Hoop, fabric, and threads

Choose a hoop that matches the frame on your machine, and a fabric that matches what you will sew. New pieces use that fabric's stitch defaults.

Click Settings in the top bar. The right panel opens with License, Account, Language, and Updates. Scroll down to Hoop, Fabric, Cloth color, and Threads. Click Settings again, or select a piece, to close it.

1. Settings in the top bar. It stays highlighted while this column is open.
2. Hoop. The size of the page. 4 in x 4 in is the small preset.
3. Fabric. Cotton, knit, towel, and so on. This picks stitch defaults for you.
4. Threads. The colors for this design. Add makes another.

The picture also shows Cloth color (the hoop background) between fabric and threads. That is preview only. It does not sew.

Hoop

The hoop is the page. Pick the frame you will actually put on the machine.

1. Under Hoop units, choose Inches (in), Centimeters (cm), or Millimeters (mm). Inches is the default. Switching units keeps the same physical size.
2. Pick a preset. With inches: 4 in x 4 in, 5 in x 7 in, or 6 in x 10 in.
3. Or choose Custom and type width and height. The hoop can be 40 to 400 mm on a side.

The status line under the hoop repeats the size, with the fabric beside it. In centimeters that size reads 10 cm x 10 cm, which is the same 4 in x 4 in preset.

If you import a design larger than this hoop, the hoop grows to the smallest preset that fits, or the status line says it will not fit.

Fabric

Under Fabric, pick the cloth you will sew:

• Cotton
• Knit / t-shirt
• Terry / towel
• Fleece
• Denim
• Linen
• Leather / vinyl

Fabric sets density, underlay, and pull for new pieces. You can still change those on a piece. Auto underlay follows the fabric you picked.

With Cotton, Denim, and Linen, fill row spacing starts at 0.2 mm. The other fabrics start looser.

Changing the fabric later updates the pieces already on the hoop too. A piece whose spacing, pull, or underlay you changed yourself keeps its own settings.

Threads

This list is the colors for this design. Match them to the cones on your machine.

1. Click Add to append a thread. It starts gray, with its color picker open.
2. Click the swatch to change the color. Type a name in the field (the defaults are names like Cardinal and Royal).
3. Click × to remove a thread you are not using.

To sew a piece with a thread, select the piece. Selecting it closes Settings. Under Border or Fill, open the Thread menu and pick one. The piece's panel says Add or edit threads in Settings.

A new shape uses the selected piece’s thread if it has one, otherwise the first thread in the list. Fill and border can each have their own thread.

When you export a Brother PES file, each different thread color gets its own color on the machine.

When the design is too big

Scale a piece until it sticks out of the hoop. The status line says the stitch size is too big for this hoop, and shows the stitch count.

Pick a larger hoop in Settings, or scale the piece down. Export still writes the file. The machine will refuse a design that does not fit its frame.

Next: The Objects list is both what is on the hoop and the order it sews.