Our new character naming contest has ended and a winning name selected. We are proud to formally introduce our new little boy. His name is Brodie. The winning name was submitted by Joyce Smith from Salem, Oregon. We have contacted Joyce directly to congratulate her and to let her know her prizes are on the way.

We received so many good suggestions that it was very difficult selecting a name. There were several that made it to our short list, but in the end we liked Brodie the best. It just seems to fit him so well. Many thanks to all of you that took the time to send us your suggestions.

We are also happy to announce that Brodie's World Debut design set is complete. He now joins his sister Josie on the pages of our web site. We hope you enjoy Brodie as much as we have enjoyed creating him. From the many nice comments we have already received we expect him to be a hit.

Here he is! As you can see Brodie loves sports. In this brand new set Brodie is having fun doing all the things little boys love to do. No doubt the little boys in your life are just as fun loving and active. Wouldn't they love some of these designs on their shirts and jackets?

To help us introduce Brodie we are offering his World Debut design set at a huge discount. For a limited time you can own this set for half off the regular retail price.

I gotta have him...

It won't be long before you will be able to purchase pre-wound bobbins for your home machine in the Class 15 size. That's right - Class 15 Pre-Wound bobbins!

Several months ago we contacted one of the major bobbin manufacturers about the possibility of producing pre-wound bobbins in this size. Since most new embroidery machines today utilize the Class 15 bobbin, it made perfect sense to us.

After much discussion and research, the company took our advice and began the process of tooling up for Class 15 pre-wound bobbins. We have received the first samples of these bobbins and are now in the process of testing them in our machines. We will let you know the results once our testing is complete.

We know you will love these bobbins. No more undersized bobbins rattling around in your bobbin case. No more adapters or center pins to make up the difference. Finally a pre-wound bobbin that fits your machine!

We will be carrying this new size as soon as they are commercially available. If everything goes as planned, full production may be underway as early as March or April 2007. Stay tuned for further updates.

Just released! A brand new set of redwork carousel horse designs. There are 10 unique designs included in this set in both 4x4 and 5x7 sizes - 20 designs in all.

As usual, we're offering this brand new set at a special introductory price. If you love carousel horses and redwork, now is the time to grab this set while it's on sale.

See all 10 carousel horses...

Most likely many of you do a fair amount of monogramming on towels. Monograms are very popular these days and relatively easy to do, but in addition to your regular stabilizer there is one additional step you should take to achieve good results.

When embroidering on high nap fabrics, such as terry cloth, it is extremely important to use a good quality water soluble stabilizer (WSS) on top. Without this topping your results may be less than satisfactory.

For an in depth look at how WSS can help improve your embroidery on high nap fabrics, click the link below. Let us show you just how much difference it can make. There is also a great tip for removing the topping once the design is complete.

Read on...

Our thanks to Linda Warden for submitting this helpful embroidery tip:

I always print out a picture or "production sheet" of the design I am about to embroider. I make notes on it as to what thread type and color I used, how well it stitched out and any hints or tips to help me stitch it out better the next time. I file these in the appropriate folder for future use. If a design really didn't stitch out well and I can't adjust something I've done to fix it, I immediately delete it so I know not to try it again.

Want to win FREE designs? Submit your tip or trick to us. If we publish your tip you will win your choice of any design or design set we offer for sale on our web site.

• Sewing & Stitchery Expo - March 1-4 Puyallup, WA
• Original Sewing & Quilt Expo - March 8-10 Atlanta, GA
• Imprinted Sportswear Show - March 9-11 Atlanta City, NJ
• National Network of Embroidery Professionals - March 16-17 St. Charles, MO
• Original Sewing & Quilt Expo - March 29-31 Cleveland, OH

If you own a small home based embroidery business, there are many ways to maximize your profits. Proper handling of shipping charges is one of them.

Some small business owners I've talked to complain about the high costs of shipping blank goods to them. I agree freight costs are quite often higher than expected, but there is no reason for your business to absorb that cost.

When quoting prices for embroidered goods, include the total shipping cost in your mark up for each item. Here's an example:

Your customer wants 10 shirts with a logo embroidered on the left chest area. The shirts cost you $10.00 each at the wholesale level. If your normal mark-up is 40%, the base cost to your customer would be $14.00 per shirt. Assuming a freight charge from your supplier of $10.00, add an additional $1.00 to the final cost of each shirt to cover this expense. Your customer now pays $15.00 for each shirt. Add to that your digitizing and embroidery fees to calculate the final charge.

Naturally if you need to ship the finished goods to your customer it will be necessary to charge an appropriate amount to cover that cost as well. Your suppliers don't absorb shipping costs and neither should you.

Quite often I read an article that suggests sewing is becoming more and more popular with the younger generation. Just this week I read another. Overall it was a very good article, but the one thing that stuck with me was this particular statement - "They sew not because it's practical, but because it's creative, a way to express their personal style and create wearable art."

How cool is that?

A lot of young people are developing an interest in machine embroidery too. It seems only natural since so many of today's machines do both. I don't know about you, but I find it refreshing to read articles about the positive things some of our young people are doing.

Read the entire article...

To introduce our brand new exclusive character and to celebrate his World Debut, we would like everyone to have this free Brodie sample design. We're sure you're going to love him as much as you love his darling little sister Josie.

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