Phone to embroidery machine with no Wi-Fi: 3 ways

First, what the machine needs

Whichever way you choose, the machine wants the same four things. Most failures on this page come from missing one of them.

A stitch file, in a format the machine reads

DST, PES, JEF and EXP are stitch files. A .EMB or .ART project file is not, and no machine can sew it. The machine's manual lists the formats it reads.

Unzipped

Design shops send ZIP files. A machine does not open a ZIP. Unzip on the phone first. The Files app on Android and on iPhone both do it.

In the folder the machine looks in

Many machines read one folder only and ignore the rest of the drive. They do not report that as an error. They report it as an empty list.

On storage the machine can read

A plain USB stick, formatted the way the machine expects. Most machines want FAT32 and a stick of modest size. A new 128 GB stick straight from the shop is often the problem.

The three ways

Way 1

A memory stick, by way of a computer

The way everybody starts. It works, and it costs a walk every time.

Get the file from the phone to a computer. Email it to yourself, put it in a cloud folder, or plug the phone in.
Copy it onto the stick, into the folder the machine looks in.
Walk the stick to the machine and open the design list.

What you need: A computer, a stick, and a few minutes of walking per design.
Where it fails: The wrong folder. A stick left in the machine while you edit the next design. A long name the machine's panel shortens into something you do not recognise. And the walk itself, repeated for every change.

Way 2

An OTG cable from the phone to a stick

Cut the computer out. The phone writes to the stick directly.

Android: plug a USB OTG adapter into the phone and the stick into the adapter. Open the Files app and copy the design onto the stick. Some phones need OTG switched on in Settings first.
iPhone: plug in a camera adapter, Lightning or USB-C to match your phone, and the stick into it. The Files app shows the stick as a drive. Copy the design onto it.
Walk the stick to the machine and open the design list.

What you need: An adapter from any phone shop, and the right stick.
Where it fails: Still a walk. Still the folder rule, now with no computer to show you the folders. The adapter lives in a drawer and the stick lives in the machine, so one of them is always in the wrong room.

Way 3

A Wi-Fi dongle in the machine's USB port

The stick never comes out. Your phone sends to it over the air.

Plug the dongle into the USB socket your stick normally uses, and leave it there.
On your phone, open the dongle's own web page. With StitchSitter that is ss.local, or the address shown on the dongle's screen.
Drop the design onto the page. The dongle files it into the folder your machine looks in, reads it back, and checks it.
On the machine, open the design list. The design is there.

What you need: A dongle, and a phone with a browser. No computer, no software, no account.
Where it fails: The network. The dongle and the phone have to share one, and most dongles stop working where there is no Wi-Fi. StitchSitter makes a network of its own for that case. Also 5 GHz only networks: the dongle uses 2.4 GHz.

Side by side

Question	Memory stick	OTG cable	Wi-Fi dongle
Needs a computer	Yes	No	No
Needs a walk per design	Yes	Yes	No
Files into the right folder for you	No	No	Yes, StitchSitter does
Checks the file arrived whole	No	No	Yes, StitchSitter does
Works with no Wi-Fi at all	Yes	Yes	StitchSitter makes its own
Sends from iPhone and Android	Through a computer	With the right adapter	Any browser
Cost	A stick you own	An adapter	$199, nothing after

What the dongle actually does

StitchSitter plugs into the USB port and presents itself to the machine as a memory stick. The machine reads it exactly as it always has. That is the whole trick, and it is why it is not tied to one brand.

The page it serves is the control panel. Any phone, tablet or computer on the same network opens it. You install nothing and you buy no licence. The designs stay on a card inside the dongle, so nothing has to stay switched on.

It carries built-in rules for Janome, Elna, Brother and Tajima, a list of sixty-three more machines, and a generic setting for anything else. Tell it your machine once and it files every design where that machine looks.

Questions people ask about this

Can I send from an iPhone?

Yes, by any of the three ways. For the cable you need Apple's camera adapter. For the dongle you need Safari, which is already there.

Does my phone need the internet?

No. The dongle and your phone need a wireless network to share, and the dongle can make one itself if there is none. Nothing goes through the internet.

My design came as a ZIP. What now?

Unzip it on the phone before you do anything else. Inside you will usually find the same design in several formats. Send the one your machine reads.

Which formats can the dongle carry?

Twenty-six embroidery formats, including DST, PES, PEC, JEF, JEF+, EXP, VP3, VP4, VIP, HUS, SHV, PCS, SEW and XXX. When you send a format your machine does not read, the message says so and names the formats it does read.

My machine already has Wi-Fi. Do I need any of this?

No. Use the maker's own app. Brother and Baby Lock machines with wireless have one, and so do BERNINA machines with wireless. A dongle is for the machines that have none, which is most of them.

Will it work with my machine?

If the machine reads a USB stick, the dongle presents as one. Sixty-three machines are in the catalogue with their folder rules known. Check yours on the support page, and tell us if it is not there.

How to send an embroidery design from your phone to a machine with no Wi-Fi.