software, keep at least a spreadsheet with: customer, phone, item, exact text, color, size, price, deposit, due date and status. The point is to get the information out of the chat thread.

Do I need a business license to sell embroidery on Instagram?

Requirements vary by state and city; many home-based shops start as a sole proprietor and register a DBA or LLC when business customers ask for invoices. Check your state's small business office and collect sales tax where required.

Should I put prices in my posts?

Put at least the starting price. People who see no price do not ask, and people who ask with no reference tend to think it is expensive. "From $18" filters and attracts the right customer.

How do I send the customer a preview?

Build the name in the Meus Bordados editor, check it in 3D and export an SVG, or take a screenshot. Send it with the font and color chosen and ask for written confirmation.

How much deposit should I charge?

The common practice is 50% to get on the schedule and 50% at delivery. On business orders where you supply the blanks, collect the full cost of the blanks in the deposit.

The right font depends on the item: delicate scripts for shirting and baby linens, block letters for towels and robes, circle styles for totes and pillows.

Sizes run from 1/2" on a shirt cuff to 4" on a bath towel; the chart below has the measurements that work.

What is the correct letter order in a monogram?

The most common confusion, and the one that causes the most redos, is the order. There are two formats:

• Traditional monogram (three letters, middle one larger): first name, last name, middle name. For Anna Beth Carter: a C b, with the C larger. The big center letter is the surname, and that is what customers usually do not know.
• Initials in sequence (same-size letters): first, middle, last, in normal order: A B C. Use it when all three letters are the same height, typically in block fonts.
• Couple's monogram: one partner's initial, the shared last-name initial in the middle, the other partner's initial: a C p for Anna and Peter Carter. Tradition puts the woman's initial on the left, but ask.
• Single letter: the last-name initial on household items (towels, sheets, napkins) or the first-name initial on personal items (shirt, tote, cosmetic bag).

Confirm the order in writing before stitching, ideally with an image of the assembled monogram. Export the SVG from the editor, text it to the customer and ask for an "OK". A monogram stitched in the wrong order cannot be fixed.

What are the monogram styles and where does each one work?

Which fonts stitch well as monograms?

Not every font that looks good on screen stitches well. For monograms, look for fonts with even stroke width (not hairline-thin, not extreme thick-thin contrast), open curves and letters that do not touch at small sizes. In Meus Bordados you can pick from the font library, the fonts installed on your computer or a TTF/OTF file, and the software generates satin stitches along each letter's stroke. See text and fonts.

By item:

• Shirting and cuffs: thin, elegant scripts or classic serifs (Times, Garamond style) at 3/8 to 5/8". Use 60 wt thread and a 65/9 needle so the stroke stays fine.
• Towels and robes: heavy fonts with a stroke of 3 mm or more at 2.5" tall: heavy serifs (Bodoni, Clarendon style) or "fat" scripts. Thin strokes sink into the loops even with topping.
• Baby items: rounded scripts with no sharp points, or playful fonts with a medium stroke. Avoid pointed serifs.
• Totes and leather: block or circle with reduced density; every hole is permanent.
• Uniforms and corporate: block or sans serif (Arial, Helvetica style) at 3/4 to 1.25", legible from a distance.

Fonts with ligatures and alternates make unique monograms: in the editor, with the text selected, click Insert symbol… to see every glyph in the font, including hidden swashes, and filter by Special ones only.

What size monogram for each item?

Values below are the height of the center (largest) letter. For the side letters in the classic style, use 60% to 70% of that height.

How do you build a classic monogram in Meus Bordados?

1. Open the editor, pick the Text tool and type the last-name initial. Set the height (for example 60 mm, about 2.4", for a hand towel) and the font.
2. Create a second text object with the first-name initial and a third with the middle initial, at 60% to 70% of the center height (36 to 42 mm in the example).
3. Position the side letters with the measurement bar and the align buttons: align all three by the baseline or by vertical center, depending on the style. Leave 1 to 2 mm between letters; scripts may overlap slightly.
4. Under Object properties, use Satin for strokes up to 10 mm wide; above that, Tatami or satin with Auto split. On terry, raise pull compensation a little.
5. Group the three letters, pick your machine's hoop under Hoop and check the clearance. See size, position and hoop.
6. Click Simulate, export the SVG for the customer and, once approved, export DST, PES or JEF. Save the .bordado under the customer's name: the next order only changes the letters.

For frames, vines and wreaths, import a ready-made design from the Library and merge it with the letters. See ready-made designs and categories. Full names are covered in how to digitize names and lettering.

How do you sell monograms?

• Keep a style catalog with 6 to 10 options photographed on the same item (a white towel, say), numbered. The customer picks by number and you do not rebuild the preview from scratch.
• True-size preview: export the SVG and show it over a photo of the item; for towels, print it on paper and lay it on the towel.
• Sets: bath + hand towel, pillowcases in pairs, cosmetic bag + hand towel. Monograms sell better as sets.
• Dates: Mother's Day, weddings (couple's monograms), births, graduations and Christmas. See the sales calendar for embroidery shops.

Meus Bordados keeps every job under Orders, linked to the customer and the .bordado file, which makes repeating the monogram next year easy. See the features.

Which letter goes in the middle of a monogram?

In the traditional three-letter monogram, the last-name initial goes in the middle, larger. The first-name initial is on the left and the middle-name initial on the right. If all three letters are the same size, the order is first, middle, last.

What size monogram for a bath towel?

2.5 to 4" tall for the center letter, centered above the border 3 to 4" up. For a hand towel, 1.5 to 2.5".

What font should I use for a towel monogram?

Heavy fonts with a stroke of at least 3 mm at final size: heavy serifs or bold scripts. Thin strokes sink into the terry loops. Use wash-away topping.

Can I stitch monograms on a 4 × 4" machine?

Yes. Monograms up to 3.5" fit a 4 × 4" hoop; for a large bath towel, a 5 × 7" gives more room.

Couple's monogram: who goes first?

Traditionally the woman's initial on the left, the shared last name in the middle and the man's on the right. Many couples today prefer alphabetical or another arrangement: ask.

Appliqué follows the same logic directly on the garment: the machine stitches a placement line, you lay the fabric down, it tacks it with a tack-down stitch, you trim, and a satin border covers the cut edge.

Both save stitches (and machine time) on large areas and are among the most requested items for uniforms, schools, teams and baby gifts.

What is the difference between a patch and an appliqué?

A patch (badge, emblem) is a separate piece: you embroider it on a base, cut it out and deliver it loose for the customer to sew, iron or velcro on. It is the format of team crests, company emblems, scouts, motorcycle clubs and backpack patch collections. The business advantage is big: you stitch in batches, never handle the customer's garment, and can ship by mail.

Appliqué is a piece of fabric held to the garment by the embroidery. Instead of filling a 3 × 3" area with 20,000 tatami stitches, you lay a printed or solid fabric down and stitch only the border. The result is lighter, softer and faster to produce, which is why it dominates baby items, kids' tees and blankets.

Both rely on the same design element: a satin border that covers the transition between fabric and base. In Meus Bordados it lives under Object properties → Outlines, as Satin border, Zigzag border and E-stitch border. See stitch types and settings.

How do you make an embroidered patch, step by step?

Materials

• Base: firm felt (2 to 3 mm), twill or canvas over two layers of tear-away, or patch twill with a heat-seal back.
• Stabilizer: medium tear-away (two layers) or heavy fibrous wash-away if you want nothing left on the back.
• Thread: 40 wt polyester with a 75/11 or 80/12 needle.
• Heat-seal film (double-sided fusible) for the back, if the patch will be ironed on.
• Sharp curved scissors or appliqué scissors.

Steps

1. Digitize the file in three layers, in this order: (1) a running stitch on the exact patch outline, as a guide; (2) the inner design (lettering, logo, fills); (3) the satin border, 2.5 to 3 mm wide, over the outline, closing the patch. How to build shapes is in drawing tools.
2. Hoop the base with stabilizer underneath. To make several patches per hooping, duplicate the design in the editor and spread the copies across the field, 1/2" apart.
3. Stitch the guide outline and the inner design. Stop before the border, if your machine can stop by color (make the border the last color in the file).
4. Trim the base 1 mm outside the guide line without unhooping. This is the trick: the satin border will cover the cut edge, and the patch comes out clean with no fraying.
5. Stitch the satin border. It should land half on the base and half on the stabilizer, wrapping the cut edge.
6. Unhoop, remove the stabilizer (tear or dissolve) and clip any stray threads.
7. Apply heat-seal film to the back with a hot iron and parchment paper on top, if it is an iron-on patch.

Round, oval and rounded-rectangle patches are easier to trim and to stitch than shapes with sharp points, where the satin border tends to open. If the customer's crest has points, round them by 1 mm.

How do you do appliqué on the machine?

Appliqué directly on the garment has four steps, each as a separate color in the file so the machine stops between them:

1. Placement line: a running stitch on the shape outline, stitched straight onto the hooped garment (with the right stabilizer: cut-away on knits, tear-away on cotton). It shows where the fabric goes.
2. Lay the fabric: cut a piece of appliqué fabric slightly larger than the shape, fuse light fusible web to its back (optional but helpful) and set it over the placement line. Temporary spray holds it.
3. Tack-down: a second running stitch (or open zigzag) 1 mm inside the outline that holds the fabric to the garment.
4. Trim: without unhooping, cut the excess fabric close to the tack-down with curved scissors, taking care not to cut the garment. The closer the trim, the cleaner the edge.
5. Satin border: the last color covers the tack-down and the cut edge. Width 2 to 3 mm on adult garments; 1.5 to 2 mm on baby items.
6. Details on top: name, eyes, inner outlines, always after the border, once the fabric is secured.

The underlay of the satin border is what holds the appliqué after washing. Do not switch underlay off to "save stitches": without it, the border sinks into the fabric edge and the appliqué lifts over time.

Which fabrics work for appliqué?

How do you build patch and appliqué files in the editor?

• Draw the shape with Closed shape, Rectangle or Ellipse. Duplicate it (Ctrl+D) so you have one copy per step: guide, tack-down and border.
• On the guide copy and the tack-down copy, choose Running-stitch outline under Outlines, no fill. On the tack-down, reduce the size 1 mm in the measurement bar.
• On the border copy, choose Satin border 2 to 3 mm wide, zigzag underlay and default spacing.
• Give each step a different color in the color palette, even if the thread is the same: the color change is what makes the machine stop so you can place and trim. See colors and stitching order.
• Order them in Objects, in stitching order: guide → (fabric) → tack-down → (trim) → border → details. Click Simulate to check the sequence.
• Save the .bordado and export DST, PES or JEF. Keep the project: the next order with a different shape or size starts from it.

For a name or initial inside the appliqué, add a Text object on top and order it last. Height and font tips are in how to digitize names and lettering.

How do you price patches and appliqué?

Patches are usually sold per unit with quantity breaks: the price for 10 is higher per piece than for 100, because digitizing and setup are the same. Include the base, stabilizer, heat-seal, trimming time (manual, and longer than it looks) and the digitizing fee, charged separately or spread across the order.

