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Posts Tagged ‘Embroidery Machines’

Where can I get a sewing machine that I can do custom embroidery…?

January 28th, 2013 2 comments

I’m new to sewing and don’t know too much about it & the machines, but I’m looking for something that will let me do different fonts and adjust the size of the stitching. Hoping for something that’s no more than $400.. Would Amazon or perhaps Walmart sell ones like this? Thanks

There are two major methods of machine embroidery — free motion, where you guide the hooped fabric, and can be done on any sewing machine, and computerized, which requires a special machine. I do some free motion embroidery — here’s sort of the great grandfather of textbooks of machine embroidery. free motion on a treadle machine: http://archive.org/details/singerinstructio00sing and the best modern book I know of: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Machine-Embroidery-Creative/dp/0801976480/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 done just before embroidery machines became commonly available to home sewing.

The other method is computerized embroidery, and there are several types of machines there: combination sewing/embroidery machines like http://www.bernina.com/en-US/Products-us/BERNINA-products-us/BERNINA-Sewing-and-Embroidery-Machines-us/BERNINA-8-Series-us/BERNINA-en (this one was a mere $12.5K when it was first released) or more reasonably, http://www.amazon.com/Brother-SE400-Combination-Computerized-Embroidery/dp/B003AVMZA4/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1359239253&sr=1-1 and embroidery only machines like: http://www.amazon.com/Brother-PE770-Embroidery-Memory-Stick-Compatibility/dp/B002MQI2NM/ref=sr_1_2?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1359239253&sr=1-2 or a multihead (many needles at a time) machine like: http://in.bernina.com/product_detail-n3-i258-sIN.html which sews many colors at the same time, and is typically used by an embroidery business.

Most of the people I know who do computerized machine embroidery have started with a 4×4" hoop combination machine, then discovered that 1) they wanted a bigger hoop and 2) if they didn’t have another machine, they couldn’t sew while the machine was laboriously stitching out a design. The folks I know who bought embroidery only machines plus a sewing machine didn’t pay much more (if any) than the ones who bought a single combination machine, and most of them seem happier with their initial purpose.

On top of the machine, you usually wind up buying several types and weights of embroidery stabilizer, perhaps a digitizing program so you can make your own designs, another program to help convert predigitized designs into a format your machine can use, and thread. Lots and lots of threads. So the machine is only the tip of the iceberg.

If you can, see if you can find a basic machine embroidery class where they supply the machines. There’s a fairly steep learning curve at first, I understand, and see if it’s something you really want to invest in. Me? I’m happier doing embroidery by hand.

I am looking for a sewing machine/embroidery that is made in the USA. Is there one ???

January 20th, 2013 2 comments

My hubby wants to buy me a sewing machine that is made in the USA and I can’t seem to find one. Can anyone help ??? Thanks so much

I believe the only company in the US making sewing machines still is Merrow, and they’re industrials — they’re inventors of the serger.
http://www.merrow.com

There are some excellent machines out there, though, that are not US made.

You may want to poke around at http://www.patternreview.com ‘s sewing machine review section when you get your machine choices narrowed. Some of my friends who do machine embroidery prefer to have separate embroidery and sewing machines — they can keep sewing while a design is stitching out. I only do hand and free motion embroidery, so I haven’t looked at embroidery machines.

What is a good embroidery (monogramming) machine?

January 2nd, 2013 2 comments

I have been wanting to purchase my own monogramming (Embroidery) machine. I do not sew or use sewing machines, but I would love to own my own embroidery machine to make items for myself o for gifts. I do not plan on making items to sell or anything….just personal use (bags, bath towels, t-shirts, etc….). Does anyone know a good machine to recommend to me? (I’m pretty sure I will have to buy a sewing/embroidery machine). Thanks!!!! Also, is embroidery machines hard to use (for someone that doens’t really have any experience with sewing machines).

Embroidery machines are easy to use. Start with small, simple projects to help you learn the machine and the different techniques.

This is long due to the explaination regarding how to download designs from the Internet.

The sewing/embroidery combos are usually more expensive. However, the Brother se400 sold at Walmart is a combo and a bargain at less than $500.

There will be several designs and fonts for monogramming built into the embroidery machine.

This model has USB connectivity, which means you do not have to purchase additional software to send downloads from the Internet to the machine for embroidering. And you will want to download as there are thousands of free downloads, plus many more for sale.

