Free Embroidery Designs

Only buy from a sewing machine dealer. You can demo all the embroidery machines they have. Get free lessons on the one you do buy and the dealer will always be there for future questions, which you will have. I love my Viking embroidery machine, which is now over 15 years old. My sister has a Pfaff, which is over 20 years old. Bernina is another good brand.
Plan on taking lessons on machine embroidery to get the most out of your machine.
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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.
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Hello, I can give you some information on what to look for in an embridery machine. They are a major purchase, so you will be using it for a long time.
1. you should consider buying from a reputable dealer that offers free lessons on how to use your machine, and also can give you expert and reliable service and maintenence,
2. Will the machine grow with me? Is it able to be updated easily? is there room for new techniques?
3. Does it have ease of operation? does it come with software that I can use to transform designs in to my machine’s format? 4. Will I be limited to using only that machine’s designs? is it versitile enought to be used with other formats?
4. What accessories come with the machine? are optional accessories easy to locate and purchase.
5. Will I be able to plug the machine in to may computer with a usb port, or do I have to purchase additional equipment to use it? Does it have safeguards to protect my machine from computer viruses, worms, and malware?

You may want to think about how much time you plan on using the machine. You may not have much time now (if you are working) but remember you will be able to purchase a better and maybe a more expensive machine, but it will last and be there for you down the line when you have more time. There is no such thing as a inexpenxive (good) embroidery machine.
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My source is that I have been sewing for 30 years,, and machine embroidering for about 10. I have a Husqvarna Viking D-1, which is my original purchase, and has meet all the requirements mentioned above and more. There are very good machine out there, just keep you mind set on what your applications are and justifications for a major purchase. By all means buy from a reputable dealer, not e-bbay, or Amazon, you need good support, and your dealer will be only to happy to give you all the help you need. Good luck! Remeber, cheap is not alway best. You are welcome to contact me with more questions if you need to:sewexclusive4u2@yahoo.com

I have been sewing for 50 years and have served the public sector by making men’s and ladies tailored suits , wedding attire, home furnishings and everything else you can think of. I had a commercial Singer machine that sewed everything from silk and satin to burlap and denim. Then I decided to get into embrodery by machine. I had always done hand embrodery and it was really to slow for me. Well I tried all the machines within a hundred mile radius of me and there was something wrong with all of them.Thats my opinion,I’m told i’m to ticky. I decided to try another Singer. I bought a Singer 100 with sewing software and it was all I wanted. Then I bought a Singer 1000 to use just for embrodery and used my old one for sewing. Now I own the Singer 6000. It is a dream ,it does all of what my other ones do and more. I download designs by flashdrive, memory card,emb. card and P.C. I love the quality of the stitches. I do heirloom sewing and have plenty of designs built in for that and anything else I want to do. I have had no problems with any of them. Just take care of what ever you buy. I don’t think you can go wrong with anything with the name Singer on it. All of my machines had plenty of designs built in and sewed beautifully .They make machines for other companys so find out who makes any machine you look at. Don’t rush, take your time and buy something good. Good Luck Ms. Seamstress
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All 4 replies b4 mine are excellent. I had the same dream to embroider by machine, and spent nearly 3 years researching., The best site for reading machine reviews is http://www.patternreview.com, and make sure you read the replies to the reviews.

I bought a 3rd-hand Husquvarna Rose with embroidery module, learning to hoop, and soon realising its limits re modern computer connectivity. A beautiful machine, but obsolete for the 21st century.

Digitising my own designs became another area of interest, and about which I knew little and understood less, but I KNEW it was the way to go, for me at least.

After all my research, I determined that a single needle embroidery machine would be a total waste for me (you have to rethread for every colour change), so I shifted focus to the Janome MB4 or the 6 needle Brother series. By then, I had also began to realise that many, many embroideries have many, many colours, and there were issues to do with warranty for these SEMI-industrial machines, especially as I was now considering a small cottage-industry embroidery business.

In February this year (2010) I bought a 16 needle AMAYA XT as well as CreativeDRAWings4 digitising software.The Amaya XT sails along at 1200 stitches per minute, changes colours automatically, and after its first dealer service this month, is purring along very nicely indeed.

I couldn’t be happier with either purchase, and although I live on a small island without close-by help, the internet and the phone, combined with excellent dealers mean that I am slowly but surely overcoming my absolute fright at modern machine embroidery, and only this week have begun to draw free-hand designs for logos for clients who are coming to me via word of mouth only.

When you are considering your purchase, you may not know enough to make a quality selection, therefore, a cheap 2nd hand computer connectable embroidery machine may introduce you to the art, and give you real lessons on what to buy next time. You’ll discover that, like mobile phones and digital cameras, sewing and embroidery machines have plummetted in price, and now, at rock-bottom prices, are eqipped with more and more features, and your problem will be that you may not realise what all the featiures are, and what you may want but don’t know exists. Such things as frame size, machine speed, ease of bobbin access are 3 very salient points I never knew mattered until I read and read and read.

If you have access to a regional craft show where major manufacturers demonstrate their machines, all under the same roof, then do yourself a favour and give yourself 2 days to wander, watch, work the machines.

I whole-heartedly commend http://www.patternreview.com to you.

Kifcat.
References :
http://www.patternreview