Appliqué is priced like regular embroidery, by machine time and by stops: every stop to place fabric and trim is your time standing at the machine. As a rule, appliqué has fewer stitches but more hands-on work than the equivalent fill. The full method is in how to price custom embroidery.

Common patch and appliqué mistakes

• Cutting the base inside the guide line. The border does not cover it and a white edge shows. Always cut 1 mm outside.
• Satin border too narrow (under 2 mm). Does not cover the cut and opens on curves.
• Forgetting to separate steps by color. The machine does not stop and stitches the tack-down with no fabric in place.
• Appliqué fabric without fusible on a knit. Wrinkles after washing; light fusible web solves it.

What fabric do you use as a patch base?

Firm felt, twill or canvas over two layers of tear-away, or patch twill that already has a heat-seal back. The base must be firm so the border does not ripple.

How do I make a patch with no stabilizer left on the back?

Hoop heavy fibrous wash-away as the base. After stitching, rinse in warm water: only the patch base and the embroidery remain.

Can I make patches on a home embroidery machine?

Yes. Patches up to 3.5" fit a 4 × 4" hoop and larger ones a 5 × 7". The only difference from a commercial machine is speed.

Why does the appliqué lift after washing?

No underlay under the border, a border that is too narrow, or appliqué fabric without fusible on a knit. Use a 2 to 3 mm border with zigzag underlay.

What is the correct order for an appliqué file?

Placement line, stop to lay the fabric, tack-down, stop to trim, satin border and, last, the inner details.

Going the other way, DST to PES, the software has to assign colors to each stop, and you are the one who checks the sequence before saving.

What you cannot do in either direction is resize by much: a stitch file has a fixed number of stitches and scales badly beyond 10% to 20%.

Why would you need to convert PES to DST?

The two common cases: you bought or made a design in PES (the Brother and Baby Lock format) and it is going to a commercial machine (Tajima, Barudan, Ricoma, SWF, Happy and similar) that reads DST; or a customer or digitizer sent you a DST and you want to stitch it on your Brother, which prefers PES.

It also comes up when selling designs: buyers own different machines and expect the three main formats, PES, DST and JEF. Ideally each format is exported from the native project file, but when only the stitch file exists, conversion gets the job done.

The good news: under the hood, PES, DST and JEF store the same thing, the stitch sequence with coordinates in tenths of a millimeter, jumps, trims and color-change stops. Converting means reading that list and writing it in another format. There is no loss in the stitches themselves. The details are in DST vs PES vs JEF.

How do you convert PES to DST in 2 minutes?

1. Log in to Meus Bordados and open the Viewer from the menu. Click Open file or drag the .pes onto the screen. The file is read on your own computer and is not uploaded anywhere.
2. Check the side panel: Size in millimeters, Stitches, Colors and Stops. Note the color sequence shown under Threads, in stitching order: DST will not keep it.
3. Optionally click Simulate to watch the stitching order and catch anything odd (long jumps, blocks out of order).
4. Under Save as, click DST. The file lands in your downloads folder with the same name and a .dst extension.
5. Also click SVG to generate a color image of the design. Send that SVG (or a screenshot) along with the DST to whoever is stitching it: it is the only way they will know the color sequence.
6. Copy the .dst to a FAT32 USB stick, in the root folder, with a short name and no special characters, and test-stitch on a scrap before the real item.

If you need to edit before converting (merge with a name, change a color, move a block), open the PES in the editor with Open instead of the viewer. Blocks come in as ready stitches, one per color, and Export writes DST, PES or JEF. See DST, PES, JEF and .bordado formats.

How do you convert DST to PES (and why do the colors come out wrong)?

The way back has one extra step, because of colors. DST only records "stop here to change thread"; when you open a DST, any program shows the stops in generic colors, which are rarely right. Before writing the PES, you define the color of each block.

1. Open the .dst in the Meus Bordados Viewer (or in the editor with Open).
2. Under Threads, in stitching order, click each spool and pick the correct color, following the image or thread list that came with the file. If nothing came with it, use Simulate to see which part of the design each block stitches and work the colors out.
3. Change the Fabric color to the garment color: it helps you judge contrast.
4. Under Save as, click PES. Your Brother will display the design in the colors you set and prompt the thread changes in the right order.

Older Brother machines can reject a recent PES version with a "file not supported" error. If that happens, try the DST directly on the machine (many Brothers read DST) and check the manufacturer's site for a firmware update for your model.

What changes in each direction?

Can you resize while converting?

A little. A stitch file has a fixed number of stitches calculated for one size. Scale it up 30% and every stitch gets 30% longer and coverage drops: fabric shows between satin stitches. Scale it down 30% and stitches pile up, the design turns stiff and the needle breaks thread.

The safe range is 10% to 20% either way. Need 2.5" and the file is 4"? Do not convert: rebuild. If the design is a name or a simple logo, the Meus Bordados editor regenerates it at the right size in minutes, from text and fonts or from the logo image. If it is a complex purchased design, ask the seller for the correct size.

In the viewer, the size shows next to the stitch count. Compare it with your hoop field, remembering the 1/2" clearance, before taking the file to the machine. See hoop sizes explained.

Online converter or installed software?

There are free online converters that take your file and return it in another format. They work, with three limitations: you upload the design to an unknown server (and a customer's design is the customer's property), you do not see the design before converting and you cannot set colors. Installed programs such as Wilcom TrueSizer, Embrilliance and Brother PE-Design convert well but live on one computer and, in some cases, require a paid license.

The Meus Bordados viewer sits in between: it runs in the browser with nothing to install, shows the design in 3D before converting, lets you set colors and does not upload the file: reading and writing happen on your computer. It is included in every plan and in the free trial. For everything the software does, see features and the comparison of online vs installed embroidery software.

Errors that show up after converting, and the fix

• The machine does not recognize the file. Name with special characters or too long, USB stick formatted exFAT or NTFS (use FAT32), file inside a subfolder on a machine that only reads the root, or a PES version newer than the machine.
• All colors are the same or random. Normal when opening DST: set each color before saving as PES or JEF.
• The design is mirrored or rotated. Some programs write orientation differently. Open in the viewer, rotate or mirror in the editor and export again.
• Long jumps appear mid-design. They were in the original; DST just makes them visible on machines without automatic trims. In the machine settings, set the jump length that triggers a trim.
• The machine says the design does not fit. The file carries the design size; pick a bigger hoop or go back to the project and generate it smaller. Do not shrink more than 20%.

Does converting PES to DST lose quality?

No. The stitches are copied exactly. What is lost is thread color and hoop information, which DST does not store. Send an image of the color sequence with the file.

How do I convert PES to DST for free?

The Meus Bordados viewer converts PES, DST and JEF in the browser during the free trial, no card required. Open the file, check it and click the target format under Save as.

Can I just rename .pes to .dst?

No. The extension does not change the contents; the machine will try to read a PES as DST and error out. It has to be converted by software.

Can I convert JEF to DST and PES?

Yes, the same way: open the JEF in the viewer and click DST or PES. Colors are kept in PES and lost in DST.

What about EXP, VP3 or HUS?

For now, Meus Bordados reads DST, PES, JEF and .bordado. For other formats, convert to DST or PES first in the original software.

The number is the thickness: 40 wt is the standard nearly every design is digitized for; 60 wt is finer, for small lettering and detail; 30 wt and 12 wt are heavier, for texture and a hand-stitched look.

The bobbin takes its own thin thread (60 to 90 wt), and the default needle is a 75/11 embroidery needle, switching to ballpoint on knits and to 80/12 or 90/14 on heavy fabrics.

Polyester vs rayon: what is the practical difference?

Both are continuous-filament threads made for embroidery machines; both are shiny and cover well. The difference is the fiber. Rayon (viscose) is regenerated cellulose: very soft, high sheen, drapes beautifully. Polyester is synthetic: slightly stronger, stretchier and chemically resistant.

For someone selling embroidery, it comes down to this:

A shop doing uniforms, towels and baby gifts can run entirely on polyester. If you do fine shirting, handkerchiefs and heirloom pieces, keep a set of rayon in your most-used colors. What does not work is mixing the two in one design: the sheen difference shows under light.

What do 40 wt, 60 wt, 30 wt and 12 wt mean?

Thread weight is a size system in which a higher number means a thinner thread. It is the opposite of intuition, so memorize it: 60 is finer than 40, which is finer than 30.

40 wt is the worldwide standard. Embroidery software, including Meus Bordados, calculates satin and fill density for it. If you change weight without changing density, the result is thin coverage (finer thread) or a stiff, bulletproof patch (heavier thread).

• 40 wt: general use. Names, logos, baby items, uniforms. The default.
• 60 wt: finer. Letters 3/16 to 1/4" tall, fine detail, delicate outlines, light fabrics. Allows more stitches per millimeter without bulk. Also used in the bobbin.
• 30 wt: heavier. Adds loft and covers faster with fewer stitches; nice on large lettering and rustic looks. Needs wider stitch spacing and a 90/14 needle.
• 12 wt: very heavy, hand-embroidery look. Only with designs digitized for it and a 100/16 or 110/18 needle.

When switching from 40 to 60 wt in Meus Bordados, reduce the satin spacing (for example from 0.40 to 0.32 mm) to keep coverage; when switching to 30 wt, increase it. The setting is under Object properties. See stitch types and settings.

Which thread goes in the bobbin?

The bobbin does not take the top embroidery thread. It takes a dedicated thin thread, usually 60 to 90 wt polyester or cotton, in black or white. Thin because the bobbin is small and needs to last; black or white because it never shows on the right side.

You can buy cones of bobbin thread to wind yourself or prewound bobbins already filled for your machine. Prewounds have even tension and save time; they are the choice of anyone stitching in volume. Check the size (Class 15 / size A on most home machines, L or M on many commercial ones) before ordering.

The back-side rule: bobbin thread should show in the center of a satin column, taking about one third of the width, with top thread on both edges. Bobbin showing on the front means top tension is loose or bobbin tension tight. No bobbin showing on the back at all means top tension is too tight and the design will pucker.

White bobbin thread on a dark garment can peek out at letter edges if tension is off. On black garments, use black bobbins. Changing bobbin color per job is cheaper than redoing it.

Which needle for which fabric?

Embroidery needles have a larger eye and a deeper groove than sewing needles so the thread glides without heating. The metric number is the shaft diameter in hundredths of a millimeter (75 = 0.75 mm); the second number is the US size. Use the finest needle that works with the thread: a heavy needle leaves visible holes and pushes the fabric.

The point matters as much as the size: sharp for wovens, ballpoint (SUK) for knits, and titanium-coated needles for high-volume work because they last longer.

How often should you change the needle, and how do you store thread?

• Needle: change it every 8 to 10 hours of stitching, when moving from heavy to fine fabric, and whenever thread starts breaking for no obvious reason. A worn point looks fine to the eye but shreds thread and pulls fabric fibers.
• Thread: keep it away from sun and dust. Rayon absorbs humidity and weakens in damp rooms; polyester is more forgiving. Cones that have been open for years (especially rayon) break more.
• Colors: a shop starts well with 12 to 20 colors of 40 wt polyester (white, black, gray, red, navy, royal, kelly green, gold, pink, metallic gold and silver, brown, tan) and fills in as orders come.