There is a cable that comes with the machine that you connect to the machine and your PC – all embroidery software programs are Windows supported, so Mac users have an added expense when using these programs.

To utilize the downloads, you create a folder on the hard drive of your PC. Give it a name you can easily find. Then as you find designs you want to down load (be sure they are .pes and within the hoop size of the embroidery machine) save them to the folder.

Many, if not all downloads are zipped files. You will have to unzip or extract before the embroidery machine can read the file. Mouse over the zipped file and a mini screen will come up. Select unzip or extract all. This will provide the file you need to keep. The zipped file can be deleted.

To send to the embroidery machine, hook-up the cable. A new drive letter will appear. Select the designs from the folder on the hard drive and send to the new drive letter. This will then allow you to access the designs from the embroidery machine.

Once the transfer to the embroidery machine has been made, the embroidery machine and PC no longer need to be connected.

Some of this will be addressed in the manual for the machine. There are also several forums you can join (free) and ask questions. http://www.sewforum.com is an excellant one.

A great one for tips and techniques (free videos and print-outs) is Embroidery Library. Take special note of the type of stabilizer and hooping techniques for the different types of fabrics that are to be embroidered. http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=techniques

PS: All embroidery machines have formats and pes is used by Brother and Babylock. The other brands of embroidery machines have different formats.

All formats, except Bernina’s art format can be converted to that of the embroidery machine, meaning if you have an art formatted design, it will only work on a Bernina embroidery machine that has the art format – confusing, but that’s Bernina!

Pulse Ambassador is a free software program that I have used for conversion of machine embroidery formats. Here is a tutorial for this software http://www.annthegran.com/cs/forums/t/4745.aspx

Do they make computerized Sewing machine?

December 11th, 2012 2 comments

Say for instance you wanted to sew a pattern or logo, and you had a photo of the pattern on the computer.. Do they make sewing machines that will sew that pattern into the clothing automatically?

Anyone can help me?

These are called embroidery machines and can cost just under $500 to several thousand dollars.

You can download designs from the Internet, or create your own with digitizing software for machine embroidery. With this software you can use your own designs (you start with an art program – I use Windows Paint) use clip art, or photos. Software is an extra expense. However, Universal Stitch Era is one that is "free" – there is a small fee for shipping – look for free download.

Some embroidery machines also have a program installed or that can be downloaded so you can create simple designs right on the LCD screen. These embroidery machines cost a few thousand dollars.

I would like to start doing embroidery for infant clothing. Can someone guide me how to start?

December 3rd, 2012 3 comments

Do I need to take classes for this? I saw someone had a computer program and from that it went to the machine. I just don’t know what I need to get other that an embroidery machine obviously. Do they come with computer programs? Thanks!

Two good machines to start with are the Singer Futura or the Singerxl6000 depending on your budget. Both have programs that allow the machine to transfer a design from your computer to the machine itself. You will not have to buy a seperate program. There are TONS of free designs online to get you started, and you can always buy a digitizing program later if you choose to start actually making your own designs. Embird is a good program to start with when your ready to do that

There are several yahoo groups for both types of embroidery machines I mentioned and you will get great help there

How do you digitalize embrodiery patterns?

November 27th, 2012 2 comments

I know you can make your on embrodiery patterns and sell them. How do you start this?

You need to have embroidery design software. Many sewing machine companies have their own program that they sell, but most sewing/embroidery machines can use more than one format.

You can buy something simple, like Embird, or spend thousands for a professional-type program. You also need to have a machine so that you can stitch out the designs to test them. Most designers aren’t real good for awhile and give away their designs for free to get people to know them. Some designers have a web site and sell their designs and also have some freebies that you can try to see how good the designer is.

Have fun with it!

What is the best embroidery machine?

November 25th, 2012 5 comments

So, I have been interested in purchasing an embroidery machine and I just wanted to know if anyone could recommend the best machine for a beginner but also a sturdy enough to last long. I am interested in the cool ones that can connect up to the computer but i am not sure if those are good or even worth buying. If anyone could help me and tell me the best places (in Chicago or online) or brand and model and a reasonable price for a quality machine this would help me lots.

Thank you so much to whoever saves me from this dilemma 🙂

I bought my first from Walmart several years ago and it served me well. This was the Brother PE150.

