I have a Brother and a Janome and both machines love ARC thread. I use Polyester and it has a nice shine to it. I buy the mini kings. I bought a starter set of 48 off ebay but then found a lady on ebay who sells all 288 colors divided into 4 kits so once you buy all 4 you have all the ARC colors. www.melcomart.com runs a special sometimes tho for all 288 colors for $295. I just bought some single spools from www.craftsebazaar.com for $2.35 each.
As for stablizer it depends on what you're embroidering. I have a variety on hand, tear away, cutaway, solvy for on top, I also use tulle (bridal tulle) on top when doing towels, holds the loops down and then tears away when you're done. On tshirts I iron on totally stable on the back then spray adhesive (505 spray) to my stabilizer. You don't want to stretch the knit as your embroidery will be all messy when you take it off the hoop and the knit goes back in place. I use Totally stable on any material that has stretch to it and have had wonderful luck.
I find that you can't go "cheap" on your thread or stabilizers if you want your item to look nice.

Thank you for the good tips & info!

I too use ARC. Got a good deal on all 288 colors with a free 3700 design CD that I have really enjoyed. Got mine from Allbrands out of Baton Rouge LA. Polyester will hold up good even on things you bleach. Rayon will fade & bleed on other things in the wash...especially if they are left awhile touching something after the washer stops.

I was directed to the knitted interfacing for use on knits last fall. You buy with the regular interfacing & iron it on with the stretch going opposite the garment. What you are trying to do is keep your article from stretching, The knit doesn't change the feel of the garment & for picky "this itches" kids, put another layer over the backside of the embroidery when you finish. I never hoop knits or towels. I hoop a stabilizer & spray it to attach my item for embroidery.

Go to the Thread Artist web site. Sandy has free lessons & lots of helpful hints. She also has a free download of basting files....sizeable up & down. When I don't hoop things, I put my item on the sprayed stabilizer, put water soluble stabilizer on top if it is towels, fleece, or thick knit. I use the basting files to attach all the layers. As you key in your designs to edit. Put the basting file in before you bring up the design because it needs to sew first. It is big stitches that you can clip the bobbin threads & easily remove. One hint though!!! When it starts, it kinda backstitches. Don't tug on that area at all as you remove! I tore holes quite easily in a couple of shirts before I realized I was doing it & not my machine screwing up. I guess the thread is strong enough to just cut the fabric with little or no effort.

Another thing to buy before you freak out trying to salvage something from a boo-boo is a mustache/beard trimmer. Wahl has a few styles around $20 at Target & Big Lots stores. I got one that was corded/cordless. I fear batteries getting too low to be strong enough to complete my task. You work from the back side & your stabilizer offers some protection to yout item. What you're doing is cutting the bobbin stiches & then going to the front & kinda scratching the stitching off on that side. Go back & forth till your finished....minutes compared to hours manually trying to get it out. They sell one of these in Nancy's Notions catalog called an erasure for about $125+ s/h. Clotilde has a Wahl in her catalog.

Check out marathon thread. cheap .

I use polyester too because rayon doesn't withstand the heavy duty cleaning that home items and kids things require.

Be careful when trying to remove stitches with a mustache/beard trimmer or anything like it. You canÂt always get close enough to all the stitches and may end up putting holes in your project!!!

I know this post is really old, but after having an embroidery problem tonight (morning hours now, LOL), I am sitting here laughing my head off at the hole in the tee shirt part, LOL!

I got a Pfaff 2170 this past Christmas and I thought I was smart enough to do everything. I ruined a towel and also put a big hole in one of hubby's vacation tee shirts.

Dee

I am just getting into embroidery. I have designs that have RA poly numbers, but I can't find all the thread colors I need. It has been suggested that I try to match the RA Poly color to something in the Poly-X40 by guessing. I am hoping someone has a chart that would make it easier.

Thanks.