When pricing, remember thread is a small part of the cost: the Meus Bordados viewer shows thread used in meters when you open a design, and a 5,000 m cone covers dozens of jobs. What drives price is machine time, as we show in how to price custom embroidery.

How do you fix the most common thread problems?

Thread breaks every few minutes

In order of likelihood: worn or wrong needle, thread path off a guide, top tension too tight, old cone, design density too high. Change the needle first, rethread with the presser foot up, then look at tension.

A bird's nest forms underneath

The top thread is not seated in the tension discs (threaded with the presser foot down) or the bobbin is in backward. Rethread with the foot up and check the bobbin direction in the manual.

Bobbin thread shows on top

Top tension loose or bobbin tension too tight. Adjust top tension half a step at a time first; bobbin case tension almost never needs to change.

Can I use regular sewing thread for machine embroidery?

Not recommended. Sewing thread is duller, has short fibers that shed lint and was not made for embroidery speeds: it breaks and the design loses sheen. Use 40 wt embroidery thread.

What is the best thread for embroidering t-shirts?

40 wt polyester, which survives washing and bleach, with a 75/11 ballpoint needle and cut-away stabilizer. For small lettering, 60 wt polyester with a 70/10 needle.

Is 40 wt or 60 wt thicker?

40 wt. In thread weight, a higher number means thinner thread. 60 wt is for small lettering, fine detail and the bobbin.

Can I use the same thread in the bobbin and on top?

You can, but it is not ideal: 40 wt fills the bobbin poorly and adds bulk on the back. Use 60 to 90 wt bobbin thread or prewound bobbins in white or black.

A cap does not pucker or ripple when you use a cap frame with heavy stabilizer, keep the design inside the front panel away from the center seam, and the file stitches bottom to top and center out.

Here is the step by step for both, the reference numbers and what to change in the design file.

Why are shirts and caps the hardest everyday jobs?

They are the two most requested items in a small shop and the two most likely to go wrong. A t-shirt is a knit: it stretches in every direction and, if it was stretched in the hoop, it relaxes after stitching and pulls the fabric around the design into that familiar starburst pucker. A cap is the opposite: firm, curved fabric with a thick center seam that never gives the needle a flat surface.

In both cases three things decide the result: the stabilizer, the hooping and the design file. The machine matters less than people think; a 4 × 4" single-needle embroiders a tee as well as a commercial machine if the prep is right.

How do you embroider a t-shirt without puckering?

1. Choose cut-away stabilizer. No-show mesh is best for tees: it holds the knit permanently and does not shadow through light fabric. See which stabilizer for each fabric.
2. Press the shirt if wrinkled and mark the design center with chalk or a water-soluble pen. For a left chest, the center sits 7 to 9" below the shoulder seam and 4 to 5" from center front on adult sizes; the full placement standards are in logo sizes for uniforms.
3. Spray temporary adhesive on the stabilizer, not the shirt, and hoop the stabilizer. Then smooth the shirt on top, flat, aligning the center mark. The adhesive holds the knit without stretching it.
4. Press the inner ring in evenly. The knit should be smooth but relaxed: if you tug the edges to "remove wrinkles", you are stretching. Tighten the screw until firm, not more.
5. Keep the rest of the shirt away from the needle: roll the back up and clip it with binder clips or clothespins. Stitching through the back of the shirt is the most expensive mistake there is.
6. Use a ballpoint needle (75/11): it pushes knit fibers apart instead of cutting them, so no holes or runs around the design.
7. For small lettering, tape a piece of wash-away topping over the area. Knit is textured and topping gives a cleaner stroke.
8. Run at medium speed (600 to 700 spm on a home machine) and watch the first underlay stitches: that is where you see whether the knit is moving.
9. Unhoop without pulling, trim the cut-away 1/4" from the design with curved scissors and, if you used topping, tear off the excess and rinse the rest with warm water.

Heavier 100% cotton ring-spun tees embroider better than thin tri-blends and 50/50 fashion fits, which are stretchier. For very thin knits, fuse a light fusible stabilizer before the cut-away.

What should you change in the design file for a t-shirt?

The stabilizer holds the fabric, but the design can pull less too. In Meus Bordados these settings live under Object properties:

• Underlay: use zigzag or edge run under satin columns and a tatami underlay under fill areas. Underlay tacks the knit to the stabilizer before the top stitching lands. See stitch types and settings.
• Pull compensation: raise it slightly (from 0.2 to 0.3 or 0.4 mm) on letters and narrow shapes; knit pulls satin inward and the outline gets thin.
• Density: do not go beyond the default. On knit, more stitches means more sinking and puckering. If you want coverage, invest in underlay, not density.
• Minimum letter height: 1/4" (6 mm) in satin; smaller than that, letters close up on knit.
• Avoid large fill areas on a light tee: they turn stiff and the fabric ripples around them. If the logo has a solid background, suggest an outline-and-lettering version.

How do you embroider a structured cap?

Caps require a cap frame (cap hoop), which holds the front panel stretched around a curved form and rotates while stitching. Flatbed home machines do not take one; the Brother PR series and single-head free-arm machines (Ricoma, Tajima SAI, Happy, Melco, SWF and similar) do. Without a cap frame you can do unstructured caps (soft cotton, no buckram) by opening the back and using adhesive stabilizer in a regular hoop, but structured caps will not look right.

1. Prep the cap: lower the closure, flip the sweatband out and clear the front panel. If the cap has a center seam, mark the center with chalk exactly on it.
2. Cut heavy tear-away (or two medium layers) to the size of the front and load it into the cap frame with the cap, following the frame manual. The stabilizer must sit flat against the cap fabric, no bubbles.
3. Stretch the front in the frame: unlike a tee, a cap should be tight against the curved form, with the bill locked in its bracket so it does not hit the machine.
4. Check the design size: the usable area on a 6-panel structured cap is roughly 2 to 2.25" tall by up to 4.5" wide; 5-panel caps without a center seam take wider logos. Keep the design inside that window.
5. Use a 75/11 or 80/12 sharp needle (buckram is firm) and polyester thread, which handles sun and sweat better than rayon. See polyester vs rayon.
6. Slow down (400 to 600 spm): the frame rotates and the fabric is thick; speed breaks thread and skips stitches.
7. Test on a cheap cap before the first order. The center seam is deceptive: thin letters crossing it will misalign.

Never stitch a cap front with the inner buckram loose or wrinkled. On a trucker cap (foam front, mesh back) the frame has to grip the foam together with the outer fabric, or the embroidery will ripple.

How should a cap design be digitized?

Caps need a file made for caps. What changes compared with flat goods:

• Stitch bottom to top: the front panel is curved and the fabric tends to push upward during stitching. Starting at the bill and working toward the crown pushes the fabric in the direction where it is still held.
• Center out: if the design has elements left and right of the seam, stitch the center first and then the sides, so the fabric settles evenly.
• Outlines last: lettering and fine outlines go on top of everything, at the end, once fills have anchored the fabric.
• Bigger, bolder letters: the comfortable minimum on a cap is 5/16" (8 mm); for thin fonts, 3/8" (10 mm). Below that, the buckram swallows the stitch.

In Meus Bordados, the order in the Objects, in stitching order panel is the order the machine will follow: drag the base elements to the top of the list and outlines to the bottom. See colors and stitching order. Export DST for single-head machines and PES for the Brother PR.

Quick chart: t-shirt vs cap

Can I embroider hats on my home embroidery machine?

Only unstructured caps (soft, no buckram) by opening the back and using adhesive stabilizer in a regular hoop. Structured caps require a cap frame, available on free-arm multi-needle machines.

Why did my shirt look fine in the hoop and pucker afterward?

Because the knit was stretched when hooped. The design was stitched on stretched fabric; when it relaxed, there was extra fabric around the design. Hoop knits flat and relaxed over cut-away with spray adhesive.

How big can a logo be on the front of a cap?

On a 6-panel structured cap, roughly 2 to 2.25" tall by up to 4.5" wide, depending on the cap and frame. Check your cap frame field and keep 1/4" clearance from the bill.

What needle should I use on t-shirts?

A ballpoint (SUK) 75/11. It separates knit fibers instead of cutting them, which prevents holes and runs around the embroidery.

In Meus Bordados, you use Prepare with AI to redraw the photo and then Instant digitizing: illustration to create the stitch areas and the lines. In a few minutes the design is ready to check in 3D and download as DST, PES or JEF.

The AI does not replace your eye: the result stays editable, and it is worth reviewing size, colors and stitching order before going to the machine.

Why can’t a photo be stitched directly?

A photo has thousands of tones: every strand of fur, every shadow, the reflection in the eyes and the whole background. Embroidery software that tries to turn that into stitches, color by color, creates hundreds of loose specks, changes thread all the time and loses what matters, like the eyes and the nose. That is why photos sit at the bottom of the table in our guide on turning an image into an embroidery file.

Professional digitizers have always taken another route: redraw the photo as an illustration, with a few flat colors and outlines, and only then digitize it. That redraw used to take hours in a drawing program. The AI does the same job in less than a minute.

What does the AI do (and what doesn’t it do)?

In Prepare with AI, you send the photo and say whether it is a photo (pet, person, object) or a logo. The AI returns a new image with the background removed, 4 to 8 flat colors, dark outlines and simplified details, without losing what makes the customer recognize their pet: the color of the patches, the bow, the tongue sticking out.

With low-quality logos, it redraws the shapes with smooth edges and clean colors, keeping the text and the proportions.

What the AI does not do is digitizing: it delivers an image. The editor’s instant digitizing turns that image into stitches, and you can adjust everything. The image is generated by image models from OpenAI (ChatGPT) or Google (Gemini), depending on how the platform is set up.

How do you turn the photo into embroidery in Meus Bordados?

1. In the editor, click Add image… (or paste with Ctrl+V) and choose the photo your customer sent.
2. Right-click the image and choose Prepare with AI….
3. Select Photo (pet, person, object) and, if you like, write extra instructions such as “keep the yellow bows” or “at most 6 colors”.
4. Click Generate (1 credit). It usually takes 20 seconds to 1 minute.
5. If you like it, click Add as a new image (the original stays in the layers, hidden) or Use instead of the original. If not, adjust the instructions and generate again.
6. Right-click the illustration and choose Instant digitizing: illustration….
7. In the window, check the colors, merge the ones that are almost the same and tick Omit on the ones that should not be stitched. Then click Create embroidery.
8. Check it in 3D, simulate the stitching and download it as DST, PES or JEF for your machine.

Before opening instant digitizing, set the image width to the final embroidery size: the small details are decided based on that size.

Logo or illustration: which instant digitizing should you use?

The editor has two instant digitizing modes, and both appear when you right-click the image and in the Draw menu.

How do you write good instructions for the AI?

