Multi-position hoops are pretty awesome if you want to expand your embroidery area and do bigger designs on your machine without rehooping.  LOVE this for names and border designs like an embellished yoke of a shirt!  So you get this bigger hoop and you try to send a 5×12 design to your machine and — nothing.  No big design no nothing!  So what’s so great about this hoop if you can’t use it?

What the hoop allows you to do is hoop once and you stitch designs in each position so that when complete, you have a big design.  Yes, you can attach the hoop to the machine and simply stitch designs in the hoop to create a scene or name moving them using the machine layout functions.  But it is so much easier to use software to do this.

So if you have a larger design that you want to stitch in this hoop, it needs to be split into sections that fit your 130 x 180mm design area – approximately 5×7.  To split a design you need to use software.  There are various programs out there that will do this – I use Embrilliance Essentials because it really is as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Choose Hoop from Preferences.

2. Open Design and it will show up in the hoop -size, add lettering, whatever you want to do.

3. Go to File > Save Stitch file and the software splits and saves the design file for you into sections that fit your machine.

See it in action – click here

No fiddling with assigning stitches to hoop flags or moving stuff because the software needs to have complete colors in specific spots or any other “technical” thing for you to worry about.   The Essentials software takes care of all the “technical stuff”.  You just need to be created and create the design layout you want.  Save the file, load each to the machine in the order & position instructed in the TXT file and start stitching.  The TXT file even includes the color break information from the original Large design layout.

Like I said – super duper simple!

Until next time – Happy Stitching!   Lisa

If this idea on easily splitting designs intrigues you – you can get more information on Essentials by clicking on this graphic and link: