Janome 350e questions

I shall soon be getting this machine for a few weeks to test. One of the many things I do is an occasional in-depth test of a sewing machine for a shop in Manchester. So far I've had a Brother Innovis 10A (neat little machine, but not for heavy use), and a Bernina 1008 (fantastic for basic sewing and superior eyelets!). This time it's the Janome

350e. This will be my first adventure with a full embroidery machine. I've been told it's easy to use.

I don't yet know if they'll send me the digitizing stuff or just the basic machine. I'd like a few free patterns to add to whatever arrives, though. I have a large 18th C project (this one is personal for a change!), and would like to embroider a white on white fichu on semi sheer cotton muslin. I might also like to embroider some stuff on the petticoat for my saque gown.

I'd also like to know a bit about stabilizers, especially soluable ones for the fichu (I'm imagining stiffening the hell out of it for embroidering and then shoving it through the wash to get rid of the stabilizer). The petticoat is a crisp poly taffetta, and I'd eant to ebroider that in black. A tear away would probably work with that as it'll be fully lined.

And what about thread? I already have a collection of silk and rayon machine embroidery threads, as I use them a lot for finishing. Hand sewn hems and hand and machine sewn buttonholes and eyelets in corsets. Comments on good brands and good places to buy would help. I'm in the UK, but I have bought from Atlanta Threads and Red Rock. I have used YLI 100 weight silk, Sulky, Empress Mills, and several other brands. I have also used YLI's 100 weight cotton thread, and Aurifil for eyelets. How would that work as an embroidery thread? I can see me wanting to embroider white on white and then dye it for future projects such as Regency muslin gowns...

Your help will be much appreciated. Please point me at past discussions if these questions have already been answered.

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX
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Lots' of free patterns available, just search for "free machine embroidery designs":

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is a good place to start:
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I'd also like to know a bit about stabilizers, especially> soluable ones for the fichu (I'm imagining stiffening the> hell out of it for embroidering and then shoving it> through the wash to get rid of the stabilizer). The> petticoat is a crisp poly taffetta, and I'd eant to> ebroider that in black. A tear away would probably work> with that as it'll be fully lined. I love Sulky Wash Away Solvy and Ultra Solvy especially for knits.
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also have several rolls of Floriani No Show Mesh Cut Away:
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two colors of tear away:
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have never tried to do machine embroidery on sheer fabrics, so you'll probably want to do some test sew-outs. Avoid excessively dense designs. Also, the taffeta may not hold up under the stress, be sure to sew a test sample. Let us know how it works out?

My favorite is Madeira #40 Rayon

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followed by their poly
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use the poly for anything I think may get excessive abrasion or which will be laundered multiple times.I also have a couple hundred spools of Robison Anton, in both rayon and poly
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I already have a collection of> silk and rayon machine embroidery threads, as I use them> a lot for finishing. You probably better experiment with the silk thread, I've no experience with using it for machine embroidery. But the rayon embroidery thread will do nicely!

Kate, you have just entered an entirely new world. Setting up with all the threads and stabilizers is a bit daunting, but once you have a supply laid in, the world will be your oyster!

Reply to
BEI Design

This is very similar to the Bernette Deco 340, which is made by Janome. Both have the USB stick port and card slot. However the 350e uses the JEF format, whereas the Deco uses .EXP format.

For other reviews, you can go to

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That site has reviews on just about all sewing & embroidery machines. They have several on the 350e.

Reply to
Pat H

Thanks. I found a useful review there. :)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Congratulations on getting into the wonderful world of machine embroidery, a word of warning it is very addictive and a real challenge compared to sewing. You need to get so many things right. Anyway to start with you machine will take a largest 5 1/2 x 7.9" hoop and uses ATAPC or USB port to transfer designs to sewing machine from computer. It also uses .jef format so you will need to get designs in that format or have some conversion software, Buzztools or Embird is relatively cheap. Janome should give you some kind of Organiser software to enable you to see designs and do simple changes like colours or sizing. You can make some changes on the machine like sizing up to or down no more than 20% as a rule. It's trial and error on the design side, how well it was digitised and how well it stitches out on the fabric and backing chosen and hooping, so do some test pieces using a good quality tear away, embroidery needle, and suitable embroidery thread either rayon or polyester, I use Marathon but there are loads of different makes around and it depends on how the machine was calibrated they are all different, always use bobbin thread, you can make these samples into cards. Always do a test on anything out of the ordinary to see how well it stitches out. Don't hoop to tight or it will pucker when it is taken out of the hoop. For difficult fabrics a light spray of starch is useful but I don't use aerosols much myself. Liz

"Kate XXXXXX" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@brightview.co.uk...

Reply to
Liz Hall

Thanks. Not got the machine yet, so I shall be back once I have it all unpacked and have checked out what there is...

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

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There are two excellent FREE utilities that can convert between embroidery formats. Both will output .jef files as well as many others. They vary slightly in the assortment of acceptable input formats.

Wilcom True Sizer

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Ambassador
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Herb

Reply to
Herb

Thanks! Filed for future reference... :)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

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