Extra instructions are optional, but they help a lot when you already know what the embroidery needs. Be direct and describe the result, not the process:

• “Keep the yellow bows with the little pink flower.”
• “At most 5 colors.”
• “Just the face, no body.”
• “White background and remove the collar.”
• “Thicker outlines, to stitch it small.”
• For logos: “keep the brand’s text and colors exactly”.

You can write in English, Portuguese or Spanish. If the result is not what you wanted, change one thing at a time and generate again.

Which photos give the best results?

• A single subject filling a good part of the photo: the pet, the person or the object.
• Good light, without strong backlight: you can see the eyes and the colors.
• Sharp focus, especially on the face.
• A simple background, if possible. The AI removes the background, but a clean one helps it tell fur from scenery.
• Phone photos work perfectly; you do not need a professional camera.

Use photos your customer sent or authorized. Photos of people, above all, only with their consent.

How much does the AI cost?

Instant digitizing (logo and illustration) is part of every plan and can be used without limits.

Prepare with AI uses credits: each generated image uses 1 credit, and if the AI fails the credit comes back automatically. Credits are bought in packs in your dashboard, under AI credits, and they do not expire.

If you sell pet or portrait embroidery, it usually pays for itself on the first order: a redraw that would take an afternoon becomes a minute of work. See also how to price custom embroidery.

Does the AI do the embroidery by itself?

No. The AI redraws the photo as an illustration; the editor’s instant digitizing turns the illustration into stitches. You check it in 3D and adjust whatever you want before downloading the file.

Does it work with photos of people?

Yes. Select “Photo” and, if you like, describe the framing in the instructions (for example, “just the face”). Use photos with the person’s permission.

Can I use an illustration I already have without spending credits?

Yes. If the image is already a drawing with few colors, go straight to Instant digitizing: illustration (or logo), which does not use credits.

What size works best?

For pets and portraits, from about 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) wide the eyes and nose come out with detail. For smaller sizes, ask for fewer colors and thicker outlines in the instructions.

Which formats can I download?

DST, PES and JEF, the formats read by most home and industrial machines. See the differences in our guide to embroidery formats.

Stabilizer is not optional: it holds the fabric still while thousands of stitches pull on it, and the wrong choice shows up as puckering, drifting outlines and stitches that sink.

Below: a chart by fabric, what the weights mean, how to hoop without stretching and when to combine two stabilizers.

What does stabilizer actually do?

Every stitch pulls the fabric slightly toward itself. A 5,000-stitch name is 5,000 small tugs in different directions; without a firm layer underneath, the fabric gives, and the design puckers, shrinks or shifts away from its outlines. Stabilizer (also called backing) is the layer that absorbs those tugs.

It also closes needle holes on light fabrics, gives body to caps and keeps stitches from disappearing into the pile of towels and fleece. That is why there are several types: each solves a different problem.

One thing that confuses beginners: embroidery stabilizer is not sewing interfacing. Interfacing is fused permanently to give structure to collars and cuffs; stabilizer is designed to be stitched through and, in most cases, removed afterward.

What are the stabilizer types and when do you use each?

Tear-away

The cheapest and most common. After stitching, hold the embroidery with one hand and tear the excess away with the other; the short fibers break along the stitch line. Use it on stable fabrics that do not stretch: quilting cotton, broadcloth, twill, denim, canvas, duck. Whatever remains under the stitches slowly breaks down in the wash, which is fine, because a woven fabric supports itself.

Cut-away

Long fibers that do not tear: you trim the excess with scissors, leaving about 1/4" (5 mm) around the design. That piece stays in the garment forever, and that is exactly what makes it essential on knits: t-shirts, sweatshirts, polos, baby bodysuits, performance wear. Without it, the knit stretches in wear and washing and the embroidery puckers and distorts over time. No-show mesh is a light, soft cut-away that does not shadow through light-colored tees.

Wash-away (water-soluble)

Looks like plastic film (or a fibrous non-woven in the heavier version) and dissolves in warm water. Two uses. On top of the fabric, as a topping: on towels, fleece, minky, velvet and wool, it keeps stitches from sinking into the pile and makes small lettering crisp. Alone, as the base: for freestanding lace, cutwork, and embroidery on tulle or organza, where nothing may remain on the back.

Fusible and adhesive (sticky)

Fusible stabilizer is a tear-away or cut-away with heat-activated glue, used to firm up thin knits before hooping. Adhesive stabilizer has a paper release liner: hoop the stabilizer, score and peel the paper, and stick the item on top. It solves caps, collars, cuffs, sleeves, baby shoes and anything else that will not fit in a hoop.

Which stabilizer for which fabric?

Use the chart as a starting point. When you are torn between two options, stitch a test on a scrap of the same fabric with the same design: the answer shows up in two minutes.

More stitches per square inch means more stabilizer. A 15,000-stitch logo at 2.5" needs more support than a 3,000-stitch name at 3". In Meus Bordados, the editor footer shows the total stitch count and size before you export; use those numbers to decide.

What do stabilizer weights mean?

Stabilizers are sold by weight in ounces per square yard (or grams per square meter). The higher the number, the thicker and firmer. In the US you will see tear-away and cut-away described as 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 oz, or simply as light, medium and heavy.

Rule of thumb: start with medium. If the design puckered, go up one weight or add a second layer (two light layers crossed at 90 degrees work better than one heavy layer). If the embroidery feels stiff or the stabilizer shadows through a thin fabric, go down one weight.

Buy rolls rather than pre-cut sheets: the cost per design drops a lot and you cut to your hoop size. Store wash-away in a sealed bag; it absorbs humidity and gets tacky.

How do you hoop with stabilizer without puckering?

1. Cut the stabilizer about 1" larger than the hoop on every side. You need the extra to grip and for the ring to hold.
2. On knits, spray temporary adhesive on the stabilizer (not the garment) and smooth the item on top, flat but not stretched. Stretching the knit is the number one cause of puckering after unhooping.
3. Lay stabilizer and fabric over the outer ring, press the inner ring in evenly and tighten the screw only until firm. Do not tug the fabric after it is hooped.
4. If you are using a topping, tape it down with two pieces of painter's tape or baste it with the machine; it does not need to go in the hoop.
5. Check for at least 1/2" of clearance between the design and the ring. If it does not fit, change hoops; never crowd the edge. See hoop sizes explained.
6. After stitching, remove calmly: tear-away while supporting the stitches, cut-away with curved scissors leaving 1/4", wash-away with warm water and flat drying.

Do not leave a straight, thick cut-away edge on a t-shirt: it shows through when the shirt is worn. Round the corners and trim following the design outline, about 1/4" out.

When should you combine two stabilizers?

• Tear-away + wash-away topping: towels, robes, anything with loops. The tear-away holds; the topping keeps the letters on top of the pile.
• Cut-away + wash-away topping: sweatshirts and minky. Same logic, with cut-away because the base stretches.
• Two crossed layers of tear-away: dense logos on cotton or canvas when one layer lets the outline drift.
• Adhesive + tear-away: items too small for the hoop (collars, cuffs, labels) stuck onto hooped adhesive.

The design can help too: in Meus Bordados, raise the pull compensation slightly on knits and use a zigzag underlay under satin columns. See stitch types and settings.

Common stabilizer mistakes

• Tear-away on a t-shirt. Looks fine on the machine, puckers after the first wash. Knits get cut-away, always.
• Stretching the fabric in the hoop. The fabric relaxes afterward and the embroidery, stitched on stretched fabric, ends up with excess fabric around it.
• Skipping the topping on towels. Thin letters vanish into the loops; the customer sees a smudge.
• Skipping the test stitch. A ten-minute scrap saves redoing a customer's shirt.

Can I embroider without stabilizer?

Almost never. The exceptions are very firm materials (heavy canvas, thick felt) with light designs, and even then a light tear-away improves the result for pennies.

What is the difference between stabilizer and backing?

None. Backing is the term commercial embroiderers use for the stabilizer under the fabric; topping is the wash-away film on top.

What stabilizer should I use on a t-shirt?

Cut-away, preferably no-show mesh so it does not shadow through light fabric. Add a wash-away topping for small lettering. Never tear-away alone.

Does wash-away stabilizer come out completely?

Yes, in warm water with a few minutes of soaking. Very dense designs may keep a slightly stiff residue; a second rinse clears it.

All three store the same essential thing, the stitch sequence, but they differ in what travels with it: DST has no thread colors, while PES and JEF carry colors and hoop information.

If your machine reads more than one format, use the brand's native one; DST is the universal fallback when nothing else works.

What is actually inside an embroidery file?

An embroidery file (also called a design or, in the industry, a "stitch file") is a list of instructions for the machine: where the needle goes next, in steps of 0.1 mm, where the machine jumps without stitching, where it trims the thread and where it stops for a color change.

That is why an embroidery design is nothing like an image. A photo can be scaled freely; a stitch file has a fixed number of stitches planned for one size. Resize a finished design by more than 10 to 20 percent and the density changes with it: the embroidery comes out thin and gappy, or stiff as a board.

There are two families of files in machine embroidery:

• Machine (stitch) files such as DST, PES, JEF, EXP, VP3 and XXX: stitches only. This is what goes on the USB stick.
• Native project files such as .bordado (Meus Bordados), .EMB (Wilcom), .BE (Embrilliance) or .PXF (Pulse): they keep text, fonts, shapes and settings, all editable. You generate machine files from them.

Always keep the project file. When a customer wants the same name in another size, you change the letter height and export again instead of stretching finished stitches.

Which format does each machine brand read?

The table below lists the native format of the most common brands in the US. Many machines read more than one format (most Brother home machines also open DST, for example), but the native format is the one that carries the full information.

In Meus Bordados, the Hoop panel already includes Brother, Baby Lock, Brother PR, Janome, Elna, Tajima and Barudan hoops. Pick yours before exporting to see whether the design fits. See Size, position and hoop.

DST: the commercial standard

DST was created by Tajima and became the de facto standard of the commercial embroidery industry. Each stitch takes 3 bytes and the maximum movement per record is 12.1 mm; longer movements are split into jumps. A 512-byte header stores the design name, stitch count, number of color changes and the design extents.

What DST does not store is thread color. It only records "stop here for a color change". So when you send a DST to a contract embroiderer, include an image with the color sequence (an SVG export or a screenshot of the viewer works).

Strengths: accepted by almost everything, small, no incompatible versions. Weaknesses: no colors and no hoop information.

PES: the Brother and Baby Lock format

PES is the format of the best-selling home embroidery machines in the US. It stores the stitches, the colors (using Brother's thread palette) and, in recent versions, hoop size information. Inside the PES there is a section called PEC, which is the part the machine actually reads; some programs export a separate .PEC file.

The detail that causes the most headaches is versioning: PES has gone from version 1 to version 10. An older machine may refuse a file saved in a recent version and show an error on opening. If that happens, export again in an older version or, as a workaround, try DST, which most Brother machines also read.

JEF: the Janome and Elna format

JEF stores stitches, colors (Janome's palette) and the code of the hoop the design was made for. That hoop code is why the machine says "design too large" or asks for a specific hoop even when the embroidery would fit the maximum field.

