FAQs

Frequently Ask Questions

Welcome to Black-Thread frequently ask questions.

If you do not see the answer to your question, contact us and we try to help as good as we can.


Who are we and what are we selling:

Black-Thread is a small employee-owned company located in the San Francisco Bay Area. We sell digital design files to be used on embroidery machines in the 6 most common file formats (DST, EXP, HUS, PES, SEW, VIP).

If you need a different format, please contact us and we try to accommodate you.

Just remember we only do MACHINE EMBROIDERY File formats!


How and why to create an account:

Having an account can help you to check out faster, receive emails about special offers, and keep a record of your purchases. It will make the check out faster in the future, since a lot of information will be on file.


Login in help: If you already created an account and cannot log in:

  • Select the “Forgot my Log In” option and we send you your sign on to the email you provided when you created your account
  • Select the “Forgot my Password” option and we will send you a password reset email to the email address you provided.

How to place an order:

  • If you have an account, make sure you are logged in
  • Select the design, choose the correct size and file format
  • Add the design to your cart, you can add as many designs to the cart as you like…

keep an eye out for specials offers, if you have an account and signed up for email’s to be notified of any special sale…. 

  • When you are done shopping, select checkout
  • Apply any promotional code or gift certificate code
  • Select: Check out Now and Pay. This will take you to the payment page
  • Enter your payment information
  • Double check that you have the right size and file format for every design you purchase
  • Select process Payment, if everything was correct…congratulations and thank you for shopping at Black-Thread 

A confirmation Email of your purchase will be sent to the email address you provided. 

The digital design file(s) you bought are attached to both the order confirmation page and your order confirmation email.

You are ready to download the designs and let your creativity go wild…one stitch at a time


What file format should I order?

If you are not sure what format your machine is using, check with your machine manual or dealer to get the information.  Remember we cannot Credit or Refund payment for the purchase of the wrong size of the file you bought. If you are able to use different formats on your machine and want to see which file format looks better, you can download our free test design to stitch them out and see which one you like better.


Here are some common Machine and file formats. This is just a general guideline, you should always check your manual or with your dealer to ensure you purchase the correct format. 

We can not credit or refund your payment for wrong files bought.


Baby Lock PES

Bernina EXP or PES Check your manual

Brother PES or DST Check your manual

Elna SEW or JEF Check your manual

Husqvarna DST, HUS, VIP Check your manual

Janome DST, JEF, SEW Check your manual

Kenmore SEW

New Home SEW

Pfaff PCS or VIP Check your manual

Singer XXX, DST, HUS Check your manual

PES, JEF, FHE

White PES


If you need a file format which is not offered in our shop website, please contact us and we will try to accommodate you. Because there are over 20 different file formats for different kinds of embroidery machines we decided to only offer the 6 most common file formats in our shop. 


How do I get the files I bought?

After you finish your order you will receive a confirmation email. The file(s) purchased are attached to your order confirmation email so you can download them right away and have fun with them.

On each product page and size offering we include a Design Detail jpeg, which has detailed information about the design, like stitch count and actual size of finished design.


I lost a design I purchased, how can I get another download?

Once you purchased a design, it is available in your account history if you have an account set up.

You can re-download the design from there anytime. If you don’t have an account, contact us with the original order number, and we will send you the file again.


Can I get a refund?

  • ordered the wrong file, you can contact us and we will send the correct file format.
  • Ordered the wrong size, sorry we not able to issue a refund.
  • All files on Black-Thread are instant downloads so there is no return option.
  • Ordered the same design twice by accident: contact us with the two order numbers, we will gladly give you a gift card with the amount of one purchase credit.

All our designs are instant downloads, which means you cannot return something that was downloaded. The only credit available is if you purchased the same design twice.


The design did not stitch out correct, what should I do?

All designs are stitched out in house to ensure their quality. If for some reason you are having an issue with a design stitch out, please contact us. We will need the following information to help:

  • Your order number and the design name
  • Brand and model number of your machine
  • Type of fabric you used
  • What kind of stabilizer did you used
  • Detailed description of the problem (photos always help)

Can you sell items you embroidered with our designs?

  • You may use the design for personal use to create embroidered products
  • Yes, you can sell items you embroidered with our designs.
  • Use the designs on items to be gifted or donated
  • You may NOT RESELL THE DIGITIZED FILE, with your purchase you agree to only use the file to create embroidered items, even if you change the digitized file in any way, you are not allowed to resell the original file from Black-Thread or the edited digital file you created.

Where can I find the design information?

  • If you look at a design, you can check out the detailed specifications by viewing the Design Detail sheet on the product page
  • You can download and print this page FREE OF CHARGE
  • The finished size of the design is listed on it
  • The design is shown in the full stitched out size
  • The thread count is listed
  • You can use any color of thread you choose, most of our designs will stitch with no stop for color changes….so keep that in mind.

My machine is telling me the wrong color for the design, what should I do?

  • Almost all our designs stitch out without any colors top
  • You can use ANY COLOR YOU LIKE to stitch out the design

Can I resize the design?

  • In general, it is not a good idea to resize a design
  • We can not be responsible for how a design stitches out if you change the size, there are too many variables out of our control

Do you take requests?

  • We always like to know what you would like to see, so drop us a line
  • Keep in mind, we always work on bringing you new fun designs, it may take a little to accommodate requests

Do you offer custom digitizing?

At this time, we are not able to offer custom digitizing. We are more than happy to get you in touch with somebody who does. But remember, we do not know their charges or if they are able to accommodate you. You can also check out Etsy, but make sure you check out the digitizers work before you place an order.


What embroidery machine you recommend?

We cannot recommend any specific machine. There are so many options and it depends on what you are looking for. Contact  your local sewing and embroidery center, see if you can test some machines so get a hands on comparison and make an informed decision.