Free Embroidery Designs

I’m completely new to monogramming and embroidery so forgive me if this is a dumb question. I have a Brother PE 770 and bought the PE basic design software. It seems I’m not able to layer or combine designs with that package so I downloaded a trial of embird. Does Embird basically do the same as the Monogram Wizard plus? I’ve been leaning towards MWP but I want to make sure that it has the capability to combine a monogram with an applique. Also, do you have to buy their alpha packs or can you buy single fonts from other sites to use? Any help or advice is appreciated!

I filmed a video on Buzztools software they offer a free 30-day trail on all software. This is my video on buzzwords. http://apexembdesigns.com/faq .

I want an embroidery machine. I just want it to monogram towels or things like that for cute gifts. I want one with some cute fonts on it. I have never done it before so it needs to be easy to work. I also cant spend over $400-$500 on it. Help!

The problem with picking up a Brother embroidery machine from WalMart is you can’t just take it out of the box and start embroidering.
It is really something you need lessons for. There is special thread, bobbin thread, and needles you need. You need to know how to hoop and what stabilizer to use and how to use it. I took one class in just stabilizers. Towels for example, need a special stabilizer on the top. It looks like a think plastic. It pushes downt the loops of the terrycloth so they don’t poke through the threads of your design.
Getting a used model at a sewing machine dealer would give you free lessons on how to operate your machine. And offer other lessons on how to embroider

My sewing machine has a lot of "built in stitches" besides monogram…I was wondering if I could use it for embroidery..
I hate to have to have a special machine for the little bit of embroidery that I would want to do…

So long as your sewing machine can do zigzag stitches, go in reverse and forward and you can set the machine with zero pressure on the pressure foot, you can make some pretty darned cool embroidery. Just so long as you’re not trying to make precise stitches, as you would need for monograms.

What you need: An embroidery hoop, practice cloth, lots of thread, paper to back the design. A rough idea of what you want to do, as well as a washable drawing medium such as a chalk pencil. This works especially well on smaller, more free-form designs.

How to do it: Set the stitch for zigzag, draw the design on cloth, back with paper, set in hoop. Place under presser foot, with no pressure on foot. Go back and forth over drawing, experimenting with stitch length and bobbin tension. Caveat: doing this free-hand will not produce the smooth, professional style embroidery. More of an artisan style.

These instructions came with my sewing machine and I’ve used them with varying degrees of success. If you’d like more info, please just e-mail me; I’d hate to type exact instructions if you’re not interested!

I want to learn how to monogram. What kind of machine do I need? I have heard you can just get a software to hook up with your sewing machine. Is that true? I don’t have a huge budget so a low cost solution would be great.

If you already have a sewing machine you can learn to do this, but it takes time to learn as most will be free motion (you guide the fabric as the needle goes up and down).

http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Machine+Embroidery/Howtos/Free-Motion+Embroidery+Basics.htm

Otherwise, you will need to spend at least $600 just to get started.

There are combo (sewing & embroidery) machines that can give you more for the money or you can buy an embroidery only machine.

The embroidery machines have a limited amount of designs, letters, numbers and punctuation already built in.

To add more you can download from the Internet. Some designs are free and some you have to pay for.

You add the designs by sending them to a folder on the hard drive of the computer, a cd or flash drive.

You then select the design you want to send to the embroidery machine and send it via a direct cable hook-up that comes with the embroidery machine.

If the machine does not have this option, you have to purchase a reader/writer unit specifically for an embroidery machine and a rewritable memory card for the specific format of the embroidery machines. These start at about $100 for Brother PED brand (on line) and go up.

The Brother sold at Walmart, plus the software you would be spending around $600 and then you have to have machine embroidery thread, bobbin thread and stabilizer for another $50 or so. The machine will come with extra needles and bobbin spools…which can be resupplied where sewing notions are sold.

This one is a good price – http://www.sewvacdirect.com/brother-se350-combo.html
It includes the reader software and the shipping is free.

Check with local sewing machine dealers. They may have a good price on an embroidery machine that the owner traded in on a more expensive model.

