EnMart Embroidery Talk

EnMart is proud to announce the expansion and relocation of our warehouse and shipping facility located in New Jersey. The EnMart East facility is now located 148 71st Street, Guttenberg, New Jersey and will offer expanded services to customers of EnMart and parent company Ensign Emblem.

Established in August 2008, EnMart East has grown rapidly over the past year. The new facility will provide more space to meet EnMart’s expanded inventory needs, as well as space for production facilities for parent company Ensign Emblem.

Orders placed by our customers on the East Coast will ship from the New Jersey facility or can be picked up at the facility by local customers.  EnMart customers may still place their orders through the EnMart website, www.myenmart.com. Orders will be routed to the location that can offer the fastest shipping time and that has all items in stock.

Enmart is the second company in the Ensign Group. The Ensign Group is anchored by parent company Ensign Emblem, Ltd., which has over 30 years of embroidery and embellishment experience.

As many of you already know, EnMart recently added Sublimation inks, printers and supplies to our product mix.  We are now proud to announce that we’ve also added sublimatable blank items as well.

A sublimatable blank is any item that is coated with a polymer coating, making it suitable for sublimation printing.  All of the quality sublimation blanks that EnMart offers have been carefully hand selected in conjunction with our suppliers as the very best, top selling products that are available today.  So, when you purchase blank sublimation imprintables from Enmart, you can be assured that you are not just purchasing excess inventory or slow moving products – these are all fast moving, top sellers that will enable you to make the most profit and sales from your business.

EnMart is also doing away with the volume purchase requirement.  We don’t require that our customers  buy a case of an item when they really only need a few pieces.  What if you only need a dozen sublimation mugs, 20 mousepads, or 5 keychains? You shouldn’t have to buy a case of 36, 48, or 100 just to get a few items for an order or two.

Our inventory of sublimatable blank items will continue to expand, so please check back often to see the latest products.

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a million times:

Well, your thread sews great, and the colors are terrific, but converting from the thread I use now will be such a chore.   I’m not sure I want to go through that.

Converting from one thread to another can be a chore, no one denies that.  In the 35 years our parent company, Ensign Emblem, has been in existence,  they have changed thread suppliers several times.   We know the problems that can accompany the thread conversion process and the time that it can consume.  That’s why, when EnMart was formed, we all agreed that we had to supply the tools for conversion and make the whole process of  conversion from another brand of thread to Iris thread as simple and painless as it can be.

The best way we could find to make the thread conversion process painless was to create an online thread conversion engine.  To use this thread converter, all you need is the number of the thread you are currently using.  Simply find that number on the pulldown list under the thread brand and then click search.   You will then be provided with the closest Iris thread match.

All our conversion were done by hand, by experts with over 30 years of experience in matching thread colors.  Our matches are the closest we could find and, if we couldn’t find a match that met our specifications, we’ll tell you that too.  Our goal is not to sell you any old thread and hope it will work.

If you’re currently using Rayon and would like to convert to Iris Smooth ‘N Silky Rayon, we can help you there as well.  The Rayon to Rayon conversion chart is not currently online, but we do have a paper version that can be used.  If you are interested in switching to Iris Rayon, simply contact us and we’ll be glad to help you make the switch.

Our goal is to make your conversion process as simple and painless as possible.  If you need any advice or assistance regarding converting from another thread to Iris thread,  we are ready and eager to help.

Although it might seem impossible while you’re baking in the August sun, the holidays aren’t that far away.  Before we know it Halloween will be here, followed closely by Thanksgiving and Christmas.   If you’re looking for some great threads and other items to use in your holiday decorating, EnMart can certainly help.

One popular set of items for holiday decorating is our Holiday Thread Palettes.   Our Thanksgiving and Christmas Palettes are made up of colors associated with and suitable for those holidays.  We are also contemplating creating a Halloween palette for those of you who are embroidering witches and ghoulies and ghosties for Halloween costumes and parties.  All thread palettes are made up of 5500 yard cones of Iris polyester thread.

If you’re looking to add sparkle to your holiday designs, you should check out our Iris metallic thread.  EnMart customers who have used this thread tell us it is the best metallic thread in the industry and sew more smoothly and with less breaks then other metallic thread.  Currently, our metallic thread is available in gold and silver.  Other metallic colors may be added in the next few months.

If Christmas ornaments are on your holiday decorating list, EnMart can help you there too.  We are adding sublimatible Christmas ornaments to our inventory in the next few weeks.    EnMart also offers all the other sublimation supplies you would need for your holiday decorating.  Whether you’re looking to create a one of a kind set of holiday plates, or you want to create the perfect ornament to commemorate your child’s first Christmas,  you can find what you need at EnMart.

One of the best ways we know of finding out what products our customers want us to carry is by asking them.   We ask quite frequently, either here on the blog, or when our customer service reps are talking to people by phone.  It should be obvious that we want to stock products that our customers want to buy.  It should also be obvious that stocking what customers want to buy is easier if you ask your customers what they want and then listen to their answers.

One of the latest answers we got when we asked the question about what we should stock can be seen in the picture at left.  American flag patches are a popular item and, since our parent company sells them,  were also easy to add to the EnMart store.  I’m confident our quality ranks with any patches available on the Internet, and I know our prices are certainly competitive.  If you buy American Flag Patches on a regular basis, you should definitely give our flag patches a look.

If you’re wondering what else we might be thinking of adding to the store, I can assure you we have a long list.  We’re currently investigating sources for FR thread.  We already have FR backing and will be adding that to our backing inventory soon.  We’re also currently sourcing glow in the dark thread and colored metallic thread.   EnMart is also developing kits for things like patch making and FR embroidery.  We are very excited about the new products that are in the works and think they will all make great additions to the EnMart inventory.