Some newer Memory Craft models use JEF+, an extension with more information; machines that read JEF+ still read plain JEF. Older Janome models used the .SEW format.

When exporting JEF, choose the hoop that matches your Janome in the software. A 90 × 90 mm design exported with the wrong hoop can be rejected by the machine even though it fits the sewing field.

How do you convert PES to DST (and back) without ruining the design?

Converting between machine formats is safe: the software reads the stitch list and writes the same list in another format. What can be lost is the extra information: going from PES or JEF to DST drops the colors (only the stops remain); going the other way, the software assigns default colors that you need to review.

The steps are the same in any program:

1. Open the original file. The Meus Bordados viewer opens DST, PES and JEF right in the browser, without uploading the file anywhere.
2. Check the size in millimeters, the stitch count and the color order. If it is a DST, assign the colors for each stop.
3. Do not resize by more than 10 to 20 percent. If you need another size, go back to the project file and generate it again.
4. Choose the target format and save. Use a short file name without special characters (some machines cannot display them).
5. Copy to the USB stick and stitch a test on scrap fabric before the real piece.

See the step by step with screenshots in Viewer: 3D preview and file conversion and the page on embroidery file formats.

Which format should you choose when the machine accepts several?

• Prefer the brand's native format (PES on Brother, JEF on Janome). It carries colors and hoop, and the machine screen shows the design correctly.
• Use DST when sending to a contractor, to a commercial machine, or when PES throws a version error.
• Keep the project file (.bordado, .EMB…) as the original. Machine files are disposable copies: generate as many as you need.
• Name files with size and format: "ana-60mm.pes" avoids confusion when the same design exists in three versions.

Does my Brother read DST files?

Most models do (PE800, PE535, SE600, SE1900, the Innov-is line and the PR series, for example), but check the supported formats in your model's manual. Since DST has no colors, the machine shows the design in generic colors.

Can I just rename a .pes file to .dst?

No. The extension does not change the content: the machine will try to read a PES as a DST and fail. You need to convert it with software.

Why does the machine say the file is corrupted or unsupported?

The most common causes are a PES version newer than the machine understands, a file name with special characters or too long, a USB stick formatted in a way the machine cannot read (use FAT32), or a design larger than the hoop.

What is the best format to sell embroidery designs?

Deliver a bundle with PES, JEF and DST (often also EXP, VP3 and XXX), each generated from the original project and named with the size. That covers Brother, Janome, Bernina and commercial machines without the buyer having to convert.

Simple logos with a few flat colors and no gradients can be auto-digitized in minutes; photos and shaded artwork need simplifying or manual digitizing.

Either way, the result must be reviewed: minimum lettering size, stitch order and a test sew-out on the actual fabric.

Why can't you just "save as PES" from an image?

An image is a grid of colored pixels. An embroidery file is a sequence of needle penetrations. There is no direct mapping between the two: software has to decide where each area starts and ends, which stitch type to use, which direction the stitches run, what goes underneath to hold the fabric, and in what order the machine sews. That set of decisions is digitizing.

This is why "free JPG to PES converters" usually disappoint: they make those decisions blindly for the whole image, without looking at the final size or the fabric. The result may run on the machine, but with closed-up letters, wobbly outlines and jump stitches everywhere.

The good news is that for most shop orders (company logos, school crests, team emblems, a name with a small motif) the artwork is simple enough for a well-configured auto-digitizer followed by a quick review.

Which images work well, and which don't?

Rule of thumb: the fewer the colors and the sharper the edges, the better the embroidery. Ask the customer for the logo "as a vector" or "high resolution on a white background"; almost every business has that file.

How do you prepare the artwork before digitizing?

1. Decide the finished size in millimeters or inches. A left-chest logo is usually 2.75 to 3.5 in (70 to 90 mm) wide; a jacket back, 8 to 11 in (200 to 280 mm). Anything thinner than 1.5 mm at finished size (hairlines, tiny text) will not stitch well and must be thickened or removed.
2. Remove the background. Make it white or transparent so the software does not stitch a rectangle behind the logo.
3. Reduce the colors. Each color is a thread change at the machine. For a chest logo, 2 to 4 colors is ideal.
4. Separate the text. Letters inside the image become irregular shapes. Delete them and recreate them as satin-stitch text, which is far cleaner. See how to digitize lettering.
5. Save as PNG, large (at least 1,000 pixels on the long side) and sharp.

Step by step: auto-digitizing in the browser

In the Meus Bordados editor the path is as follows (every button is described in Turning an image into embroidery):

1. In the Background image panel, upload the PNG or paste it with Ctrl+V. Set the Width in mm to the finished embroidery size.
2. Under Auto digitizing, enter how many Colors the embroidery should have (2 to 16; start with the real number of colors in the logo).
3. In Ignore regions smaller than, set a minimum area in mm² to drop specks and noise from the image.
4. Choose the Stitches: fill with running-stitch border (the default for logos), fill without border, satin by stroke with border (for narrow shapes) or outlines only.
5. Leave Do not stitch the background checked and click Instant design.
6. The editor creates one object per color region. Review each one: delete tiny regions, change stitch types where it makes sense and arrange the stitching order.
7. Pick the hoop, check in Simulate and export as DST, PES or JEF.

Narrow areas (up to about 8 to 10 mm wide) look better in satin; wide areas in fill. If the auto-digitizer put fill on a thin band, select the object and switch it to satin.

When is manual digitizing worth it?

Manual digitizing means drawing the shapes over the image one by one, choosing the stitch and direction of each part. It takes longer, but it is the way to go when the logo has fine detail, when the customer demands total fidelity, or when the only artwork available is poor.

In the editor, place the image as a background with some transparency and use Closed shape (areas), Column A and Column C (bands and outlines in satin) and Open shape (running-stitch lines). Mark angle lines with the Angles tool so the satin follows the curves. See Drawing tools.

A common strategy is to mix both: auto-digitize the large areas and redraw by hand only the details that came out badly.

How do you review the design before stitching?

• Minimum sizes: letters under 5 mm (0.2 in) tall and lines under 1.5 mm wide do not stitch well. Thicken, enlarge or remove them.
• Stitch order: background first, details next, outlines last. Group objects of the same color in sequence to reduce thread changes.
• Jumps and trims: turn on the jump display (key C in the editor) and see whether the machine will make many long jumps. Reorder to reduce them.
• Underlay: fill areas need underlay (zigzag or a light fill) so they do not sink into the fabric. The editor applies a default; increase it on knits and fleece.
• Pull compensation: on stretchy fabrics, increase compensation so the embroidery comes out at the right size.
• Test sew-out: stitch on the same fabric with the same stabilizer. It is the only test that counts.

What should you charge to digitize a logo?

Digitizing is a separate service from the embroidery itself, and it is normal to charge for it once: the customer pays to have the file made and then pays only for the stitched pieces. Many shops charge digitizing by complexity tier (simple, medium, complex logo) or by working time.

With auto-digitizing, a simple logo takes 10 to 30 minutes including review; some shops fold that cost into the order minimum to close the sale faster. We break down the math in How to price custom embroidery.

Can you turn a photo into embroidery?

Photos have thousands of colors and smooth transitions that thread cannot reproduce. The approach is to turn the photo into an illustration of 4 to 8 flat colors (a stylized portrait, for instance) and digitize that. The result is an artistic embroidery, not a copy of the photo.

What is the minimum size for an embroidered logo?

It depends on the detail. As a reference, letters need at least 5 mm (0.2 in) in satin stitch and lines at least 1.5 mm wide. A logo with text usually needs 2.5 to 3.5 in (60 to 90 mm) of width for the text to stay readable.

Do I need to know how to draw to digitize?

For auto-digitizing, no: you adjust parameters and review. For manual digitizing it helps to understand shapes and curves, but the shape and column tools can be learned in a few hours of practice.

Can I embroider any logo or character I find online?

Company logos and characters are protected. Stitch logos only for the business that owns the brand (or with permission) and avoid licensed characters on items for sale. For gifts and baby items, use your own artwork or designs from libraries with a commercial-use license.

The things to watch are minimum height (5 mm, about 0.2 in, in satin), font choice (even stroke widths stitch better) and the order in which letters are sewn.

With Meus Bordados this happens in the browser and the file comes out as DST, PES or JEF in a few minutes.

What is the difference between a computer font and an embroidery font?

A computer font (TTF or OTF) describes the outline of each letter. An embroidery font describes how to sew each letter: satin columns with direction, sequence and the connections between letters. That is why older software required buying pre-digitized "alphabets", expensive and few in number.

Current software, including Meus Bordados, does the conversion on the fly: you pick any TTF or OTF font (from the library, from your computer or from a file) and the program turns the outline into satin columns along each stroke. The quality depends on the font you choose and the size you use, which is what this article is about.

Which fonts should you choose for embroidered names?

Not every font that looks good on screen looks good in thread. Use these criteria:

• Even stroke width: fonts with similar thickness throughout the letter (sans serifs and "thick brush" scripts) stitch better than high-contrast fonts, where the thin strokes vanish.
• No tiny details: thin serifs, small counters in "e" and "a", and flourishes close up at small sizes.
• Connected letters (scripts): sew with fewer trims because one letter flows into the next. Great for names on towels and baby items.
• Uppercase: readable at smaller sizes than the equivalent lowercase.
• License: fonts that are free for personal use cannot be used on products you sell. Use open-licensed fonts (such as those under the SIL Open Font License) or fonts bought with a commercial license. The Meus Bordados library ships fonts cleared for use.

Build a set of 6 to 10 tested fonts, stitch the word "Name" at 10, 15 and 25 mm (0.4, 0.6 and 1 in) in each, and keep the sample. Showing a real stitched sample closes the sale and avoids rework.

What is the minimum height for embroidered letters?

In Meus Bordados, Height runs from 3 to 200 mm. But remember: under 5 mm, regular 40-weight thread cannot keep up; the fix is 60-weight thread and a fine needle, which not every machine handles.

Step by step: from the name to the machine file

1. Open the editor, click New and pick the Text tool. Click the canvas and type the name in the Text field. For two lines (first and last name), press Enter.
2. Click the font button and choose: From server (library), Computer fonts (installed fonts; Chrome and Edge only) or TTF/OTF file. See Text and fonts.
3. Set the Height in mm. If the name is too long for the space, reduce Width to 90 or 85 percent instead of lowering the height.
4. Adjust letter Spacing. In satin, letters look bolder than on screen; slightly wider spacing (0.5 to 1 mm) keeps the name readable.
5. Keep the stitch type Satin (by stroke). Only switch to Fill for very large letters or to Running-stitch outline for a "sketched" effect.
6. Pick the thread color from the palette and the machine Hoop, then click Simulate to see the sewing order.
7. Name the design and export as DST, PES or JEF. Also save the .bordado file to reuse later.

Which settings improve embroidered lettering?

Density (stitch spacing)

The editor's default is already calibrated for satin lettering. On terry cloth, increase density slightly (smaller spacing) or use a water-soluble topping so the thread does not sink into the loops.

Underlay

A center running stitch under the column lifts the satin and gives the raised look customers expect. On wide letters, use zigzag underlay.

