needles

[Kathy Shaw]

I'm using metalic wt 30 for back of jacket maderia thread and it keeps breaking I'm using organ needles 75/11 any suggestions?

[Rod or Sharon]

Kathy, what speed are you sewing at? Metallic thread requires slower sewing speed and then who digitized the design? It may be too dense and you need to remove a few stitches---a lot plays a part here (short stitches, speed, density, etc. etc.).
Sharon

[Kathy Shaw]

Ok I first started the speed at 900 then brought it down a little bit at a time brought it all the way down to 600 this was a big dumptruck design for the back of a jacket I did get it finished but it took longer than expected.The funny part is I was using maderia 30 wt metalic then I switched to robinson anton metalic color 1005 and it worked great so what I was thinking of trying a needle with a bigger eye, so does that sound like that may work? Also do you know of a good digitizer that's not so expensive. The one i've been using is sometimes a rip off but their real good at what they do.

[Rod or Sharon]

Sorry, but you have hit a nerve Kathy. To say a digitizer is really good at what they do and then say it is sometimes a "rip off"? Your digitizer is worth every penny and their weight in gold. If your design is poorly digitized, it will sew poorly, and after the garment is washed, may bunch up, etc. I have watched Rod grow through the years digitizing and the hours he has, and does, spend perfecting that design for our clients is less than minimum wage. What kind of a profit is made when that design sews nicely on a garment---per garment? The digitizing fee should be a passthrough to your customer unless you get a substancial order out of it and then, sometimes, we throw in free digitizing to get that order. Whether the digitizing is $45 or $150, if it sews well, it is worth every penny and be so thankful you have a good digitizer.
Sharon

[Rod or Sharon]

Sorry Kathy, I meant to also tell you that you should always be sewing with a larger eye needle for higher speeds on the Amaya. The Amaya was designed to sew with DBXK5 needles which have the larger eyes for faster sewing speed.
Sharon

[Kathy Shaw]

I have a real good digitizer but when you get a design that has lets say 15,000 stiches for about 45.00 and then you have a design thats about 4,000 stitches and they charge you the same price 45.00 I think they're a little money hungry.

[Rod or Sharon]

Somewhere there has to be a "minimum" but remember to take into account the complexity of each design. Rod may digitize something small with fewer stitches but it may have a lot of small detail as well. Therefore, we charge more. We charge accordingly to complexity--not stitch count.
Sharon

[Wayne]

Sounds like they have a set price of $45.00 up to 15,000 stitches.

When I use to do a design for someone I would never charge by the stitch.
And I don't charge by the stitch to embroidery.

[levelbest]

Depends - some people appreciate flat rate pricing. Certainly makes it easy for me to quote if I know a digitizer is going to charge $35 for a simple logo and $55 for a complex one or say - $40 for any left chest logo - whatever. Pluse as someone said, it's a pass thru cost.

If it's a simple design, I do it and pocket the money.

BTW, if they do good work - I'd stick with them.

[Jenny]

Sharon,

I agree with what you said...digitizing takes time and with Don who does ours he really works and works on the designs he has done for us and we really don't make any money on that part of a order for now...he is still learning and every time he does a design it helps him improve his work...we haven't done anything really hard but the many designs he has done has always come out good and the customers are very happy with them...we have had to buy two designs so far that was too advanced for Don because they were multi colored and the colors blended into each other and so we bought these designs but the customer knew how much the design would cost...one cost $60 and the customer only had us do it a couple of times for him...the most we have ever charged for a design so far has been $25 and as I said this is nothing compared to the time he spends on the design... this is just my thought on it and I know sometimes we think something costs too much before we realize how much time and effort it takes to complete...until next time...

Jenny
Westbrook Wonders

[GF]

I just had to jump in here because this is a topic I am very passionate about. Embroidery and digitizing are art skills and should never be cheap or exploited as a low cost promotional gimmick for profit. The art of embroidery has been around as long as clothing and somehow it became common to purchase embroidered items with mugs, keychains and trophies. I'm astounded by the numbers of embroiderers who are unable to thread and knot a regular sewing needle and sew the simplist thing, like a button, much less not know how to hand embroider something like a french knot or satin stitch which is the simplist stitches to start with. I would hope that if someone commits to the "art" of embroidery and the "art" of digitizing, they would respect it as such and not exploit a time honored art form by outsourcing or low bidding in hopes of high profit. I agree it is a business, but one where the competition is about quality and skill rather than business management. Just because anyone can purchase a paintbrush, doesn't make them an artist.

I understand there are two types of shops ... the mass production shop focused on quantity and profit; and the second small shop focused on customer service and quality. Both should represent the refinement of the product however. Just my thoughts...

[signman]

[email protected]
He makes and sells the All In ONe Hooper and has never let me down on digitizing...and pricing has been from $15 to $45...I have not had to tweak anything he does-just load it in, set colors and sew! Well worth the price for the hours it saves me of trying to digitize a complex design.

[wallbuilder]

Is the DBXK5 the largest eye, or is there a Metallic Needle that has a 20% larger eye than the DBXK5?