where i spend my time

I'm trying to post a little more about myself while I compile more things related to design. I'm not the best photographer, and I am reluctant to talk about things without a graphic to tie to my babble. But, I am working about being more open about my opinions.
A place I am not shy about my opinions is work. We have very little time to go back and forth. I pretty much decide when I see the item what color it is going to be, unless the customer has their heart set on something else. Every once in a while a customer wants something that technically should look horrible, but it doesn't. This guy brought in rainbow towels. BRIGHT. and he wanted a boat's name embroidered across it in hunter green. I tried so hard to get him to change his mind, but he was insistent. I was shocked when it actually didn't look that bad. I learn something there every hour of every day. So since it's such a huge part of my early introduction to design, here are some photos of the machines I run.




from top to bottom, left to right: this is the face of the machine. you insert a disk in the side and use the keypad, shown in the second picture. these are all the keys you need to run the machine, other than the power. the toggle across from the screen is flat vs. hat. hats are completely different than any other item, in every way. the third picture is the heat press machine. we use this to do quick sets for shirts. normally less than 12 pcs, but sometimes in the hundreds. a very slow process since you can only do one at a time.

fourth, this is a size 13 hoop. it is used to hoop shirts, bags, fabric. whatever, really. It is pretty small, about 5 inches across. the fifth picture is one of the ways we check to make sure things are straight, such as a logo above a pocket on a shirt. sixth, this is how a hoop would clip onto the machine.

seventh: this is a fast frame. used for things that are too thick to hoop. you can just slide them on, with a sticky backing so they stay and off you go. Kind of a pain to clean up since the counters are 'stuck' inside the letters. eighth, this is a hat frame. the whole machine has to be changed over to use these. there are so many steps to changing it over that we'll save orders over the week to do all at one time. ninth, this is the four-head machine. it will run four of the exact same thing at a time. makes work much faster, but the sizes of shirts have to be exactly the same or you have to adjust their placement so various sizes can run at one time.

tenth: this is part of the threading. each head has 12 needles. therefore it can run 12 color designs at once without stopping. just imagine having to thread all 48 constantly. this is an exact process, any missed step will cause a thread break or trip a sensor - you hope! if it doesn't you run the risk of running the whole design and it looks like crap. eleventh, these are the twelve needles. you think cutting your hand with an exacto hurts? this will go through the bone of your finger... each needle runs up to 1,000 stitches per minute... in AND out.

twelfth and thirteenth: these are just more angles. of the needles and of the single head machine.

this is only the beginning, but i won't bore you anymore.