Set up your Embroidery Machine for Wireless Transfer

UPDATE March 2020:  A have received a few questions about using the newer W-04 FlashAir card with this set up.  I received one of these card in December 2019 and tried it out.  It worked the same for me without any changes to this set up or configuration.  So it should work just fine for you as well. :-) 
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Did you know that if your sewing machine has an SD-card slot, you can make it wireless?  All you need is a wireless-enabled SD card, and you can turn any device (in our case, it is a sewing machine) into a wireless access point.
Sending files to sewing machine from an iPad.

First question may be why would you want to do this?  The answer is convenience.  You no longer need USB cables or USB sticks to transfer files between you computer and your sewing machine.  With wireless, you simply have your sewing machine on, and can directly copy the files from your computer to your sewing machine without any cables or other devices.

I absolutely love, love, love not having to deal with any USB stick drives or cables for my designs anymore!  All the designs are on my laptop or iPad.  I can store, backup and transfer from there.

Second question may be what expensive software do I need to purchase?  The answer is none!  You will need the wireless SD card (less than $30 on Amazon).  But you do not need any expensive embroidery software.  You can open a web browser and enter simple commands to send files across.    If you run on a Windows machine, you can also set up the SD card as a mapped drive for even easier drag-and-drop access.

I do have the expensive embroidery software that is supposed to work with the wireless SD card  My experience with it on my Mac is that function in the software does not work as intended.  That is what led me to find a way to use the SD card's technology directly, without going through buggy software.

Last summer, I mentioned this to someone in the Destiny Owner's group on Facebook, and posted this short 3-minute video demonstrating how my set up works.   I showed how I send files from the computer and from an iPad.  I offered to write up instructions if there was an interest.



There was a large response from people wanting to use their sewing machines for wireless transfer.  So I wrote up step-by-step directions on how I set it up, along with a video where I walk through the set up.  This is all posted on Facebook in the Files and Videos section of the  Destiny Owner's group.  If you are a member of this group, search for the posts under my name, Sylvia Gould.

I received a request this week from someone outside the FB Destiny group for set up on their sewing machine.  The FlashAir wireless SD card should work on any device and any brand - it is certainly not limited to just the Baby Lock Destiny.  As long as your sewing machine has a SD card slot, you should be able to access it wirelessly.  She has inspired me to share this info here in this blog post for others to see as well. So Thank You, Wendy.  🙂


The set up is not hard, but it does take a little bit of file editing.  I uploaded the walk-through video to YouTube, and the supporting documents to DropBox.  The document references the Destiny Facebook group, but the video it is referring to is now on YouTube and linked below.



Setting Up Your Sewing Machine for Wireless Transfer:
  1. Video walk-through on YouTube that follows the written directions.




  2. Illustrated PDF Document walk-through written directions to set up your wireless SD card. 
  3. Illustrated PDF Document on mapping a drive to the SD card on a PC.
  4. Plain text Document with sample configuration file.


The walk-through document has links for the products used, but I am putting the product links in this post as well.
  • The free app that is used on the iPad to send files (shown in the short 3-minute demo video above) is AirStitch version 2 by BriTon Leap.  Available in the Apple App Store.

NOTE:  I should put disclaimers in here:
  • I am not a professional videographer.  Sure you can tell this from the videos, 😉  but I do my best to speak clearly and explain the process.   I apologize for the camera shakes and text interruption.  
  • I am more proficient on a Mac computer, as that what I use daily.  The instructions are illustrated for both Mac and PC; however, I only have access to a Windows 8 computer.  
  • I do not work for any of the companies that are shown.  I am not compensated for using their product nor am I an official support person.  
  • I am happy to try and help people with their set up of their SD card if there are issues.  Mostly, issues appear to be with one's home network and security which is out of my scope here.  But if you go through the set up steps and have issues, I will try to help you work through them.


Happy Stitching!

4 comments

  1. I have a PC. Are the instructions the same. Thanks.
    Lena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lena,
      The instructions are similar. The written document has the steps I used for PC set up.

      Delete
  2. Thank you so much. It didn't work exactly like you said in Windows 10, but I am now proudly wireless!! Thank you so very much!! Susan Coker

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, I can't wait to do this! I don't have to get a new embroidery machine to connect to my pc🙂😀😁

    ReplyDelete

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