Pull compensation

Knits, fleece and piqué pull the column inward, so letters come out thinner than on screen. Increase compensation by 0.2 to 0.4 mm on those fabrics. See Stitch types and settings.

Trims between letters

Letters that touch are connected by a hidden running stitch, with no jump or trim. In fonts with separate letters (block fonts), each letter can produce a trim; on a home machine that shows up as loose threads to clip afterwards. Script fonts solve this.

How do you price and sell embroidered names?

Embroidered names are the entry product for most shops: quick, cheap to produce and in constant demand (towels, baby blankets, school uniforms, scrubs, caps). The margin is in the process: a defined font set, a standard height per item type and a simple approval flow (a photo of the simulation by text message, the customer approves, you stitch).

Build a menu with 3 or 4 font options and 2 heights per item, and charge a flat price per name, with an add-on for a second line or a motif. The full math is in How to price custom embroidery.

Can I use the fonts on my computer for embroidery?

Technically yes: Meus Bordados reads the fonts installed on your computer (in Chrome and Edge). But check the license: many fonts bundled with software are licensed for documents, not for products you sell. For selling, prefer open-licensed or commercially licensed fonts.

How do I embroider small lettering, around 4 mm?

Use a simple, bold uppercase font, 60-weight thread with a 65/9 or 70/10 needle, slightly higher density and a firm stabilizer. Even so, 4 mm is the practical limit; below that, use running stitch or go bigger.

The letters look "eaten" on the curves. What's wrong?

Turn on Short stitches on curves and Auto spacing in the object properties. They shorten some stitches on the inside of curves so thread does not pile up. On very small letters, switch to a font with more open curves.

How do I make an interlocking monogram?

Use a monogram font (there are fonts with left, center and right letter variants) or type the three letters as separate objects, adjust the height and position of each and overlap them. Stitch the center letter last so it sits on top.

The most common method in the trade is to charge per 1,000 stitches, with a per-piece and per-order minimum and a separate one-time digitizing fee for logos.

Below you will find the formula, a table you can fill in with your own costs and a complete worked example. The example numbers are illustrative: replace them with yours.

Why not just charge what other shops charge?

Copying the competition is the most common mistake of new embroiderers. The shop down the road may own its machine outright, work from a spare bedroom and never count the owner's time; copying its prices with a financed machine and rent to pay means working for free. The right path is to know your costs and decide what your hour is worth. Then, yes, look at the market to position yourself: cheaper with volume, or pricier with better finishing and turnaround.

The good news is that the math is simple and, once done, lets you quote any job in a minute.

Which costs go into an embroidery price?

Notice that your labor is the biggest cost. Embroidery is not only the time the machine runs: it is answering the customer, digitizing, hooping, changing thread, trimming, folding, packing and delivering. For a name on a towel, the machine runs 4 minutes and you spend another 8.

How does per-1,000-stitch pricing work?

A design's stitch count is the best measure of machine time, which is why the industry prices per thousand stitches. A home machine sews 400 to 800 stitches per minute; a single-head commercial machine, up to 1,000 or 1,200. Impressions Magazine, a trade reference, cites 18,000 to 20,000 stitches per hour per head as a conservative production estimate once thread changes and stops are counted, and uses $1.50 per thousand stitches as an example base rate, with per-piece and per-order minimums.

The formula for your per-thousand rate:

1. Add up your hourly cost: machine hour + labor hour (in the example: $5 + $30 = $35/h).
2. Estimate how many stitches you really sew per hour, including stops. On a home machine at 600 spm, with thread changes and rehooping, 20,000 stitches per hour is realistic.
3. Divide: $35 ÷ 20 = $1.75 per thousand stitches (cost). Add your margin (30 to 50 percent): $2.30 to $2.60 per thousand stitches.
4. Set a minimum, because a 1,500-stitch name would come to $3.50 and would not even pay for the conversation. Common minimums are worth 15 to 30 minutes of your labor rate.

The footer of the Meus Bordados editor shows the stitch count and the estimated time at 800 stitches per minute. The viewer also shows thread consumption. Use those numbers in the quote before stitching.

Worked example: a name on a towel and a logo on a polo

See how the minimum rescues the towel? Without it you would sell for $12.75 a job that, between messaging, hooping and handover, eats 15 minutes of your day. That is why shops use quantity breaks: 1 towel at $15, 3 at $13 each, 10 at $11.

How should you charge for digitizing?

A logo file is a separate job: you create it once and the customer uses it on every order. Charge a one-time digitizing fee, stated on the quote, in complexity tiers: simple logo (text plus one shape), medium (several shapes and colors) and complex (fine detail, many colors). With auto-digitizing a simple logo takes 10 to 30 minutes, and some shops waive the fee on orders above a certain value to close the sale.

Names and monograms in a stock font need no digitizing fee: the setup is part of the per-piece handling time.

Pricing mistakes that eat your profit

• Not counting your own time. If your hour is worth zero, the business will never pay for an employee or a better machine.
• Forgetting spoilage. One ruined piece in 20 is a 5 percent cost. Build a 3 to 5 percent reserve into the price.
• Not covering customer-supplied garments. When the customer brings the towel, the risk is yours. State on the quote that customer-supplied items are not replaced, or charge a little more.
• Discounting without a reason. Discounts only for quantity, longer turnaround or prepayment.
• Not tracking orders. Without recording what came in and what went out, you do not know whether you are profitable. An order board with price, deposit and balance plus a simple receivables/payables log solves it; that is what the orders module and the financial dashboard in Meus Bordados do.

A price list template for a small shop

A simple public price list speeds up quoting and stops haggling. A structure that works:

• Embroidered name (up to 2 lines, up to 4 in wide): flat price per piece, quantity break from 3 pieces.
• Monogram or name with a stock motif: slightly higher flat price.
• Business logo: one-time digitizing fee + per-piece price in stitch-count tiers (up to 5,000; 5,000 to 10,000; 10,000 to 20,000).
• Large pieces (jacket backs, blankets): quoted on stitch count.
• Rush turnaround: 30 to 50 percent surcharge.

Publish the list on your website and send the link by text. With the shop website in Meus Bordados you can build that page with services and a quote button without a developer.

How much should I charge for a name on a towel?

Use the formula: stitches × per-thousand rate + materials + handling + overhead, then apply your minimum. With the example costs in this article it lands around $13 to $18 per name, towel not included. The right number depends on your costs and your market.

Should I price per stitch or per piece?

Show customers a per-piece price (they do not know what "a thousand stitches" means). Internally, calculate per stitch so every piece covers machine time. A tiered table (up to 5,000 stitches, 5,000 to 10,000…) does both.

How do I know the stitch count before sewing?

Open the DST, PES or JEF file in a viewer. The Meus Bordados viewer shows stitches, colors, stops, size and thread consumption in the browser, with no install and without uploading the file.

What should I charge to digitize a logo?

In complexity tiers, based on your time: a simple logo made with auto-digitizing takes 10 to 30 minutes; a complex manual one can take hours. State the fee before starting and deliver the file in whichever formats the customer needs.

What separates shops that grow from shops that quit is not the machine: it is a repeatable process for quoting, approval, production and delivery.

This guide covers the essentials to get started and a five-stage order workflow that works for a one-person shop.

What do you need to start an embroidery business?

The machine

To begin, a single-needle home embroidery machine with a 4 × 4 in (100 × 100 mm) field handles names, monograms and chest logos. A 5 × 7 in (130 × 180 mm) field opens up baby items, towels and kids' designs and is the best value for someone who intends to sell. Multi-needle machines (10 to 15 needles, fields of 8 × 12 in or more) cost much more but run three to four times faster, change colors on their own and take cap frames.

Before buying, check which file format the machine reads (DST, PES or JEF) and its maximum hoop size. Those two facts define what you will be able to sell.

Everyday supplies

• Embroidery thread (40-weight polyester or rayon): start with 20 to 30 basic colors and buy others per job.
• Bobbin thread (60- or 70-weight, white and black) and spare bobbins.
• Stabilizers: tear-away (stable wovens), cut-away (knits and fleece) and water-soluble topping (over terry and textured fabrics).
• Needles: 75/11 embroidery (general use), 65/9 or 70/10 (small lettering) and 90/14 (denim, caps).
• Temporary spray adhesive, curved fine-point scissors, pins, a tape measure and a cloth for oil.

The workspace

A sturdy table (the machine vibrates), good light, a grounded outlet and shelves for thread and stabilizer. Keep one spot for the "to stitch" queue and another for "finished": mixing the two is how the wrong piece gets delivered.

Which embroidery software should you use?

You will need to create name files, adjust stock designs and convert files. Options range from installed, paid programs (Wilcom, Hatch, Embrilliance, PE-Design) with licenses from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, mostly Windows-only, to subscription software that runs in the browser on any computer and exports DST, PES and JEF, such as Meus Bordados. We compare the two approaches in Online vs installed embroidery software.

For a starting shop the test is practical: the software must do names and monograms with any font, open and convert files, preview the embroidery before sewing and export in your machine's format. Everything beyond that is a bonus.

Do you need to make it official?

In the US, many home embroiderers start as a sole proprietorship under their own name and later form an LLC for liability separation. Depending on your state and city you may need a business license, a seller's permit to collect sales tax on goods, and a home-occupation permit. A separate business bank account and basic bookkeeping are worth setting up on day one regardless of the structure.

Being set up properly also helps you sell to schools, teams and businesses, which often require an invoice and a tax ID to pay for uniforms and branded items.

Licensing, permits and sales-tax rules vary by state and change over time. Check with your state's business portal or an accountant before you start selling.

How do you organize orders in five stages?

Every embroidery job goes through the same phases. Name each one and treat each job as a card that moves from one column to the next:

1. Quote. The customer asked; you wrote down what it is, quantity, size, colors, deadline and price. Without a record here, the job gets lost in text messages.
2. Approved. The customer confirmed and paid the deposit (50 percent is standard). Only now does the piece enter the queue. Send the simulation or a preview for written approval.
3. In production. File ready, piece hooped, stitching. If something goes wrong (fabric, thread), this is when you tell the customer, not on delivery day.
4. Ready. Stitched, trimmed, checked and packed. Notify the customer and arrange pickup or shipping.
5. Delivered. Balance received, job closed. Ask for a photo or a review to use on social media.

That board can be a notebook, a spreadsheet or software. What matters is that every job sits in one column with price, deposit and due date visible. In Meus Bordados, the order board has exactly these five columns, linked to your customer list and to the design file for each job.

How do you keep track of the money?

Mixing business money with household money is the most common way to "work a lot and have nothing left". Three habits fix it:

• A separate account (a free business checking account is enough). Everything for the shop goes in and out of it.
• Record every inflow and outflow: deposit received, balance received, thread bought, electricity, machine payment. A simple receivables and payables log shows what is still owed to you and what is due in the next few days.
• Pay yourself a fixed amount every month. Whatever is left is business profit, for reserves, a new machine or stock.

With entries up to date, a financial dashboard answers the questions that matter: revenue this month, profit, best customers and average order value. Those answers drive pricing and what is worth selling. See also how to price custom embroidery.

