Free Embroidery Designs

I have just recently purchased a brother se 270d. I am completely new at embroidery and I am not sure about all of the software available to help download designs. I looked into the ped basic(because it is cheapest) but saw several complaints due to the limited capabilities with it. I don’t want to spend over $150 on something to help me to download designs from the internet. I am really interested n monogramming. Can anyone tell me what else is available for my machine that is not so expensive, yet still do a pretty good job? thanks!

You may be confusing editing software with memory card software.

Without a reader/writer unit and rewritable memory card and you cannot use designs from the Internet or a CD without one brand or the other.

PED Basic or another brand of the same type of software will provide a method of getting the design from the PC to the Embroidery machine via a memory card. Basically, that is all they do.

For monogramming you need fonts (alpha designs). You load as you would any other design and then copy to the memory card. Insert the memory card into the machine and press "start".

For editing, Embird is a popular product and you can download a free demo.

ABC embroidery has a tutorial for combining letters with Embird.

Remember, the design has to be within the limitation of the size hoop your machine is programed for.

http://www.secretsof.com/content/1853

http://www.annaboveembroidery.com/usemfo.html

I would like to buy some alphabet designs from the internet, and I have the PED Basic software to put them onto a memory card for my Brother PE-150 machine. If I remember correctly from my first machine(this is my second time owning this kind of machine), I can put the letters into individual files on the card. I want to know how to merge the letters into a word, such as a name, so that I don’t have to embroidery each letter individually. I haven’t yet opened the PED Basic program, because I wanted to find out if I needed something else first. Thanks!

You need an editing software program. Embird is very popular with home machine embroiderers. Your start with basic and then add other programs as you wish.

You can get a trial here – http://www.secretsof.com/content/1853?PHPSESSID=d577402e3683026a2f7c375ffeec4ca0

And here is a free tutorial for combining letters into words – http://www.annaboveembroidery.com/usemfo.html

hi i just downloaded a curlz font to my embroidery machine and need to know how to put more than one letter at a time on my fabric. it is only allowing me to work with one letter at a time

Some machines will only allow you to pull up one letter at a time.

Editing software may be the answer.

This one has a free trial. http://www.secretsof.com/content/1798

Download, open your designs and save as a new design.

No digitizing required.

Remember, you can only add so many letters depending on the size of the letter and the size of your hoop.

How do I connect font characters to spell a word? I want to embroider my daughters name on something using a font I downloaded from the internet. I cannot group the characters together on my machine. Is there any way to do this?
Thank you so much! That is helpful. I wish I could do it with what I have 🙁

I am afraid not. You can combine the letters already built into the machine.

You will need an editing software program to combine the letters or do one at a time.

If doing one at a time is the only option, bring up each letter and send to the card.

Then make a sample by stitching out each letter, noting the size and then determine how far to space each letter. Start by making a cross hair with a pen for each one – this will help you to find the center of each letter after stitching.

Remember, the center for the letters a and y (as examples) are going to differ as will as upper and lower case letters.

You can use the jog feature on the embroidery machine to calculate the perimeter of each letter.

There is a trial of Embird that may be of help as well as a tutorial for lettering at ABC Embroidery (free).

http://www.secretsof.com/content/1853

http://www.annaboveembroidery.com/usemfo.html

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions at any time.

I would say that I am an advanced sewer, however I have never done any embroidery on a sewing machine. I just got laid off this past June from my marketing job and have enjoyed just bouncing around not doing anything, however, I am now looking for a new creative job, something I could do with the skills I have an sell –perhaps on line, and the personalization of products seems really interesting. Your opinion would be gratefully received. TKS

Brother or Babylock are the most user friendly brands.

I have both and would buy none other.

Bernina for example makes a wonderful product, but they are very expensive and proprietary when it comes to software and accessories.

The other brands – I read too many problems – may be the machine and it may be the operator.

Stand alone models are less expensive than the combos.

Hoop size indicates how large a design you can stitch out without the aid of editing software. You want nothing smaller than 5 x7.

Connectivity. There will be designs and fonts already built into the embroidery machine. However, there are thousand on the Internet to download – some are free and some you will have to purchase.

To get those downloads to the embroidery machine you need an embroidery machine with USB ports for direct connect to the PC or to use a flash drive.

Supplies – medium weight cut away and medium weight tear away stabilizer.

Thread – rayon or polyester machine embroidery thread and machine embroidery bobbin thread.

Embroidery machine needles – a small supply comes with the machines.

You can get started for around $1,000. The models with the smaller hoop that uses a memory card is less money and with supplies about $700.

There is a series of books by Jeannine Twigg that are helpful when learning to use the embroidery machine. I started with this one – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873419995/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=087349847X&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13BBF9W6FA3WQB253K4T

Supplies, you can purchase when on sale.

Allbrands, Allstitch & ShoppersRule are a few of many, many sites that sell machine embroidery supplies.

http://www.allbrands.com

http://allstitchembroiderysupplies.com/

http://www.shoppersrule.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=sr

Now that you are "loaded" with info – hit the sewing machine stores and let them show you what they have to offer.

Buy the machine you like best from the dealer you like best.

If so how easy is it to thread, adjust, understand. Do you like the machine and is the embroidery that it does sufficient?

