How to import a digital image to create a custom embroidery design

Yesterday and Tuesday on QUILTsocial we talked about the correct way to place spools of thread on both horizontal spool pins and spool stands. Today we’re going to import a digital image to create our own one-of-a-kind embroidery design with THE Dream Machine 2 from Brother.

I decided that I’d like to make a Valentine’s pillow with embroidered words on the front. I could use the fonts that come loaded on THE Dream Machine 2, but I want to try importing an image into the machine instead.

To start this process, we need a jpeg image to import. You can download lots of images from the internet or you can make your own. I use Microsoft Publisher a lot for writing my patterns for Fairfield Road Designs and Upper Canada Quiltworks, so I designed my image in Publisher and then converted it to a picture file. You can right click on the image below to save it to your computer or design your own. Just make sure that your image is in jpeg format.

Save your image on a USB stick and then insert it into the USB port on the right hand side of THE Dream Machine 2.

The first step to import the scan image is to select “My Design Center” on the home screen.

Next, press the “Illustration Scan” button on the My Design Center screen of THE Dream Machine 2.

At this point you can either use the machine to scan an actual piece of paper or import an image file from your USB stick or computer. Jean Boyd talked about using the scanner in her September 29th QUILTsocial post. For our project I’m using a digital image, so first I’ll press the USB button.

Now select the correct file from the list that appears on the screen.

Once the correct image file has been selected, you’ll see a preview on the left side of the screen. If that looks right, then select the “set” button at the bottom of the screen.

Use the arrows to set the outside parameters of the design and then select “OK” in the bottom right of the screen. The thin lines of the heart and scrolls at the bottom of my design were not thick enough for the machine to recognize, so I decided to only select the words and heart at the top of the image.

Make sure you highlight “Remove Background” or else the machine will incorporate white stitching for the entire background surrounding your image. Next select “set” on the LCD screen of THE Dream Machine 2.

Now select “Preview” to see what the embroidery design will look like when stitched.

Select “OK” to continue on to the preview screen.

Now, select “OK” to continue to the embroidery edit screen.

Here’s the embroidery design created by THE Dream Machine 2 from the image on the USB stick.

You can use the edit screen to make the embroidery design larger or smaller or to change colors. I made my image as big as it would get – 8″ x 8.5″. You can check out my QUILTsocial posts from December to see how easy it is to edit designs on THE Dream Machine 2.

Select “OK” when you’ve finished making edits to the embroidery design.

The last step is to select the “Embroidery” button to start the embroidery process.

Now that the design is set and the machine is ready to start embroidering, we need to hoop our fabric. Tomorrow we’re going to talk about the correct way to prepare and hoop your fabric to get fantastic results from THE Dream Machine 2.