Free Embroidery Designs

I am just opening my first home business, doing childrens clothing, and would like to get a sewing machine with embroidery options (LOTS and LOTS of ebroidery options)

i dont know what to look for,
or how it works (are you just stuck wiht what you purchase ? or is there a machine that allows you to buy extra embroidery programs to use ?? [kind of like a cricut machine products..])
What exactly do you mean when you say .pes formats, what are the other types of formats, and how does this one compare to the others ??

and is there a way to create your OWN embroidery patterns ??

i am looking for something that i can get a WIDE variety of fonts.. any pointers ??

EDITED TO ADD:

Embroidery designs are formatted and there are several formats (think of it as a language).

Each brand of embroidery machine has a format and this can vary by brand.

Formats can be converted, so if you have a machine that reads only .pes and you see a design that you love and it is .hus, it can be converted to .pes using conversion software, for which you can find free downloads. Pulse Ambassador is one that I have used.

There is software with which you can edit designs and create your own. Embird is a popular brand. Most have a trial which you can test to see how user friendly it is and if it is what you wish to purchase.

You may find most embroidery machines have only the basic fonts. This is something to keep in mind when shopping.

You may be able to work a deal where a font package is included with the purchase of an embroidery machine.

ORIGINAL REPLY:

All the major brands are good machines.

Brother and Babylock use the .pes format, which is a very popular, easy to find embroidery format. These machines are also very user friendly.

Visit dealers with your wish list, this should include price.

Once you tell them you want the machine for a home business, they will let you know if the machine’s warranty covers this type of use.

It would be best to have a sewing machine and an embroidery machine and not just one machine.

The stitching area for embroidery is limited and will be indicated by the hoop size. The standard 4 x 4 hoop is very limiting.

Any design larger than the stitching area of the embroidery will require software for editing and splitting the designs into smaller segments that will require re-hooping for each section.

An embroidery machine with at least a 5 x 7 hoop is a better choice.

There are thousands of designs available on the Internet, many are free. A machine with a flash drive (aka, stick drive or thumb drive) would be the most convenient method of getting designs from the PC to the embroidery machine.

Create a folder on the hard drive of your PC and name it Embroidery. As you download, save to this folder and then create sub-folders for each category. Keeping the designs organized will save you a lot of headache later on.

This is a very good site for machine embroidery tips and techniques – http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=techniques

Keep in mind, Disney and other licensed designs cannot be use on items that you will be selling.

Best wishes in your new adventure!

Hi you need to look for embroidery format JEF.
There are a lot of beautiful designs for kids on Internet !.
Also I found a lot in free site , mostly are in pes (brother format) but you can convert with any
software easily to jef .Free embroidery software are available like my editor , and free website like
www.embroiderybyus.com or embroideryfreeweb.com .
I hope you find a lot !

I’m looking for an embroidery machine that will do custom logos. I need to upload images (gif/jps whatever) from my PC. All it really needs to handle is one color, but the more the merrier. Would also like it to be able to do at least a couple of fonts so I can write names. Thanks!

Any embroidery machine will do what you want, but the design has to be in the embroidery format of the machine (pes, sew, hus are examples).

The machine will not recognize gif/jpg/jpg and whatever.

You will need to purchase digitizing software and then you need a way of getting the design to the embroidery machine.

The less expensive machines use a memory card for machine embroidery, which requires the purchase of a reader/writer unit and rewritable memory card. These have to be compatible with the brand/model and format of the embroidery machine. These are usually less expensive online. http://www.allbrands.com

The more expensive embroidery machines either have USB Port B (direct connect) where you have to have the PC next to the embroidery machine or both, USB Port B and USB Port A (removable flash drive/stick), which is self describing.

You can download trials and demos of the software before you purchase – the easier to use the better. However, even auto-digitizing can need tweaking. Here is one that is free during the trial stages http://www.sophiesew.com/

Visit sewing machine dealers and tell them what you want to do and they will show you what they have. Expect to pay out at least $2,000 for the entire kit and caboodle.

Or, you can buy the Brother at Walmart and the reader and card at Allbrands for a total of around $700. This how I got started – it may appear confusing, but it is not rocket science.