How It All Began
When we bought our first (and only) home embroidery machine, like any persons with a new interest we went through the familiarization stage, made pests of ourselves, and asked lots of questions. We weren't surprised to find that other people had the same problems and concerns, but we were surprised that most folks were satisfied with makeshift solutions. Since our family includes an ex-toolmaker who still retains a small shop, we did not remain satisfied with that. One by one we made and tested tools to make the hobby more like fun and less like work. It wasn't until we viewed TV programs where professional embroiderers also put up with makeshift solutions that we realized our little embroiderer's community wasn't so backward after all.
The first problem we tackled was the clutter on the machine cabinet with all the colors of a design placed in a row with pennies designating repeat colors. Though machine embroidery isn't a cheap hobby, we were put off by the prices of available thread stands and the fact that they also demanded space on the cabinet. We found that machines like ours, with a top door that must be raised while embroidering, restrict the visibility of spools for short people and that the high ones use a lot of thread getting to the needle. Also, our spools (308 different colors) are stored in a wall cabinet away from the machine and we couldn't conveniently carry heavy, self-standing thread stands to the cabinet. The search for solutions ended with our patented COLOR-GO-ROUND™ thread carousel that can be taken to the thread cabinet, loaded with spools in the proper color order, and set directly on the machine. By setting it on the machine, we found we could cut the threads (rather than pull them out) with no more loss than if we used the machine's spool pins, and once the carousel was loaded we could sew the same design over and over without touching the spools, thus avoiding the risk of scrambling the color sequence.
Next, we were tired of chasing the hoop under the fabric while trying to place a design and then spoiling the project because the design was sewn crooked. Trying to steer the design once it was hooped was a pain, so we set out to anchor the hoop. The result was our Hoopstop™, which can be applied to just about any surface with the result that the fabric can be manipulated in any direction without dragging the hoop with it.
We still had to steer the design much too often once it was in the machine, and turning the machine off without completing the design meant that we had to record the clicks used or else complete the design in one sitting since turning the machine off and on caused the design to default to the machine's center setting. Enter our patented Hoopstop Station™, which not only holds the hoop but also shows the center and perpendicularity of the design so accurately that we no longer steer - we just hoop it and embroider it.
Finally, because our main embroiderer suffers from arthritis, we set out to make removal of the throat plate less painful. With the room under the machine's arm so restricted, the standard football-shaped metal screwdriver or a coin may be low enough, but they require some very awkward hand and wrist positions. Now we make the Throat Plate Screwdriver. Not only can the screw slot be seen through its clear plastic body, but it is just laid over the screw and turned with whatever hand and wrist position is the most comfortable. It can't fall off.
We gave everything away at first to friends and acquaintances, but as word spread and volume increased beyond our community, we were encouraged to offer our wares for sale and apply for patents. Since we still enjoy the challenge of creating something useful, we continue to expand the utility of our wares by fitting more and more machine brands and models as customers request them. This has led to our Bobbin Winder Adapter, which is used if the machine to receive the COLOR-GO-ROUND® carousel doesn't have a vertical spool pin with enough clearance to let the carousel rotate. It also led to our smaller diameter carousels, which fit machines having a "nested" vertical spool pin (such as Janome Memorycraft®).