The Singer CE-350 is not available yet and honestly there is not enough difference between the CE-350 and CE-250. The only difference is the color the faceplate and the software it comes with. The machine itself is the same as the Ce-250 it just comes with editing software which is not a necessity, because the CE-250 already comes with AutoPunch. The Editing Software can be purchase separately right now so you can have basically a Ce-350 it is just green. As for the machine itself, I feel it is a great machine for any beginner or inexperienced embroiderer. I have the Brother Innovis 4000D so I know there are a lot of difference when there is a huge price difference. The Singer CE-150, CE-250 and CE-350 are twice as fast as the CE-100 and CE-200. You used to be able to count the stitches now you can not. They improved the software and gave the machine a sleeker look. They did a nice job. As for threading, It is a little tricky at first because you have to make sure you floss it in the tension assembly but aside from that it is fairly straight forward. The embroidery that comes out of the machine is pretty good I think.. Of course the Brother Innovis 4000D is going to have better stitch quality and go faster but the CE machines do a surprisingly nice job. The best deal I saw for the Singer CE-250 is Mr. Vac and Mrs. Sew. That is where I got mine because they have a wonderful add on package you can get with it (I think it retail for like $500 or Something) for only $99. They had a nice fast delivery and a charged No Tax (Because I am in NJ) and Free Shipping. I hope all this information helps. Here is a link to the Singer CE-250:

http://www.mrvacandmrssew.com/go/product/id/955?PHPSESSID=a37664687ba4764b351decb89ce6da31

I have never used an embroidery machine and would like one. I have a very old Bernina sewing machine which I love, but would it make more sense to buy a combo machine?

Combos are usually a little more expensive, but it is always a good option to have a second sewing machine.

Brother is the leader and first to offer home embroidery machines.

I purchased a Brother embroidery only machine from Walmart and used it for several years and then upgraded to a Babylock (same family) that is a combo, has a larger embroidery field and USB connectivity.

The standard embroidery area (based on the largest size hoop that comes with the machine) is 4 x 4, which limits the size of the design that can be stitched without using editing software for machine embroidery to split the design into smaller segments (2 or more).

USB connectivity makes it easy to send designs to the embroidery machine from the PC (or flash drive) as this is where downloads will be stored.

Most of the new models have either a cable (USB Port B) that connects to the PC (after sending the designs to the embroidery machine, it no longer has to be connected to the embroidery machine and PC).

Or, flash drive (USB Port A ) which comes up on the PC screen as a removable drive. This product is good to have as storage as well as a method of providing designs for the embroidery machine once it is plugged into the machine.

Without USB connectivity you will need to purchase a reader/writer/memory card unit for machine embroidery that is compatible with the format of the embroidery machine.

Brother and Babylock use the pes format. Example roses.pes.

Bernina makes great machines, but they are too expensive and so are the accessories. The format is not that compatible for conversion (formats can be converted if you find a design you like in a format different than what is required by the machine).

Pulse Ambassador is a free software download for conversion. I have used it with success, with exception of the art format (as in roses.art) which is one used by Bernina.

With these basics in hand, shop the sewing machine dealers and see what is available.

Buy the machine you like the best from the dealer you like the best.

What are the best sites to download free embroidery graphics from?

Congratulations!

First, create a folder on either the pc’s hard drive, disk or flash drive for storing your downloads or you will have problems trying to locate them as you want to use them. Within the folder, create sub folders as the collection grows for easy access, such as infant, hearts, sports, flowers, etc.

If you decide to store on the hard drive, be sure to back-up on a flash drive by saving each time you add or make changes to the folder. This can be a life saver should the pc crash or otherwise lose all your hard work.

Downloads are usually zipped to save download time. These files have to be opened/extracted/unzipped before they can be used as the embroidery machine will not recognize the format. This is a good time to rename the files for easy recognition. If there is a file extension (.pes) be sure to add it to the rename. Example: yxrose123.pes could be renamed yellowrose.pes

Be sure to download files with a pes format and that are within the size of the machine’s embroidery stitch area.

For example – if the embroidery machine is designed for a 4" x 4" hoop, no matter how much larger a hoop that you may use, the machine is limited to the 4 x 4 and will not stitch out a larger design without editing software to split the design into smaller segments and additional re-hooping and re-positioning of the item being embroidered.

There are many sites for downloading free designs – beware of the foreign sites, especially Russian as they offer designs that are illegal US licensed designs.

If you do a search of free machine embroidery designs you can then choose the sites as you wish – just watch out for the foreign sites offering Disney and other licensed designs.

I use Ann The Gran – some are free for everyone and others are free to members of Ann’s Club, which requires a small membership fee. Membership also includes discounts on supplies and merchandise. http://www.annthegran.com

Embroidery Library as a few freebies, but they have the best overall tips, techniques and tutorials online. http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=techniques

http://www.sewforum.com has free designs and a great forum for learning, asking questions and overall information.

Brother has designs that can be downloaded, will be in the correct format and within the 4 x 4 hoop size/stitching area – http://www.brother-usa.com/HomeSewing/GetCreative/free-designs.aspx

Once you have your collection, you will not be able to view the actual design unless you have a software program. The least expensive on that I have found is Embrilliance Thumbnailer, available here – http://www.dzgns.com/shopping_cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1293 this site also has free downloads.

Enjoy and please email me if you have any additional questions.