This colorful example of machine-applied sequins was performed on Tajima equipment. (Image courtesy Tajima Sales & Service). Change can be frightening or exhilarating. It all depends on how we approach it.

Change is taking place all around us in the embroidery industry. The Internet has allowed designs to be sent instantly around the world for inexpensive digitizing while we sleep. Corporate shirts and caps that require little imagination and are often ordered in bulk can be done less expensively below the border and across the sea—and, if we are diligent in our selection of services, with little or no loss of quality. Turns out their “quality, turnaround, price: pick any two” equation is a little different than what we find in the USA. Factor in wage levels and cost of living and we have a dilemma on our hands. It’s a dilemma contract embroiderers have been dealing with for some time, and the trickle-down is making us all understand that the “adapt-or-die” philosophy is one that can and does apply to everyone, no matter how many or few embroidery heads we run in our businesses.

Find a need and fill it

I have always encouraged those who attend my seminars at the Printwear Shows and members on my Embroidery Line (EmbroideryLine.net) to focus on a niche that interests them . . . and the rest will follow. A person who shows dogs and adds embroidery to the mix will find that the ripples formed by marketing stones cast will eventually bring business that has nothing to do with the canine world.

And so we grow.

We can also grow by reputation when we offer things differently, when we digitize our designs to look natural instead of coloring-book simple—dividing leaves, changing stitch direction to suggest many colors, using underlay to add dimension to our designs, utilizing the unique features in our software to create a logo with punch.

We stand apart when we know how to choose our colors so they pop off the shirt and show the design to best advantage, when we know our garments and construction so well we can explain them professionally and up-sell our customers to better shirts which equal better profits. We shine when we understand that our niche in the world of embroidery can be as simple—or as complicated—as standing above and apart from the rest by virtue of our professionalism, which includes all the things mentioned here . . . and more.

More? The beyond

I do not believe it is an accident that more and more companies are offering machines that can be fitted with attachments to add all manner of embellishment and decoration. If we can add sequin capability and choose from fill, fancy fill, appliqué or sequins in that large lettering on the jacket back or tote, how exciting will that be to our customers? Corporate logos don’t have to be dull—they can be more than amazing when you add the unexpected. And the possibilities of custom gift items loom large.

Learning the unknown and reaching into the unexpected can be the answer to Internet marketing that allows your customers to find the same suppliers and pricing that you do. The boring, cording, sequins, chenille and laser capabilities available on machines today can offer exciting choices to your customers—and that custom work is what will allow you to compete with the fast and furious. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time—you just move outside the box, expand your comfort zone, and find ways to offer custom and unique embellishments with which  the time frames and price points of the off-shore, below-border markets can’t or won’t compete. (I have watched, for example, a sequin font fill faster than a fancy fill, and with less labor than an appliqué.)

The chenille letter with embroidery was done on the triple machine (chenille, sequins and embroidery) by Phoenix 540. Sequins could easily be added during the same operation. (Image courtesy Phoenix 540.) Even if your business has been focused on corporate apparel over the years, a wider path will allow you to explore the gift market or fashion apparel and expand your horizons and your earning potential.

The sports arena has long combined chenille with embroidery, stitching the football or winged track shoe into the chenille of the award letter. Now there is the possibility of adding sequins to the mix at the same time: something that would make cheerleader and band uniforms sparkle.

I once won a job with a cheerleading squad because I had a digitizing function that allowed me to carve the school’s initials into the fill stitch that comprised the name across the front of the sweatshirts. It didn’t take me any longer to stitch the shirts, and only a little longer to prepare the design. But because I knew the power of my tools and could use them, I managed to set myself apart from the other contenders. I look forward to a reprise by adding sequins to the mix; perhaps for pep-rally sweaters that will shine in the stadium lights or glitter in the glow of a pep-rally bonfire. (Do they still have those?) People buy from people who make them feel special and offer them something different and exciting.

It is also true that it takes less time and money to market new things to existing customers than to court new ones. Businesses add sublimation, direct-to-garment printing, ribbon making, etching, and rhinestones to their mix. Why not add some class, some spice, some bling?

What’s available?

At the final Printwear Show of this season in Indianapolis, I took a tour of the exhibit hall looking for machines that can add that special touch to our embroidery world. Machines can be outfitted with the means to do special effects.

Boring is a term used to describe a process whereby a hole is cut in the fabric, then embroidery is added around the opening and elsewhere as with embroidered eyelet material. Cording refers to the process where a cord is fed from an attachment, then a zigzag stitch is placed across it, holding it in place on the fabric. This is similar to a process in sewing called couching. Chenille is familiar to those who have seen award letters on letter jackets. It can be looped or applied as a chain stitch. Some companies also offer a looping machine which creates an effect similar to chenille. Looping, cording and boring are accomplished through special digitizing techniques. For example, with the cording or looping device, sharp turns must be avoided (similar to digitizing for thick, fuzzy threads in regular embroidery) and stops must be programmed in, so the cord/yarn can be manually trimmed. Below are some quick thumbnail descriptions, from my most recent turn around the show floor, of what most of the equipment manufacturers have available:

