Embroidery.

I got some new embroidery thread the other day.
Just two cones. Just to see how well it runs on my machine.
I got it from the lovely people over at Marathon Australia.
They were super friendly to deal with and very efficient. My order was sent off the next day!

I have a Janome Memory Craft 300E Embroidery Machine.
It's not too bad. It does what I need it to do. It usually runs fairly smoothly, but I often have trouble with the thread tension... especially with Red thread.

I know a fair bit about Machine Embroidery.
I worked for six years as a machinist at a small (but very busy) Tasmanian business.
We had top-of-the-line industrial ZSK Embroidery machines all the way from Germany. They were pretty fancy and even had a special technician who was flown down from Canberra if ever there was a problem or they needed a service.


We embroidered everything.
Company uniforms. Badges. Flags. Horse blankets. Towels. Aprons. Bathrobes. Tablecloths. Hats. Caps. Scarves. School jumpers. Dog coats. Hankies. Police overalls. General clothing.
Even undies... usually for a Hens night or Valentines Day.
There were huge runs for big businesses.
There were small runs for special events.
There were one-off items for gifts.

We had an amazing range of threads.
One of my favourite things to do during a quiet moment was to re-arrange and organise all the cones.
Line them all up in order. Make a rainbow on the shelf.

I was able to start my own business because of what I learned at that job.
I was given lots of guidance. Lots of encouragement. Lots of freedom.
I also had lots of responsibility. Managing the embroidery room, ensuring deadlines were met, talking to customers, making desicions, training staff.
It was hard work. Sometimes it was exhausting.
And even though we had lots of crazy-busy, pull-your-hair-out-with-frustration kind of days... I remember my time there fondly.
I made some great friends.

I left that job to have my beautiful baby boy.
That was four years ago... almost to the day.