Free Embroidery Designs

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!

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.

"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.

I have a Brother Innovis 4000D sewing machine.

You can download a lot of free designs at Brother. http://www.brother-usa.com/HomeSewing/GetCreative/free-designs.aspx

Embroidery Library has a variety of designs at good prices. http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/default.aspx

They also have very good techniques & tips – http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=techniques

This is a good site for supplies – http://allstitchembroiderysupplies.com/

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!

I am looking for a simple sewing machine that has an applique and embroidery feature. Nothing too fancy. thanks

I have a Brother 8500 and I love it!! It does a great job at doing machine applique and it’s great for embroidery too! And these days, that machine runs a fraction of the cost that it did when I bought mine back in 1999! You can usually pick up a used one for around $1,000. I know that sounds high, but originally it cost $4400! And most of the newer machines that do both sewing and embroidery will run between $4,000 and $6,000! The fact that I have been able to get FREE embroidery designs for it online for all these years helps a lot!
Now if this is way too high for your pockets, you may consider getting a Elna I think it’s called, or maybe it’s Quilters Dream? Look in a quilt magazine and see what machine it is that Ellenor Burns is pictured with. Hers is for doing applique and all great quilting stitches. And then you could consider buying separately a Brother 150? I think that’s the number, but it’s a BASIC embroidery ONLY machine and it runs around $200. I don’t know what the Ellenor Burns machine costs, probably close to $500 or more since she’s endorsing it. Hope that helps!

I was watching this video on youtube where a woman is using a sewing machine and it is connect to her laptop and she is able to design her cloth with her computer. The one thing that I would like to know is what kind of software does she use to design her work. Can somebody please help?

What she is using in Wilcom and it is very expensive.

Here is another brand that has the basics and is free – http://www.swfeast.com/en/free_digiziting_software.asp

If you find this is what you want to do, you can upgrade to more expensive products.

I basically am looking to use the fonts I have on my computer to create embroidered names, monograms, etc…

Is this machine embroidery? Or are you sending it to a commercial company? If its a commercial company, they can tell you what format they’ll accept. Usually its eps format and you can use something like PhotoShop or PaintShopPro, or a free program like Gimp (I think it works on Macs)

If this is for hand embroidery, you can use your word processor to make the letters big and print them on good graph paper. (this is what I do).

If this is your sewing machine and you want to convert the fonts to something it can use, check the manufacturers website and see if they have a conversion software.

All I want to do is embroider my granddaughters names on sweatshirts etc. When I read the specs on these machines they all have programmed disks. Can I choose letters and create their names with the Brother SE-270D? Is there a better machine? I know very little about embroidery but I do sew. I need a new machine but I’m confused as to what these embroidery machines do or don’t do. How exactly would I achieve what I want to do – what are the steps to create the name Elizabeth for instance?

The Brother SE-270D uses a cartridge system which is very annoying, doesn’t work all of the time and if anything is just a little out of whack you can’t thread the needle. It is only a 3/4 machine (very small) and it does have a big embroidery field. For a beginner I would Highly reccomend either the Janome 9500. The Janome 9500 is a wonderful machine that both sews and embroiders wonderfully. The Janome 9500 has 3 built-in alphabet fonts so you can embroider the name Elizabeth with ease. Elizabeth could be done in one step with the 9500. All you have to do is choose the letters you want and it will group them together to make the word. Then you just have to set it to where you want, thread you needle and press the go button. Nice and easy. Embroidery machines allow to embroider full size designs like say you wanted a dog on your shirt, the machine can embroider it (provided the design is digitized, in a format where the stitches are layed out so the machine knows what to do). It is a wonderful sewing machine too. It has also has a full touchscreen which is nice and fun to use. But trust me the SE-270D is a joke. The best deal for the Janome 9500 is from Mr. Vac and Mrs. Sew. They have it for only $1599 with free shipping and no tax (if you are outside New Tork State)and it comes with so many extras. It comes with:

Stabilizer – This stabilizer is great for it’s uniqueness in that after you wash your item the stabilizer totally washes away – (Retail Value – $50.00)

Magic Box Plus Elite – Gives you the freedom to put up to 30 designs on your blank embroidery card from CD’s, other manufacturers cards and even the internet. – (Retail Value – $399.00)

Polystar Thread – Superior Strength, Shine, and Vibrant colors – (Retail Value – $305.00)

Polystar Prewound Bobbins – Get thread, thread and more bobbin thread, with the same quality and strength expected from the Polystar name – (Retail Value – $100.00)

Embroidery Magic II Embroidery Software – A Full lettering, editing, and digitizing embroidery software – (Retail Value – $399.00)

Pantostock – Filled with over 3900 Beautiful Quality Professionally Digitized Embroidery Machine Designs – (Retail Value – $100.00)

Cap Hoop – Allows you the unique ability to embroider on the uncommon medium of a typical baseball style cap – (Retail Value – $50.00)

Sock Hoop – Easy and simple sock embroidery – (Retail Value – $50.00)

With all of the stuff you get you are completely set to embroider whatever you want. The Magic Box allows you to transfer designs you like from the internet to your machine. The Thread is beautiful and shiny and it comes in a box of 61 colors with 1000 meters on each spool. It also has 144 prewound bobbins for embroidery (you only need white thread in the bobbin when embroidering) which I reuse for sewing because they are true plastic strong bobbins. It comes with 3900 extra designs all of which are incredible. A big roll of stabilizer (you need this for everytime you embroider it stabilizes your shirts etc.). Software that allows you to edit designs and make your own designs and do lettering as well. Also a cap hoop and sock hoop so you can embroider on caps and socks. I purchase all my things from Mr. Vac and Mrs. Sew they are such a nice company to deal with. They are kind and always make my shopping experience a pleasant one. Here is a link to the product and their number (you can order it on the phone or through the internet).

1-800-640-8227

http://www.mrvacandmrssew.com/go/product/id/717

I think ordering over the phone is better though because they will answer any further questions you have.

Tell Lisa and Joe Kevin told you about it:)

On the Brother BM-2600 sewing machine, can the feed dog drop for free-hand machine embroidery?
On the Brother BM-2600 sewing machine, can the feed dog drop for free-hand machine embroidery?

Yes u can do free motion embroidery but you will need a darning
foot which is sold seperatly for about $15 from brother but u will need the code which is in the your manual so u know you have the right 1

also u will need a hand embroidery hoop ,stabilizer and a design that u want 2 stitch out like a car or a Disney character.

the darning foot is a screw on. and cover feed dog with ur darning plate