Because it did not have USB connectivity and a limited 4 x 4 stitching area, I upgraded to a Babylock that does have both Port A and Port B connectivity as well as accepting memory cards and a larger stitching area.

When I bought the first machine, dealers did not know one end from the other and with the help of books and the Internet, I taught myself how to stabilize, hoop and embroider. http://www.amazon.com/Embroidery-Machine-Essentials-Stabilize-Decorative/dp/0873419995/ref=pd_sim_k_3

Embroidery machines have some built-in designs and fonts, but for access to millions of designs (many are free), you need to download from the Internet (it is also the least expensive method).

Port A USB accepts a flash drive/stick/memory drive/thumb drive – they go by many names and I have several brands – all accepted by the Babylock.

Port B USB is a cable that comes with the embroidery machine. You need to have the PC (MAC is not compatible without purchasing additional hardware/software so it can read Windows) within approx 4′ of the embroidery machine to send designs from the PC to the embroidery machine. The cable does not have to be left connected once the designs are transferred.

Brother is the leader in embroidery machines and Babylock is of the same family, only a little more expensive.

The Brother PE 770 would be ideal – larger hoop and flash stick. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS260US260&q=brother+embroidery+machines&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10345458999759000893&ei=npU4TNP3GoP9nAfSvMWFBA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ8wIwAg#

If you also want to do sewing as well as embroidery, shop for a combo. They are a little more expensive than an embroidery only machine.

I think the one you are referring to as being connected to a PC is one of the Singer models. Some love this and some have a lot of issues with the software and updates.

I am not sure the the Singer model that came with digitizing software is any longer available or supported by Singer.

Visit sewing machine dealers and ask for demos. Take notes. And then review those notes at home. Purchase where you were the most comfortable with the staff, or take a plunge and buy online or at Walmart.

Remember – a dealer may not be real happy to service a machine that is under warranty if it was not purchased from them.

Making embroidery patterns for a sewing machine?

November 23rd, 2012 2 comments

Have a new Huskvarna SE sewing/embroidery machine. I would like to make patterns for it (stitch files is what the store calls them) so I can have my own cust. designs. How do I get started?

If you are referring to embroidery and not sewing, you will need digitizing software for machine embroidery.

Most of the software programs do auto digitizing which requires you to use clip art or your own designs in a format such as jpg. Even then, you may have to do some manual editing.

There are a few products that you can download for a trial – Designer’s Gallery (BabyLock) and Buzz Tools are a couple brands.

All digitizing software will save designs in the format of all embroidery machines. You do not need to purchase the brand offered by the same company as your EM.

There is another software – Stitch Era, that is free to download. It is also complex and not that easy to learn. The manual is over 200 pages and I have yet to get through it.

I use PE Design for digitizing and Designer’s Gallery for editing. PE was a gift and DG came with my BabyLock.

i was looking for a good but cheap embroidery machine. anyone have any suggestions.?

November 21st, 2012 3 comments


"Good" but "cheap" when talking about Embroidery Machines is an oxymoron, no such critter exists if you are wanting to go with a new machine. I have a Brother 180D. Brother is the only E machine you can get that you have a choice on Disney designs, but not all Brothers just the ones that have D in the name. You may be able to pick up a used one with a sewing field of 4" x 4", for around $400 or $500, but you will soon learn that you want to be able to do larger designs and the machine cannot be converted to do larger designs. My next machine is a Bernina 330 and has a sewing field of 5" x 7" and is large enough for what I like to do. I bought it used two years old for $825. Both machines have been trouble free and the designs looks great when they are done. The biggest thing you want to do is be very familiar with the sewing/embroidery machine repair shops in your area. Call around and see what kind of machines they work on; not all shops repair all machines. Next you want to check their reputation and how well they handle repairs/maintenance and people. It is best to buy from your local shops whether you go new or used as they are usually willing to do their best for a return customer. Do not buy from a shop or store that does not do repair/maintenance, because even if you never have any trouble with your machine it does need to have a yearly check up that keeps it in good working order. When checking out a shop if you are not familiar with any, ask if they have good used machines for sale and check the prices against what you may have found on ebay or elsewhere, don’t forget to add the shipping and handling to the ones you found online. From my limited knowledge of the different embroidery machines the ones most widely recommended are Brother, Bernina, and Janome, but all have different temperaments and it is best to try them out before you decide.

What do i look for in a good embroidery machine ?

November 19th, 2012 4 comments

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!