Free Embroidery Designs

I’ve heard of a few alternatives to embroidery stabilizer… dryer sheets, freezer paper, even "sewer cloth" that plumbers use. Any others?

i would recommend you join a few yahoo groups. they discuss things like this all the time. some of the alternatives work and work well, other work and can damage your machine. the people on the yahoo groups are full of so much useful knowledge and they allow us to learn from their mistakes.
here are just a few. if you want more either do a search in yahoo groups or contact me thru my profile and i’d be happy to help.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SiCKDesigns/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adesigninstitches/?yguid=102878935
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/affordableembroiderysuppliesfromdpauls/?yguid=102878935
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/News_For_Embroidery/?yguid=102878935

those should get you started. i also would like to share my favorite embroidery site with you. they give away 49 free designs a day and the memberships to their site are very reasonable and they run sales frequently.
http://www.designsbysick.com/amember/go.php?r=5647&i=l0">Designs by SiCK Embroidery Library

good luck and have fun. if you have any other questions please e-mail me thru my profile.

We ahve a small business and I want to personalize my kids’ shirts. What is a auitable model for this type of use?

You should look for a machine that has (at the very lease) a stitching (hoop) area of 5 x 7, or you will be limited to designs no larger than 4 x 4.

Also important is Internet connectivity. UBS port B is direct connection via a cable that comes with the machine and USB port A is a removable flash stick/drive. A is the most convenient, the PC needs to be near the embroidery machine to use the port B cable.

The less expensive machines use machine embroidery reader boxes and rewritable cards only – these are almost obsolete.

Bernina and Husqvarna are the most expensive and are proprietary when is comes to accessories (like additional UBS sticks).

Brother and Babylock are the same family of machines, the most user friendly and compatible with software, including the USB sticks.

Singer – has had an iffy reputation for several years.

They all are basically the same as far as functions. They get more expensive as the luxury features are added on.

You should be able to get an embroidery machine that has the larger stitching area and USB connectivity for around $1,000, or less.

You can buy new or a dealer may have a gently used one that has been traded up for one of the luxury models.

Do buy from a dealer for the support you may need.

Visit as many dealers as you can, watch the demos and then try the machines.

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

Don’t buy any software from a dealer until you have used the machine and are comfortable with what you can do with additional software – there are companies that have free trials that you can download and test.

For more discussions, you may want to sign up at:

annthegran.com or sewforum.com

Both have a lot of embroidery machine discussions – the sites are free.

It looks like a slot for something like a compact flash card. Does anyone know what type of card this is? I can’t imagine I’d have to buy "special" cards. I know I’ll need software to digitize/convert images in PES format. I’d imagine the software also knows how to format the card so it can be read by the embroidery machine.

First, you have to have a card reader for machine embroidery and then you buy the card for your machine that is compatible with the card reader.

You use Brother memory cards or cards made for Brother machines. Again – these have to be compatible with the reader box.

You get these items from an embroidery machine dealer – preferable on-line.

Walk-in dealers don’t always have the cards in all formats, or any at all and have to order what you need.

They are more expensive than at online dealers.

To take advantage of downloading from the Internet, you need a card reader and a rewritable memory card.

You can get Brother’s PED Basic with a card for about $100 – On-line.

This is one dealer that I have bought from. They have a graphic showing how the card reader works. Note the PC requirements. http://www.sewingsupplywarehouse.com/pedbasic.html

Another dealer that I have bought from – http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp01060-0165.html

Digitizing is a horse of another color. This is software that allows you to create your own designs or digitize pictures and clip art. It is fairly expensive around $1,000.

You can download a free trial of Embird Embroidery Software here – http://www.secretsof.com/content/1853?PHPSESSID=f1d6a79654e8e476eaffaf7784b652a6 It is a very popular software and what you are downloading is the Basic program. It doesn’t digitize, but it is the base component for this software.

As you learn and want to expand, you buy plug-ins that allow you to digitize, among other things.

Free designs to download (I have used many of them) – http://www.brother-usa.com/HomeSewing/GetCreative/free-designs.aspx

When you buy or download designs, make sure they are no larger than 4 x 4. That is the maximum stitching area for the 350.

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

jef is the format you need.

If you find a design you like, but does not come in .jef format, there is a free conversion program that you can download and use. Pulse Ambassador is the software.

Designs that you download from the Internet will be zipped and you have to unzip or extract before they can be used. Windows is the support system for machine embroidery software and neither Windows, nor Mac can read a zipped file.

Another caveat, is the hoop size which normally indicates the limitation of the design that can be embroidered.

Create a folder on your hard drive for the downloads. As you find designs that you like, save to the folder, then unzip and use the new file.

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 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.

what are good websites with free embroidery patterns?

Machine Embroidery:
http://www.annthegran.com/FreeDesignsAgreement.aspx
http://www.brother-usa.com/Homesewing/DesignStudio/Projects/Designs.aspx
http://www.embroiderydesigns.com/free_embroidery_machine_design.aspx

Hand Embroidery:
http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=free+hand+embroidery+designs&v_t=tb50-ie-aol-newtab-en-us

I have a Janome 6600P can someone please help as to how I download the designs.
Thank you.,
Sorry everyone I should have said that I have a Janome 350E embroidery machine as well as 6600P.
I shall just put it down as a "Senior Moment"
Thanks
Marie

I cannot find any information on the 6600P being an embroidery machine.

A computer’s operating system does not recognize embroidery machine formats.

You can save the download to a folder, but cannot open it without machine embroidery software.

If you want to see the design, you can download this free software http://www.pulsemicro.com/ambassadordownload

It is not what you need, but at least you can view the design.

Embroidery machines use (1) a direct cable hook-up to the computer, that comes with the machine, or (2) a flash drive, or (3) a memory card, or (4) a cd.

Which of the above methods does your machine use?

Only # 3 requires additional software – a machine embroidery reader/writer unit and card compatible with your machine.

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