Yesterday on QUILTsocial we made quilt labels by embroidering words on ribbons. Today, I’ll use the Brother Dreamweaver XE to design a badge that I’ll embroider on felted wool tomorrow.

I downloaded an Embroidery design for free online and added words and a frame around it, so I first need to Select Embroidery Edit on the home screen.

After I downloaded the design onto my laptop, I saved it on a USB stick. In order to access it, first I need to press the USB key on the memory screen.

Here’s the list of embroidery files stored on the USB stick attached to the machine. Only .pes, .phc and .dst embroidery data files can be used with the Dreamweaver XE. As you can see the .pes files show up with an actual image of the design while the .dst files show up with just the name of the file. When you click on the file name or thumbnail, a larger image of the design will show on the screen.

I’ve selected the thread and needle design, now I’ll just select the SET key at the bottom right of the screen.

Sometimes when using embroidery data from other sources, the colors will change when downloaded to the machine. Press the ‘Thread Palette Key’ to change the thread colors in the embroidery design.

The thread colors that will be used in the design are listed down the right side of the screen. You can change the first thread color by either pressing the desired color box in the palette or by using the arrow keys on the right-hand side to select the color that you want. I’m changing the spool thread color to brown.

Once I’ve decided on the color for the first thread in the design, I press the “+” or “-” to move to another color on the list. I change that color the same way as before and then move to the next one. When all of the colors are as I want them, I press the CLOSE button.

Now I’ll select the ‘Frames’ grouping on the embroidery design page of the Dreamweaver XE.

I select the shape I want for the outside edge of the badge. All of the basic shapes available are listed across the top – circle, square, diamond etc. Once I highlight the shape, the different options show up below. I’ll select the circle made by a single line of stitching.

Next, I need to select the SIZE button on the embroidery edit screen, so that I can make the circle big enough for the spool to fit inside.

I press the ‘enlarge all directions’ key on the Dreamweaver XE to make the image proportionally bigger in all directions.

Here’s the single stitch line after it has been enlarged. This line will be stitched onto the wool and will act as a guide for me to trim the wool background before the edge is satin stitched.

Tomorrow I’ll add text and the outside frame to my design and stitch it out with the Dreamweaver XE from Brother.