Sunday, January 07, 2007

BIG white machine



Okay, so you see that really BIG white machine sitting there all by its lonesome? Well that is officially my new profession. Yes, as of January 4th, I now run an embroidery business. You ask how do I know how to run that BIG white machine......I don't. Well I have done a few things in which you can see in the other picture. Those are actually monogrammed ponytail holders, and while I think they turned out great, there is still this question as to how am I going to learn all things embroidered, and how am I going to learn to run this BIG, white machine??????
It has been a daunting weekend full of first, curse words, anxiety, stress, giddiness, and finally just plain fear that I will fail, or worse......break the BIG white machine. The BIG white machine is a HAPPY Voyager made in Japan. It holds 12 spools of thread, it hooks to my computer for its designs, it weighs 88 lbs, and it has my little brain just a spinning.
D has been my biggest cheerleader in this process, he believes in me, he trust that I will learn to work the BIG white machine, and not break it, and he thinks without any hesitation that this is going to be a great stay at home career for me-because frankly no one loves monograms more than Moi.
I wish at this very moment that I had that same trust, and faith that I will succeed in this expensive endeavor, but right now all I feel, is fear of the BIG white machine now taking up residence in my office. I have already spent countless hours troubleshooting issues, it won't cut the thread automatically, I can't figure out how to size things to a proportion that is necessary for the project at hand, I have absolutely no idea how I am going to learn to digitize anything(embroidery lingo...really have no idea what it means) Now you ask, surely there is training involved with such a high tech BIG white machine-right? Right, but it is in Tampa, FL and we live in Dallas. It is only offered on Mondays, and we don't have a free Monday until February. They suggest you "play" with your BIG white machine for a bit before coming to training so you will have plenty of questions, you will have a feel for what you are learning, and you will have had issues come up that they will be able to advise you on. Well, they do know something....we have had plenty of issues come up in the last 4 days, and we will have plenty of questions that is for sure, but I am not convinced that we will have a "feel" for the BIG white machine for awhile.
So, if you are wanting ladybugs embroidered all over your undershorts, or an Ode to the RQ on your nightshirt.....find someone who knows how to run their BIG white machine. But if you are wanting a monogrammed ponytail holder, then I am your girl.
I ask you wish me luck in this new profession. D swears after we go to 8 hours of training I am going to feel proficient....yeah right. But any good karma you have to send would be appreciated. Well back to watching the online videos of how to run the BIG white machine. If you have a BIG white machine and have more than Karma....you have advice for me that would be appreciated too!! Maybe a glass of wine and a xanax would make me feel more proficient in the field of embroidery-just kidding it has warnings posted all over it claiming you should not operate heavy machinary under the influence of wine or anxiety.

10 comments:

Jenni said...

Good Luck! I'm sure you'll figure it out.

dreamer said...

When you get to the point you can embroider chinese characters, let me know, I'd like to buy a few embroidered on quilt squares that I can include in Magpie's Quilt.

Best wishes!!!!

Anne Marie said...

I know nothing about big white machines, but I do know about learning stuff from scratch. With time, what seems like a puzzle you'll never unlock, just eventually clicks into place. If you did the ponytail holders, you can do anything!

wzgirl said...

COOOOOooooooLLLLLL!!!!! Very cool. I'd like to learn how to work your Big White Machine. Honestly, it looks pretty tough to break. Best of luck, I will very much look forward to seeing how you progress!

I'll bet that you could find some tutorial stuff online. Perhaps even a video??

Headmeister said...

I have faith in you sistah!!!!! You can do it!!! Once you get up and running, I have a few baseball caps I want you to make for me!!! See? You're getting orders already! :)

aimeeg said...

Best of luck to you--I'm sure you will do a great job!

Mya said...

I would like a pony tail holder please! I am the type that needs to be shown how to do it! I would play around with it and then attend the class. Either way you'll get it sooner or later. Good luck and let me know when your open for business!

Anonymous said...

I think you need to name it. Betty?

walternatives said...

Congratulations! And waaaaay cool. I'm proud of you for finding and embracing your passion then turning it into a profession. Certainly, there are newsgroups and blogs for the Big White Machine, yes? Let me know if you need some basic graphics to experiment with; I love playing with computer graphics. Can you embroider from a pdf file or jpg? Now my brain is spinning at the possibilities...

Pink Velvet Mommy said...

I use dst files(??????)But I can take any graphic and send it to be digitized in India(for little $$$$) and then run it from my machine. I am learning more and more as the days go by. Will post some of my work very soon.