• Barudan sells a dedicated chenille machine and a zigzag cording machine. It has also recently added a combination machine that performs embroidery, sequins and chenille, as well as a combination machine that performs zigzag cording, chenille, embroidery and sequins. The sequin attachment is installed at the factory and does not sacrifice an embroidery needle. A sequin attachment can be installed on both the left and right side of the sewing head for a maximum of two sequin devices per head. The company offers two boring methods. One way uses a boring needle which replaces a standard needle. This special needle cuts through the fabric and passes through the regular needle hole in the throat plate. A function in the machine software is turned on designating the boring needle so that the thread sensors and trimmers are turned off for this needle position, as there is no thread being used. Boring can also be done with a device that is attached to a needle bar. It has a 12mm offset and a spearhead tip which penetrates through a larger hole in the throat plate. The tubular machine requires the throat plate to be changed when using the boring device; the flat-table machines are equipped with a throat plate that has both the regular and boring holes in the plate. The company offers an add-on cording/looping device that sacrifices an embroidery needle. One of the needle bars must be removed and replaced with a device that feeds the cord. The cord is stitched down with the adjacent needle. This special device also performs looping which is similar to cording but uses yarn to create a chenille-like effect. Special digitizing functions are needed to stitch chenille designs and designs that contain sequins. The company sells Compucon and Wilcom embroidery-digitizing software that offers special sequin and chenille functions.
• Brother has a different philosophy on specialty stitching. It believes that the embroidery machine is for embroidery, so sells separate industrial machines that perform each of the specialty applications. It has a manual sequin machine and a limmer machine that creates the Swiss chain stitch. Other things that set the company apart? It features a jumbo bobbin that provides 100,000 stitches compares to the standard bobbin’s 33,000. The company also has a “Big Brother” function which offers complete production-control reporting.
• Happy machines can be fitted at the factory with a sequin attachment, or it can be installed by a certified technician in the field. It is a permanent device and one needle is sacrificed. The boring and cording capabilities are added easily by the customer. Boring requires a special knife that replaces the needle, and cording requires a special needle plate and a larger-eyed needle. Compucon digitizing software includes a module for digitizing for sequins, but it is not sold separately. If you have other digitizing software that does not have sequin capabilities, you would need to purchase the Compucon software package that includes the sequin-setting functions.
• Melco offers a sequin attachment and the user can take the attachment off and still use the needle to sew. Training is offered, and needed, to attach and remove the sequin attachment, but it does not have to be factory installed, can be installed in the field. The company’s boring attachment does cause one needle to be lost for embroidery use. Its machines can also be programmed to feed “too much” thread which creates a looped, 3-D effect which mimics a Berber/chenille look. Different threads can be used, with cotton creating a fuzzier look than poly or rayon. The company’s software includes capabilities to digitize for sequins.
• Phoenix 540 offers a chenille combination machine that combines embroidery, sequins and chenille, both loop and chain stitches. It also offers sequin, cording and boring capabilities independently. With all of its attachments, the needle where the device is attached can still be used for embroidery. The boring is achieved by a special knife that replaces a needle, assigned by the machine’s software so the trimming and thread-break sensors are disabled during its use. There is no special  needle plate required for the boring action. The cord used with the cording device is fed out and sewn as if it were a straight stitch. The software (developed by Compucon and private-labeled by Phoenix 540) has all the stitch commands needed to create digitized files for any of the attachments. Basic editing and lettering systems are given away with every machine and the necessary module needed for sequin digitizing or other specialty stitching is included with the purchase of the specially equipped machine.
• Prodigi (from Midwest Dist.) recommends factory installation for its sequin attachment which does not sacrifice an embroidery needle. The same attachment does all different size sequins (three-, four-, five- and seven-mm) by using interchangeable feeds. Its cording attachment does not sacrifice a needle and can be factory installed or added in the field. The boring attachment requires replacing the needle with a knife; this can be customer installed. Prodigi also offers a taping device: a mechanical motorized head that uses rolled Mylar for decoration. This garment-decorating procedure uses a thin cord and the shiny Mylar stitches straddle it with a stitch effect similar to couching. The IDS software (sold by Midwest) accommodates digitizing for sequins.
• SWF offers boring, cording, sequins and chenille. Its chenille machine does both a lock (chain) and moss stitch, and combines embroidery with the chenille capabilities. The sequin attachment, factory installed, does not sacrifice a needle; it retracts when not in use so all needles can still be used for embroidery. It is engaged or not by the use if compressed air. Cording is accomplished by a special attachment that can be installed in the field. A special foot and spooler are used, and it can swing out so that the needle can still be used for embroidery. The company’s boring is accomplished by the use of a knife that replaces one of the needles. Mesa, which sells SWF west of the Mississippi, offers Wings Xperience software, which has sequin and other special function capabilities in its basic program. SWF East offers Sierra software with sequin capability available as a separate plug-in to the lower level software, and standard in the higher levels.
• Tajima (Hirsch) offers cording and sequin attachments that allow the user to still use the needle for embroidery. The boring attachment, however, does sacrifice one needle. A new feature offers a laser attachment for appliqué. The attachments are best applied at the factory but the cording and sequin attachment can be installed by a tech in the field.
• Yamata (Ricoma) offers a dedicated chenille machine. It also has a combination machine that performs embroidery, sequins and chenille. The company has a cording device that will attach to any of its machines. The sequin device can attach to any machine and it also sells a stand-alone sequin-punching machine that will cut sequins of any size or color. Ricoma embroidery machines can perform chenille and sequining on garments by attaching a sequin device to each head. Its machines are compatible with various attachments to embroider on hard-to-reach areas such as sleeves, shirt necks and the back of caps.

A YAS-11 Hotfix Spangle Motif Making Machine from MESA Distributors is responsible for this trio of eye-catching special effects. (Image courtesy MESA Dist.)“Boring” is performed by penetrating the fabric with a blade, then placing embroidery around the resulting hole(s). (Image courtesy Tajima Sales & Service.)

Living life creatively

Alan Alda once said: “Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk.”

Take a chance and move outside your comfort zone and explore the possibilities. You don’t have to move away from embroidery to do it. Just add the capabilities and the possibilities will take care of themselves. The embroidery industry is alive and well, but you need to get your arms around that potential. Just remember that, when you are enveloped in a change, it is best to make adjustments.