Janome Essential RE18 hoop………Add to your Christmas wish list??

This little zipper pouch was made exclusively IN THE HOOP of our Janome embroidery machine(s). Our thanks to Anne Hein of Janome America who digitized these little in-the-hoop baggies above and below.

We have been doing hands-on classes across Janome Canada this Fall.  Some of the projects we were making in these classes are in-the-hoop projects……clever Janome “On the Go” zipper baggies where everything including the zipper is stitched in the hoop (see pics above). We are also offering the Divide and Conquer hands-on class where we stitch out a jellyfish design digitized with our Artistic Digitizer software  (see pics below) and then we sew up our jellyfish embroidery into a zipper pouch using our brand new BIG Janome Continental M7 Professional.

Why am I telling you this? Well, we have an embroidery hoop for the Janome Horizon MC15000  which is just perfect for these projects. This same Janome RE18 hoop is compatible with the Janome Horizon MC12000 as well. The SQ14 hoop may be too small and the SQ23 hoop may be too big. The Janome Essential RE 18 hoop is just right……..just like in the “Goldilocks and the 3 bears” fairy tale! This rectangular hoop is very close in size to the popular 5×7 inch hoop and is an optional accessory hoop which you might like to consider purchasing from your local Janome dealer if you don’t already have this hoop. At our recent Janome Consumer seminar in Ontario on the Hidden Secrets of the MC15000, these RE hoops sold out! It is a very useful and practical size and comes with a USB stick with 50 bonus designs to embroider (many of which are really fun designs). For more information about this hoop, click on this link. Your local Janome dealer will be able to order it for you if they don’t already have it in stock at their store.

Note: this Essential RE18 hoop is only compatible with Janome Horizon MC15000 and Janome Horizon MC12000. However, there is an optional RE hoop for the Janome MC11000 and some other Janome embroidery machines have the B hoop which is very close in size to the hoop we are talking about today.

Of course, you can always use bigger hoops on our Janome Horizon embroidery machines (like the SQ23 or GR hoops) or the similar size hoops the Janome Skyline S9; Janome MC500E or the NEW Janome MC550E. These will work but you may need to use a larger piece of stabilizer than really necessary for your smaller design. You can tear away and save bits of the stabilizer for other projects after your embroidery has been completed. However, I do think that is a bit of a waste when there is an option for using a smaller hoop and less stabilizer.

We always recommend using the smallest hoop to fit your design as that offers the most stable hooping option for your embroidery…….and therefore a better and more successful stitch-out of the embroidery design. Don’t waste time and embroidery supplies  – do it properly the first time!

We also recommend using your hoop magnets when hooping on all hoops which accommodate these magnets. You will regret taking “short cuts” if your fabric and/or stabilizer slips slightly and your embroidery stitch out is not as perfect as you would have liked. That can be a dreadful waste of time, thread, stabilizer and fabric – something we all strive to avoid! We all probably know this but it is nonetheless good to be reminded of the basics.

So having this extra optional rectangular hoop for the Janome Horizon MC12000 or MC15000 is a big help for stable hooping and using less stabilizer and/or fabric. You will discover that it is indeed a very useful size hoop!

OTHER HELPFUL HINTS AND TIPS:

1. What if my fabric is not big enough to hoop? Then just hoop your stabilizer, spray with a little fabric adhesive and lay your fabric over the slightly sticky hooped stabilizer. Press gently to smooth and adhere. Before starting to embroider the design, baste the fabric to the stabilizer using the wonderful baste function if your Janome embroidery machine has this function. (most current Janome models do have this function)
2. What if my stabilizer is not big enough to be hooped? I’m tempted to say that perhaps it is time to visit your local Janome dealer to see if they stock our recently introduced range of MADEIRA stabilizers! But if you are in a bit of a “pinch” and don’t have enough stabilizer to fit your hoop, you can tape or glue pieces together (not really recommended) OR you could hoop your fabric only and slide the smaller piece of stabilizer under the hoop. It is a good idea to use a little tape to secure the stabilizer to the back of the hoop to avoid it slipping or folding.
3. Do you hoop both stabilizer and fabric every time you embroider?  This is not necessary and, in fact, I do this very seldom. I far prefer to use the hooping method in #1 above: only hoop the stabilizer and baste the fabric to that before embroidery. This way the fabric does not get stretched or damaged with “hoop burn” and the whole hooping process is SO much easier.  I use the magnets on the hooped stabilizer and not on the fabric laying somewhat loosely around the edges. The basting, however,  holds the fabric in place just fine. As mentioned above, you can  use a little spray glue as an extra precaution although this is not essential. Did you know we have a great low VOC fabric adhesive spray called Artistic Tack?  VOC refers to potentially damaging chemicals in the spray glue – our product has a low level of these (less than 30%).  See this link. 

Have you added the Janome Essential RE18 hoop and Artistic Tack to your Christmas Wish List? ……..go on – you won’t be sorry!