The best way to keep up with EnMart and to be notified when new products are added is to ask to be added to our mailing list.  Everyone on the mailing list receives on electronic newsletter which goes out roughly twice a month.   Another great source of information is this blog, and you can also keep up on the latest happenings at EnMart by following our Twitter feed.

We at EnMart are not shy about saying we know Iris thread has excellent quality.   Our parent company has been using it in all our plants for over two years now, and we know it works.  We also know that even the best quality thread won’t help you avoid every potential problem.  Over the past 35 years, our parent company has compiled a great store of knowledge which allows us to troubleshoot thread problems with ease.  Today I thought I’d share a few of those tips with all of you.

If your thread is fraying:

• Check your tensions, they may be too tight
• Check your needle, it may need to be changed or might be inserted improperly
• Change out your cone of thread, you may have gotten a bad cone

If your thread is snapping:

• Check your bobbin tension, it might be too tight
• Check top tension, it may be too tight
• Clean dust and gunk (if any) from behind plates of machine
• Change out your cone of thread, you may have gotten a bad cone

If your thread balls up:

• Check your tensions, they may be too loose
• Make sure your top and bottom tensions are about even, if one is too loose and the other is too tight, you’ll have problems
• Be sure all thread is out of the bobbin and hook area

If your thread is birdnesting

• Check your tension, if it is unbalanced birdnesting may occur
• Make sure the fabric is framed tightly.  There should be no significant gap between the hoop assembly and the sewing arm

I have to confess that I’m not what one would call handy.  I can do simple repairs, if given enough time and very good instructions, but I prefer to avoid repairs if I can.  The best way I’ve found to avoid having to fix something is to make sure I perform regular maintenance on it,  so as to keep the item in top shape.  Anyone who owns an embroidery machine understands exactly what I mean.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

One way to prevent problems with your embroidery machine is to make sure that it is kept oiled.   There should be an oiling chart in your manual which will tell you where the machine needs to be oiled and how frequently.  Most machines should be oiled with white sewing machine oil.  You may not need more than a few drops at a time, so make sure that you refer to your oiling chart for the proper amounts.   Regular lubrication is very important for the smooth and trouble free running of your machine, so make sure you oil it regularly.

Another important part of machine maintenance is keeping the michine clean and free of lint.  Thread fibers can build up in the machine.  Fabric can leave fibers and lint as well.  If the machine is not cleaned on a regular basis, these threads and fibers can build up and gum up the works, eventually preventing your machine from working at all.   An easy way to keep the machine lint and dust free is to regularly clear out all the nooks and crevices with something like EnMart’s Sprayway Lint and Dust Remover.

Luckily, embroidery machine maintenance is generally very simple.  If you remember to keep your machine oiled and to keep it clean of dust and lint, your machine should work well for you for years to come.

As many of you may already know, Melco recently decided to stop selling machine embroidery thread and supplies and concentrate solely on selling embroidery machines.   This decision has left many of the customers who used to buy Arc thread and the other machine embroidery supplies that Melco sold without a supplier.

Because Amaya machines were designed to fit a specific cone of thread, EnMart has always worked with the owners of these machines to get around this problem.  We have written blog posts on the subject, and provided instructions in our e-mail newsletters.   If machine operators use the simple techniques that we recommend, it will be easy to run Iris thread on an Amaya machine.

EnMart also now stands ready to assist those Melco customers who are now without a supplier.   We are currently working on a thread conversion chart which will convert the Melco colors to Iris colors.   This chart will most likely join our other thread conversion charts on the EnMart web site.   Our Sales and Customer Service staff will also have a copy.

EnMart also offers a wide variety of machine embroidery supplies similar to what Melco sold.  We have bobbins and bobbin cases,  adhesive spray and sewing machine oil and a wide variety of backings and toppings.   EnMart also sells Schmetz needles and thread clips.   If you are searching for a equivalent for the supplies that Melco sold, give us a call.  We’ll be happy to help you make the conversion.

For your convenience, EnMart has three locations to serve you.  Orders can be shipped from EnMart Corporate, in Michigan, EnMart East in New Jersey, or EnMart West in Nevada.  Plans are also in place to open EnMart South in Georgia later this year.

If you have any questions about EnMart or the machine embroidery supplies we sell,  you can call us at 1-866-516-1300 or leave a comment on this blog.

Every month is a great month to save at EnMart,  but August offers some particularly great savings.

For those who already use and love EnMart’s Iris polyester thread, or for those who have been thinking about giving it a try, August is a great month to stock up.  EnMart is offering 12 king cones (5500 yds) of Iris polyester thread,  in any color combination for $5.35 a cone.   If you’ve been looking for an economical way to increase your stock of colors, August is the month to buy thread from EnMart.

During August, our most popular bobbin style is also on sale.   Our Hi-10 Style L White Bobbins are being offered for $21.95  a gross, a discount of 19%.  Quantity discounts are also available.

EnMart is also transferring the savings to you this month, with a sale on our 1 color Ntrans transfers.   Ntrans transfers are durable, colorfast and easy to apply.   In August, you can save 30% on any size 1 color transfer.   If you’ve been thinking about giving Ntrans a try, August is a great month to see what these transfers can do for your business.

Finally, EnMart has also put our 60 cone thread rack on special this month.   Thread storage can be an issue, and this versitile rack can be of great help.  It can stand alone, or it can be hung on a wall.  Made of sturdy metal, this rack will hold your cones of Iris thread for years to come.

These specials will be available from August 1 – August 31, 2009.