How do you get your first customers?

• Start close to home: schools (uniforms, names on backpacks), churches, gyms, clinics (scrubs), small businesses (logo shirts). Bring a stitched sample.
• Instagram and Facebook with real photos: the finished embroidery in good light, with the item and a price or "from". Short videos of the machine stitching travel well.
• Etsy and local marketplaces: good for personalized gifts (towels, baby blankets, bags) and for being found by people outside your area.
• Your own page on Google: a simple page with services, photos, your town and a contact button shows up when someone searches "custom embroidery near me". The shop website in Meus Bordados builds that page ready for search engines.
• Seasonal bundles: back to school (names on uniforms), Mother's Day, holidays, and baby gifts year-round.

How much does it cost to start an embroidery business from home?

The biggest item is the machine, which ranges from an entry-level single-needle to a multi-needle, with a difference of many times in price. Add thread (20 to 30 cones), stabilizer, needles and software. Check current prices at dealers; they change often.

Can I start with a 4 × 4 in home machine?

Yes, and many people do: names, monograms, chest logos and small patches fit that field. You just will not take large pieces (jacket backs, blankets). When the order queue justifies it, move up to a 5 × 7 in field or larger.

How do I take deposits and avoid non-payment?

Ask for 50 percent on approval and the rest on delivery, by card or payment app, and record it on the order. No piece enters the queue without a deposit. For businesses paying by invoice, agree the terms in writing.

Do I need to charge sales tax on embroidery?

It depends on your state and on whether you sell goods, services or both. Many states tax the finished product when you supply the garment. Check your state's rules or ask an accountant.

The most common fields on home machines are 4 × 4 in (100 × 100 mm), 5 × 7 in (130 × 180 mm) and 8 × 12 in (200 × 300 mm); commercial fields go beyond 12 × 20 in.

The "hoop size" in a product name is usually the sewing field, which is smaller than the frame; always check the usable field measurement.

What does the hoop size actually mean?

When a manufacturer says a machine "has a 4 × 4 hoop", it is talking about the sewing field: the maximum area the needle can reach, in inches (4 × 4 in = 100 × 100 mm). The physical frame is larger than that, because part of it is outside the needle's reach.

You will also see the measurement in millimeters, which is more precise. Embroidery software works in millimeters, so the equivalents are worth memorizing:

Why use the smallest hoop possible?

The hoop exists to keep the fabric taut and still while the needle works. The bigger the hoop, the more fabric is free between the design and the frame, and the more it shifts with every stitch. That shows up as outlines that do not meet, letters that "walk" and puckering around the embroidery.

The rule of thumb is to pick the smallest hoop the design fits in with 1 cm of clearance on each side. The clearance is needed because the presser foot needs room and because the design may have tie-off stitches slightly outside the visible area.

When the design is small but the item is large (a name in the corner of a bath towel, for example), keep using the small hoop and let the rest of the towel hang outside, rolled up and clipped so it does not slide under the needle.

In the Meus Bordados editor, the Smallest that fits button in the Hoop panel picks the smallest hoop of your machine that holds the design, and the note below shows how much room is left to the edge. See Size, position and hoop.

Which hoops do the common brands use?

Each brand has its own hoop line, and not every hoop fits every machine of the brand. Some examples to guide your research (confirm in your model's manual):

• Brother and Baby Lock home machines: 4 × 4 in on entry models (PE535, SE600); 5 × 7 in on mid-range models (PE800, SE1900); 6 × 10 in and larger on the top Innov-is models. The PR multi-needle series reaches 8 × 12 in and has cap frames.
• Janome: the Memory Craft 500E and 550E ship with 140 × 140, 140 × 200, 200 × 200 and 200 × 280 mm hoops (the 550E reaches 200 × 360 mm). The JEF format stores the hoop code in the file.
• Elna: follows the Janome line, with the same hoops on several models.
• Bernina, Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff: proprietary hoops per model; check the sewing field of each hoop in the manual.
• Tajima, Barudan, Ricoma and other commercial machines: tubular hoops in many sizes (from 120 × 120 to 360 × 500 mm and beyond), border frames for flat goods and rotating cap frames.

Are magnetic hoops worth it?

Magnetic hoops replace the screw-tightened ring with two frames held by strong magnets. The advantages are real: hooping takes seconds, they do not leave hoop burn on fleece or velvet, and they grip thick fabrics such as terry towels and denim without a fight. The downside is the price, several times that of a standard hoop, and care with the magnets around the machine and cards.

For shops that stitch towels and sweatshirts in volume, a magnetic hoop pays for itself in time and in pieces that stop being ruined. For occasional names on flat fabric, the standard hoop does the job.

How do you hoop fabric correctly?

1. Cut the stabilizer about 1 in (3 cm) larger than the hoop on every side. Use cut-away on knits and fleece, tear-away on stable cotton, and tear-away underneath plus water-soluble topping on towels.
2. Loosen the outer ring's screw and lay the stabilizer and fabric over it, with the grain straight.
3. Press the inner ring in from the top, evenly. The fabric should be smooth but not stretched (stretching distorts knits and the embroidery puckers afterwards).
4. Tighten the screw only until the assembly is firm. Do not tug the fabric by the edges after hooping: it pulls the grain off.
5. Mark the embroidery center on the item with chalk or a water-soluble pen and align it with the hoop marks. At the machine, use the "trace" or outline function, if available, before stitching.

If the item does not fit even your largest hoop, do not try to "stretch" the sewing field: the needle will hit the frame. Split the design into two parts with registration marks or send the job to a larger machine.

How do you know whether a design fits the hoop before stitching?

Every embroidery file has a width and height in millimeters. Open the design in a viewer (the Meus Bordados viewer shows the size next to the stitch count) and compare it with your machine's sewing field, remembering the 1 cm clearance. JEF and newer PES files carry the hoop in the file and the machine warns on a mismatch; DST does not, so the check is entirely yours.

If the design is slightly over the field, do not resize by more than 10 to 20 percent: finished stitches lose density. The right move is to go back to the project file and generate the embroidery at the new size, as explained in DST vs PES vs JEF.

Can I use a hoop larger than the machine's field?

No. The sewing field is limited by the machine arm's travel; a larger hoop simply will not attach or the machine refuses it. The most you can stitch in one hooping is your model's maximum field.

Which hoop should I buy for towels?

Names on towels fit the 4 × 4 in hoop. For designs with a name underneath, large monograms and borders, the 5 × 7 in hoop is ideal. If you stitch many towels, consider a magnetic hoop, which grips terry without marking it.

Why did the embroidery come out crooked in the hoop?

Almost always the fabric was hooped off-grain or pulled after hooping. Mark the center and reference lines on the item, align them with the hoop marks and use the machine's trace function before starting.

What is a 4 × 4 hoop in millimeters?

4 × 4 inches is about 100 × 100 mm. 5 × 7 in is 130 × 180 mm, 6 × 10 in is 160 × 260 mm and 8 × 12 in is 200 × 300 mm.

The choice depends on the width of the area: narrow calls for satin, wide calls for fill, a line calls for running stitch.

The settings that change the result most are density, the underlay beneath and pull compensation for the fabric.

Satin stitch: for lettering and narrow bands

Satin stitch is made of parallel stitches, side by side, that span the shape from one edge to the other. It is the shiniest stitch, because the thread lies taut and smooth and reflects light. It is the stitch of lettering, bold outlines, patch borders and any narrow band.

Its limit is width: a very long thread stitch lies loose, snags and pulls out with wear. In practice satin works well from 1.5 mm to about 10 mm wide. Beyond that, software splits each stitch in two or three ("auto split") or you switch to fill.

In Meus Bordados, satin is the default for text. On closed shapes you mark angle lines with the Angles tool so turning satin follows the curve of the shape, and on open shapes there are Column C (fixed width) and Column A (variable width). See Stitch types and settings.

Fill stitch (tatami): for large areas

Fill stitch, also called tatami or complex fill, covers an area with rows of short stitches (usually 3 to 4 mm), offset from one row to the next like bricks in a wall. That offset keeps the surface even and hides the row seams.

Because it is built from short stitches, fill has no width limit and stands up well to wear and washing. In exchange it shines less than satin and uses more stitches (and more machine time) per square inch. Changing stitch length and angle creates different textures; running the fill at 45 degrees to the satin lettering helps the text stand out from the background.

Use fill for logo backgrounds, wide shapes in kids' designs, letters with strokes wider than 10 mm and appliqué-style areas.

Running stitch: outlines, detail and underlay

Running stitch is a single line of stitches, one after another. It is the most economical stitch and the only one that works on very thin lines (under 1.5 mm). Use it for outlines, details (whiskers, eyelashes, leaf veins), "pen-style" lettering, decorative topstitching and, very importantly, as underlay beneath other stitches.

The triple run (bean stitch) variant passes three times over the same path (forward, back, forward) and reads as a bolder line. It is great for outlines that must show and for 3 to 4 mm lettering where satin does not work.

Typical length: 2 to 3 mm. Shorter stitches (1.5 mm) follow tight curves better; longer ones (3.5 to 4 mm) are faster and smoother on straight lines.

Which stitch for which job? Quick table

Density: the setting that changes the embroidery most

Density is the distance between two neighboring satin stitches or between two fill rows. "High" density means closer stitches (more coverage, more stitches, stiffer); "low" means wider spacing (lighter, fabric may show through). A common value for 40-weight thread in satin is a spacing around 0.4 mm; fill is usually a little more open.

When to adjust: increase density (smaller spacing) on terry and on dark fabrics with light thread; decrease it on light fabrics and small lettering, where too many stitches make a hard plate and cut the fabric. Never change the density of a finished design by resizing: that belongs in the project file.

Underlay: what goes underneath

Before stitching the satin or fill, the machine sews a hidden layer of running or zigzag stitches. That underlay anchors the fabric to the stabilizer, lifts the top stitching and keeps the thread from sinking. Without it, satin looks flat and fill puckers.

• Center run: one line down the middle of the column. For small lettering and narrow columns.
• Edge run: lines along the edges of the shape. Defines the outline and keeps the satin from "leaking".
• Zigzag (single or double): for wide columns and large letters; adds loft.
• Fill underlay: open rows beneath large fills, at a different angle from the top fill.

An inset of 0.3 to 0.5 mm pulls the underlay inside the outline so it does not peek out at the edges.

Pull compensation: why do letters come out thinner than on screen?

Every stitch pulls the fabric toward the center of the column. The result is that a column drawn at 3 mm sews out at 2.6 mm and the gaps between letters grow. Pull compensation extends each stitch a little beyond the outline, in the stitch direction, to make up for that shrinkage.

Starting values: 0.2 mm on stable fabrics (cotton, twill), 0.3 to 0.5 mm on knits and fleece. On very stretchy fabrics, pair it with cut-away stabilizer, which holds better. On the other hand, do not over-compensate small lettering: the counters of "e" and "a" close up.

Stitch a 10 × 30 mm satin rectangle on the job's fabric and measure it. The difference between the drawing and the real measurement is the compensation you need.

