Introducing the new SINGER FUTURA QUINTET sewing & embroidery machine featuring the new Endless Embroidery Hoop!

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1 Introducing the new SINGER FUTURA QUINTET sewing & embroidery machine featuring the new Endless Embroidery Hoop! Have you heard the exciting news? SINGER has launched a new embroidery & sewing machine! It s the SINGER FUTURA QUINTET sewing and embroidery machine, perfectly suited to help you achieve your sewing dreams. Whether it s fashion, home décor, heirloom, quilting or embroidery, this machine will provide hours of sewing pleasure. Unleash your creativity with the entirely new built-in library of embroidery designs and the brand new Endless Hoop, which allow you to create endless rows of embroidery! In this month s issue of Embroidery Made Easy, we ll show you how easy it is to use this new hoop to create a sequence of embroidery on fabrics or even ribbons. Create lovely borders on table linens, sheets, dresses, skirts and quilts. The possibilities are truly Endless! This month s project features the new Endless Hoop. Create a darling, mini-quilt that is perfectly sized to use as a cover for your SINGER FUTURA sewing & embroidery machine. In addition, we will show you how to make changes to the on-screen background using the Screen Color function in this month s Inside Your Software article. Sew many new things to learn! Have fun and happy sewing! February 2014 Introducing the New Endless Hoop! Introducing the new Endless hoop for the SINGER FUTURA QUINTET sewing and embroidery machine! Now creating endless rows of embroidery is simple, fun and practically fool-proof. You re sure to get hooked! You can use the new Endless hoop to create borders for fashions, quilting or home décor items, you can also embellish ribbons or embroider on strips of organdy or tulle to create your own laces. Not only is there a selection of fifty new designs built into the Design Library that are especially designed to be used with the Endless Hoop, but there is practically no limit to the amount of designs that you can embroider. Choose one of the built-in endless designs or you may select almost any design you desire as long as it is sized to fit into the parameters of the hoop, which is nearly four inches wide and six and one half inches long! When using the Endless Hoop, the software will automatically add alignment stitches in the corners of the design, allowing you to reposition the hoop accurately for continuous sewing. Let s begin by preparing the hoop for embroidery. Always start with a straight edge along the right side of the fabric when using the Endless Hoop. FEBRUARY 2014 Issue

2 Introducing the New Endless Hoop (cont d) Unclamp the Endless Hoop, (Lever B) and place the fabric and stabilizer between the inner hoop (C) and the outer hoop (D), aligning the right edge against the fabric guide (A) and then clamp the lever to hold the fabric securely. Before attaching the embroidery hoop to the machine, turn on the power switch to move the embroidery arm to the stand-by embroidery position. Place a full bobbin in the bobbin case, replace the bobbin cover and then attach the prepared Endless Hoop to the embroidery arm. Inner Outer Guide A Lever B Before selecting a design, change the hoop on the screen to the Endless Hoop. From the main tool bar select, select Tools Select Hoop Select Endless Note: If Endless Hoop is not selected, the design cannot be sent to the machine for embroidery as an endless design. The next step is to select the design you d like to use for embroidery. Let s choose one the special endless designs from the Design Library. From the main tool bar Select Create Select Design Library Scroll through the designs, select a design, then click on OK The design will appear in ghost form on the screen. Right click on the outside of the hoop area on screen. Select Apply from the pop-up menu. The design is now ready to send to the machine for embroidery. From the main tool bar, select the Transmit to Machine icon. FEBRUARY 2014 Issue Page 2

3 Introducing the New Endless Hoop (cont d) A new dialogue box appears called Offset Preview. The design will appear in the center of the box within a white background area, along with L shaped brackets surrounding the design. These brackets will be used to reposition the hoop as you join design segments together. Also notice images of the same design, both above and below the center design. Increased Gap The Offset Preview function allows you to change the distance between the design elements while previewing the results before actually stitching out them out. Notice the Offset slide bar below the grey area. You may click on the slide button and move it from side to side to decrease or increase the spacing between design segments. Sliding the bar to the left, decreases the gap, while sliding the bar to the right increases the gap. Designs may even overlap if desired, however, the Offset distance can only be set within the boundaries of the Endless Hoop, which is the white area within the grey box. Once you re satisfied with the spacing, click on OK. The Machine Navigator box opens. Slide to the left to decrease gap between the designs, or slide to the right to increase the gap between designs. Click on Send Design in the Machine Navigator box to send the design data to the machine. Note: You may find it helpful to deactivate the thread cutter on the machine s main control panel before beginning to sew. This will help to prevent the thread from coming out of the needle when sewing the long jump stitches between the alignment stitches. To deactivate the thread cutter, press the thread cutter button on the front right panel of the machine, just to the left of the tension control. Decreased Start the machine to begin embroidering. Notice the machine starts by first stitching a set of the L alignment brackets at the top left and top right corners of the design area. When the entire embroidery design is finished, another set of alignment brackets will be stitched at the bottom left and right corners of the design. Once the machine has stopped sewing the design and the alignment stitches, press any one of the shift buttons on the control panel of the machine to move the needle to the area of the upper left alignment stitches. Shift Buttons Tip: Occasionally updates are available for either the software or the hardware for your machine. It s a good idea to periodically to check make sure that you have the latest version. From the main menu: Select Help FEBRUARY 2014 Issue Page 3

