Brother F540E

Prepare your work

Although the machine has some built-in designs (and a basic text input), you will probably want to use your own. You will need to prepare everything on your computer first, the machine is very limited in what it can do. You can only scale a couple of percentages, but you can move the design around.

The embroidery machine needs a .pes file to work. The way we advise to do this is to use InkStitch. This is a free and open-source extension for Inkscape. It allows you to create .pes files from .svg files. Do check the Workflow because it is a bit different from what you might be used to.

Other (free) options

• Vpype-embroidery: A plugin for vpype
• PEmbroider: A library to generate embroidery files from Processing

Transfer your work

The machine has a USB port. You can use this to transfer your .pes file to the machine. Look for the ‘shirt pocket’ icon on the interface to get started.

Threading

Threading is similar to a regular sewing machine. Take a look at the following videos to get started:

• Thread the machine
• Wind and insert a bobbin

Danger

Watch out with the needle threading lever. It is very fragile and can break easily. Make sure to lower the foot before pressing the lever.