Would you care to find out where embroiderers usually get their supplies?
Imagine if someone shared with you a place where pros order their consumables from…
By tapping into one of these places, you too could order at wholesale prices.
And for a lot of us, it means staying in business!
However, as with everything in life, it’s not as simple as that. It may require lengthy negotiation with suppliers, compromises, and unless you’re in the midst of a client project (or facing a shortage of supplies), it will take time.
But hey, we can speed up the process! So in this ‘embroidery supplies wholesale buyer’s guide,’ we’ll give you all sorts of tips to find a great embroidery supplier.
First off, let’s run through a short list of essential embroidery supplies, tools, and accessories. This way, you’ll get a sense of what’s out there and what options you have. Then after that, we can swap with you a few of our insider-secrets.
If that sounds good to you, keep on reading.
A List of Essential Machine Embroidery Supplies, Tools & Accessories
If you’re just starting and don’t know what supplies to get, here are (listed in no particular order) the essentials you should be stocking up on.
Alongside each of our picks, we’ll also provide you with a quick-tip or a description on what that supply is, how it works, and why embroiderers use it.
- 1. Embroidery Hoop: An embroidery hoop is basically a circular or square-shaped tool that helps keep your fabric nice and tight while the embroidery machine is sewing out the design. Typically, it's got two parts: an inner hoop and an outer hoop that you tighten up to hold down (and even out) the tension on the fabric. Embroiderers use these hoops to stop the fabric from getting all wrinkly during stitching, which helps make the stitches looking clean and sharp. Often these hoops are made out of plastic or metal and installing them is usually a snap.
- 2. Fabric: Some would argue that selecting the right fabric for each embroidery project is just as crucial as choosing the design itself. This holds true because, firstly, you need a material suitable for embroidery. You can use various embroidery-ready materials such as cotton, linen, or even denim! One of the most critical factors is ensuring that the fabric has a tight weave to support the stitches.
- 3. Embroidery Needles: Machine embroidery needles are specialized needles designed for use in embroidery sewing machines. They're typically sharper and more finely crafted than regular sewing needles, allowing them to pierce through fabric and thread smoothly and precisely. Over time, these needles can become dull or bent from use, leading to issues like skipped stitches or fabric damage. Therefore, embroiderers replace them regularly.
- 4. Embroidery Thread: Embroidery thread is a type of thread specifically designed for use in embroidery projects. In machine embroidery, it serves the same purpose as in hand embroidery: to add decorative stitching to fabric. Typically, embroidery thread is made from various materials such as cotton, polyester, rayon, silk, or blends of these materials. Each material offers different qualities like sheen, strength, thickness, weight, and texture. Embroiderers pick out what thread to use based on factors like the desired appearance of the final embroidery, the type of fabric being used, the complexity of the design, and personal preferences.
- 6. Scissors: This is self explanatory. Sharp scissors are essential for cutting thread and trimming fabric. Embroidery scissors with fine tips are ideal for precision cutting.
- 7. Digitized Designs: You'll also need designs. However, not all designs will work on your embroidery machine right out of the box. Before your embroidery machine can interpret the design, it must undergo a process called 'digitization'. This involves creating a set of instructions that accompany your design file. This way, when you load it into your embroidery machine, the machine can read these instructions and understand how to stitch out the design from start to finish. If you don't know how to do it, you can find (and buy) digitized designs in different places on the internet.
- 8. Stabilizers/Backings: Stabilizers help support the fabric during stitching, especially for delicate or stretchy fabrics. They come in various types, including tear-away, cut-away, and water-soluble. Typically, how embroiderers use them is by placing them beneath the fabric before starting the embroidery process. Once the embroidery is finished, any excess tear-away or cut-away stabilizer can be trimmed around the design. Water-soluble stabilizers can be dissolved by spraying or soaking the embroidered piece in water.
- 9. Embroidery Software: Moving along, let's talk about something that might already come with your embroidery machine - embroidery software! It's hands down one of the most crucial tools for any embroiderer. And it's no wonder why - it gives you complete control over your designs. With it, you can create, tweak, and polish your designs to perfection before they're stitched out.