Stitch order and color changes

The last stitch defines the finish. The classic order is: underlay, background fills, satin shapes and lettering, running-stitch outlines last. Within each stage, group objects of the same color to cut thread changes: every change is a stop on a single-needle machine.

In the editor, the Objects, in stitching order list shows the sequence and the Simulate button plays the embroidery stitch by stitch with the estimated time. Turn on Jumps and trims to see where the machine will jump. See Colors and stitching order.

What is the maximum satin stitch width?

In practice about 10 mm (3/8 in) with 40-weight thread. Beyond that the stitch lies loose and snags. Software splits longer stitches automatically or you switch to fill. Some machine formats also limit the movement per stitch (DST, for example, at 12.1 mm).

What is the difference between tatami and fill stitch?

They are the same stitch. "Tatami" is the name used by Wilcom and much of the trade; "fill" or "complex fill" is the generic name. Some programs call decorative variants "pattern fill" or "motif fill".

Why did the embroidery come out stiff, like a plate?

Density too high, underlay too heavy, or both, combined with a thick stabilizer. Lower the density (increase spacing), use lighter underlay on small areas and avoid stacking fill on fill.

Which stitch should I use on towels?

Satin for lettering, with slightly higher density and a water-soluble topping so the thread does not sink into the loops. For motifs, fill with zigzag underlay. Avoid single running stitch on terry: it disappears.

Browser-based subscriptions such as Meus Bordados cover the everyday work of a shop (names, lettering, stock designs, image to embroidery, file conversion, DST/PES/JEF) on any computer, at a low monthly cost with nothing to install, and add order management on top.

For most small shops the decision comes down to one question: do you sell advanced digitizing, or do you sell embroidery?

What are the embroidery software options today?

What does each path cost?

Professional installed programs are sold as a one-time license (sometimes with a hardware dongle) running from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, plus paid upgrades with each major version. Mid-range programs sell modules or levels, which spreads the cost, but each new capability (auto-digitizing, fonts, monogramming) is a separate purchase.

Online programs charge a monthly or yearly subscription with every feature included and continuous updates at no extra cost. Over several years the total can approach a mid-range license, but the entry cost is small and you can stop whenever you like. Meus Bordados has monthly, quarterly and yearly plans in US dollars (see pricing), with a 7-day free trial and no credit card.

Do not forget the hidden cost of installed software: a Windows PC powerful enough to run it comfortably, and the hours of reinstalling when the computer changes.

What does installed software do better?

• Advanced manual digitizing: dozens of stitch types, effects (3D puff outlines, decorative stitches, gradients), automatic branching, smart object sequencing.
• Fine production control: stops, trims, needle offsets, support for multi-head machines and rare industrial formats.
• Works offline: if you stitch somewhere without a stable connection, installed software keeps running.
• High-quality pre-digitized embroidery fonts, hand-digitized letter by letter, included or sold separately.
• Ecosystem: huge libraries of tutorials, courses and user groups, especially for Wilcom and Hatch.

If you sell design files to other shops or digitize complex logos every day, those advantages pay for the license. That is the audience these programs were built for.

What does online software do better?

• Runs on any computer: Windows, Mac or Linux, at the shop, at home or on a customer's laptop. No install, no dongle, no "I reformatted my PC and lost my license".
• Starts in minutes: create the account, open the editor, type the name, export. The most common shop task (a name in a font, in satin) takes under five minutes.
• Any TTF/OTF font becomes embroidery instantly: the program library, your computer's fonts or a font file. No need to buy digitized alphabets.
• Files in the cloud: saved designs and your own stock designs live in your account and open anywhere.
• Continuous updates: new features appear without reinstalling or paying for upgrades.
• Business tools included: in the case of Meus Bordados, an order board, customers, receivables and payables, a financial dashboard and a shop website, all in the same subscription.

And the limitations of online software?

To be fair, here is what online software does not do, or does with caveats:

• Needs internet to sign in and save to the cloud (the Meus Bordados editor keeps the last design in the browser, but the account needs a connection).
• Designed for a computer: the editor needs a screen and a mouse; on a phone you get viewing and business management only.
• Advanced digitizing is simpler: there is satin, turning satin, fill, running, zigzag, E-stitch, borders, underlay, compensation and stitch-by-stitch editing, but not the hundred effects of a professional suite.
• Browser matters: computer fonts and the 3D thread preview work best in Chrome and Edge.

How to decide: questions to ask before paying

1. What do you sell? If 80 percent of your orders are names, monograms, stock designs and simple logos, online covers it and leaves you time. If you sell digitizing, go with a professional installed suite.
2. What computer do you have? A Mac or a modest laptop favors online software or Embrilliance; a strong Windows PC opens every door.
3. What fits your cash flow now? A monthly subscription is a small fixed cost; a big license is an investment that needs volume to pay off. See how to price embroidery to run the numbers.
4. Do you need business tools? If you still track orders in a notebook, software that combines editor and orders removes a spreadsheet. See how to organize orders.
5. Try before you buy. Every serious program has a free trial or demo. Run the same real job (a name on a towel and a chest logo) in each and compare the time and the result at the machine.

The two worlds coexist: many shops use online software for the daily volume (names, stock designs, conversion) and hire a professional digitizer for the few complex logos each month.

Does online embroidery software work on a Mac?

Yes. Because it runs in the browser it works on Mac, Windows and Linux. That is one of the main reasons Mac users lean toward online software, since the traditional professional suites are Windows-only.

Is there free embroidery software?

Ink/Stitch is free and open source, an extension for Inkscape. It is powerful but requires learning vector drawing and has a more technical workflow. Machine manufacturers also offer limited free versions of their programs.

Is a file made online the same as one from installed software?

The DST, PES or JEF file is the same kind of file: a list of stitches. The machine does not know where it came from. The difference lies in the digitizing decisions the software made, not in the format.

If I cancel the subscription, do I lose my designs?

In Meus Bordados you can download your .bordado files and your DST/PES/JEF files at any time, and they keep working on the machine. See Card, invoices, cancel and resume.

The fixes are cheap and quick once you know what to look for, and almost all of them happen before you press start.

Here are the twelve mistakes we see most, with the symptom, the cause and the fix for each.

Mistakes at the hoop and stabilizer

1. Using the wrong stabilizer (or none)

Symptom: puckering around the design, fill areas that sink, outlines that drift after washing. Cause: tear-away on a knit, or no stabilizer at all. Fix: cut-away for anything that stretches (t-shirts, fleece, piqué polos), tear-away for stable wovens (twill, denim, canvas), and a water-soluble topping over terry, fleece and any napped fabric so stitches do not sink.

2. Stretching the fabric in the hoop

Symptom: the fabric looks fine while stitching, then puckers like a raisin when unhooped. Cause: knit fabric pulled drum-tight in the hoop relaxes afterwards and the stitches cannot follow. Fix: hoop knits smooth but relaxed, use spray adhesive to hold the fabric to a cut-away stabilizer, and use the smallest hoop that fits. See hoop sizes explained.

3. Hoop burn and marks

Symptom: a shiny ring or crushed pile around the embroidery on fleece, velvet or towels. Cause: over-tightened hoop on a napped fabric. Fix: float the item on hooped stabilizer with adhesive, use a magnetic hoop, or steam the ring out with a damp cloth from the back.

Mistakes with needle and thread

4. Thread breaks every few hundred stitches

Causes, in order of likelihood: an old or burred needle, thread path threaded wrong or snagged, top tension too tight, a design with density too high, or cheap thread. Fix: change the needle first (a needle is good for roughly 8 hours of stitching), rethread with the presser foot up, check for a nick on the needle plate, then look at the design density.

5. Bobbin thread showing on top

Symptom: little white dots along satin columns. Cause: top tension too tight relative to the bobbin, or a bobbin case out of adjustment. Fix: loosen top tension slightly; on satin lettering the ideal is about one-third bobbin and two-thirds top thread visible on the back. Clean lint from the bobbin area while you are there.

6. Bird nests under the needle plate

Symptom: a tangle of thread under the fabric that jams the machine. Cause: top thread not seated in the tension discs (threaded with the foot down), or the thread caught on the spool. Fix: always thread with the presser foot up, use a thread net on slippery cones, and stop at the first sign of looping.

7. Wrong needle size

Symptom: holes in fine fabric, or skipped stitches on heavy fabric. Fix: 75/11 embroidery needle for most work, 65/9 or 70/10 with 60-weight thread for small lettering, 90/14 for denim and caps, ballpoint for knits.

Mistakes in the design file

8. Resizing a finished design too far

Symptom: gaps in the fill after enlarging, or a stiff plate after shrinking. Cause: stitch files have a fixed stitch count; scaling by more than 10 to 20 percent changes the density. Fix: go back to the editable project file and regenerate at the new size. If you only have the stitch file, keep changes within 10 percent. See DST vs PES vs JEF.

9. Lettering too small for the stitch type

Symptom: letters fill in, "e" and "a" become blobs. Cause: satin lettering under 5 mm (0.2 in) tall, or a thin, high-contrast font. Fix: use a simple bold font, at least 5 mm tall, 60-weight thread for small text, or switch to running stitch. See how to digitize lettering.

10. Missing underlay and pull compensation

Symptom: satin looks flat and sinks; columns come out thinner than drawn with gaps between letters and outline. Fix: add center-run or zigzag underlay under satin, edge-run plus light fill under large fills, and 0.2 to 0.5 mm of pull compensation depending on fabric stretch. See stitch types.

11. Outlines that do not line up

Symptom: the running-stitch outline sits beside the fill instead of on its edge. Causes: fabric shifting in the hoop (see 1 and 2), poor registration in the file, or the outline stitched before the fill. Fix: fix hooping first; in the file, make fills slightly overlap under outlines and always sew outlines last.

The mistake that causes all the others

12. Skipping the test sew-out

Every new design, every new fabric, every new thread brand: stitch it once on a scrap of the same fabric with the same stabilizer before touching the customer's garment. A test costs five minutes and a square of fabric; a ruined customer polo costs the polo, your time and the customer's trust.

Before the test, run the design in a simulator. The Meus Bordados editor shows stitch count, estimated time, color order and jumps and trims, so you catch density and sequencing problems on screen. See Colors and stitching order.

Quick troubleshooting table

Why does my embroidery pucker even with stabilizer?

Usually the stabilizer is the wrong type (tear-away on a knit) or the fabric was stretched in the hoop. Switch to cut-away, hoop the fabric relaxed and use the smallest hoop that fits. High-density designs also pucker on light fabric; lower the density.

How often should I change the embroidery needle?

A common guideline is every 8 hours of stitching or at the first sign of thread breaks, skipped stitches or a ticking sound. Needles are the cheapest part of the process; change them early.

Why does a design that stitched fine on one shirt fail on another?

Different fabric. A design digitized for twill will pucker on a jersey tee unless you change stabilizer and compensation. Test on each new fabric type.

Can I fix a design by resizing it on the machine?

Only within about 10 percent. Machines scale the stitch coordinates without adding or removing stitches, so density changes. For bigger changes, regenerate the file from the editable project.