4 Introducing the New Endless Hoop (cont d) Unclamp the lever to release the grip on the fabric. Pull the fabric backwards and position the needle into the exact corner of the upper left L bracket which is the bottom bracket of the completed design segment. Lower the needle into the corner of the bracket, making sure that the right edge of the fabric is still aligned with the guide bar on the right of the hoop. Once the fabric is positioned, re-clamp the lever. Note: You may also make slight adjustments to the needle alignment by using the shift buttons to move the needle in the direction needed. Line up the needle with the corner of the L bracket. The brackets of the completed segment should align with the brackets of the current segment, forming a sideways T. When everything is aligned, press the start/stop button to start the machine. It is not necessary to resend the data to the machine when using the Endless Hoop if there haven t been any changes or edits to the design itself. The data is ready for the next repeat. Start the machine. Once again, notice the upper left and right L brackets are the first stitches sewn. These brackets should align with the bottom brackets of the previously-sewn, completed design segment, forming a sideways T. Pay special attention to how closely the brackets line up. Be prepared to stop the machine if the alignment stitches don t meet properly. If this is the case, once the machine has stopped, press the Reverse button located above the Start/Stop button on the machine, to back up to the beginning of the design. Use the shift buttons or the unclamp the fabric to make the proper adjustments to realign the brackets. When alignment has been achieved, restart the machine and stitch out the next design segment. Continue this process to stitch out further repeats of the design. Helpful tips for embroidering with the Endless Hoop: Use a stabilizer appropriate for the fabric you are embroidering. In some cases, you may need more than one stabilizer. When working with ribbons or other narrower pieces, secure them to a piece of stabilizer wide enough to fit in the Endless Hoop, then temporarily secure the ribbon to the stabilizer with temporary fabric spray adhesive. SINGER chromium needles, style 2000 for woven fabrics or style 2001 for knits, are recommended for machine embroidery. FEBRUARY 2014 Issue Page 4

5 Screen Color Screen color is a function inside the software for the SINGER FUTURA TM machine that enables you to change the color of the on-screen work area or background color. Using a soft color such as white or pale gray, yellow or blue can be easier on the eyes and may make it easier to see fine details. This is especially true when the thread colors are darker or more vibrant. Having a greater contrast between the background and thread colors will make it easier to perform editing functions like moving individual stitch points, modifying the outline or changing the entry/exit points. On the other hand, using darker colors for the background can be helpful when the stitch colors are lighter. For example if the stitches are white, you may not be able to see them if the background is a light color. Changing the background to a darker color will help the white stitches become more visible. Another instance where you might find it helpful to change the screen color is when you d like to preview your design on the color of the fabric that you ll be embroidering on. If you ll be embroidery on a blue fabric, for example, you can change the screen to match the fabric. If the thread colors match the thread you ll be using, you ll get a sneak peek at how the finished project will look. This can be especially effective if you use the Realistic View function which mimics actual stitches on the screen. To change the screen color: Select View on the main tool bar Select Screen Color A new box appears that allows you to select any color that you d like to use for the background color on the screen. There are 48 basic colors that can easily be accessed. Or you may further define these colors by placing the cursor in the Value bar on the far right of the box to select lighter or darker shades of the selected basic color. Perhaps you d like to create a custom color. Place the cursor in the large Rainbow area and click to select the new color. If you d like to save this color for future use, you may click Add to Custom Colors and the new color will appear in the Custom Colors section. Click on OK to save the changes. The screen will now be the color you selected. FEBRUARY 2014 Issue Page 5

6 Embroidered Machine Cover Cover your machine in style with this darling mini-quilt using the endless hoop included with your SINGER FUTURA QUINTET sewing & embroidery machine. This special quilt features rows of endless embroidery. The cover utilizes built-in embroidery designs, however, you may express your own personality and choose whatever theme you d like. The possibilities are Endless! The approximate finished size of the quilted cover is 25 x 30½. Visit the SINGERCo.com/blog or SINGERCo.com/projects to download the project! Coming in the Next Issue Advanced Spacing for Lettering FEBRUARY 2014 Issue Page 6