I would like to monogram more than anything else. Does one of these machines work better than another. I would like to stay under $1000. Do I need special software to get new fonts? It’s confusing as to what extra things you need to buy in order to get more designs. Can anyone help?

Here’s a lengthy reply to your question. It’s going to be long and detailed since I was doing the same research on machines myself a few months ago…here is what I’ve discovered….
I have a Brother PE-700 II, which is the same as the PE-700 except that it has a built in USB interface to download designs directly from the computer/internet. This little extra isn’t on the regular PE-700, but other than that I understand from Brother they are the same machine. I LOVE this machine & have been using mine almost daily for 3 months. Because the PE-700 II has the USB capability, I don’t have to buy additional hardware/software to add new designs such as monograms, and can now download (or buy) countless designs from the seemingly limitless supply available on the web. Even better, — it cost LESS with this nifty hsn-exclusive extra than the regular PE-700. It is a special configuration put together by Brother exclusively for HSN (hsn.com). I did a huge amount of research before purchase– even spoke to Brother on the phone a few times before purchasing it from HSN. The HSN cost is only 799.00, when they have it in stock — it’s usually offered with a flex pay option of 5x 159.00 monthly payments. Even better –this is less than the usual price for the regular PE-700 that doesn’t have the USB built in. It has a memory for downloading an additional 6 designs into it’s memory at a time, and designs can be stored in tne memory or on your computer for later use. Lastly — Brother’s customer service is very helpful and accessible so aside from HSN’s terrific 30-day no hassle return policy you have the Brother’s usual warranty coverage and customer support. The machine uses plastic class 15 bobbins –easily found, requires no oiling, keeps a record of stitches sewn for your "service count" before maintainance reminder for cleaning,accepts PES design cards, has ton’s of designs built in and 3 built in alphabets with some built in sizing capabilities (S.M.L) for the fonts, an additional larger monogram font built in, nice bright light, hard case, easy threading like a dream, adjustable tension, on-screen sizing/placement/design flip, rotate etc, design stitch totals, estimated stitching time for design,auto bobbin and upper thread cutting, adjustable thread color options, option of viewing measurements in inches or milimeters, helpful on-screen reminders, adjustable screen brightness, lanquage selection, thread tension setting, beeps for broken threads, built in on-screen animated help with directions, and the larger 5 (wide) x 7(high) stitching area. I use mine to monogram purses, and the availability of free and low priced fonts/designs on the internet is endless. It sews out my complex lace designs like a dream with perfect stitch tension…just remember to lower tension number & stitch speed when using metallic threads as you would do on any embroidery machine. I find most of my designs/monograms on the web (search under machine embroidery designs), and either download the many free samples or make a purchase. Save it into your computer’s "shared document" files with a folder name for east access, and then turn on the machine with the USB cable plugged into your computer’s usb port and copy or save the design to drive "k" which is the emb. machine’s active folder. The "k" drive only comes up on the computer when the embroidery machine’s usb cable is attached and machine is turned on.)The included directions that come with the machine are very, very simple. The machine will read the file and download it into it’s temp memory OR you can choose to save it for use later. Most downloaded designs are also resizable to some extent on the Brother PE-700 without needing additional software. HSN sells out of these (PE-700 II) fairly quickly, but is due to have more in stock very soon according to there craft/sewing host. If you’ll check their website after midnite late THIS Wednesday evening (when it’s actually 12:00 am eastern time Thursday morning)..they are supposed to be offering some sort of embroidery machine as the Today’s Special with a terrific special price. It may or may not be the Brother PE-700II. Their program guide can be found on the website at hsn.com ….then go to Program Guide on the top bar to see when "sewing or crafts" will be airing on television and the internet. If you see the name Darelene Cayhill or the show "It’s SewEasy", or Brother or Singer listed…there’s a good chance a Brother embroidery machine will also be featured. It can also be watched online. (Check hsn tv.) I never was into any kind of home shopping until I got this machine…but my neighborhood authorized Brother dealer/repair tells me it’s a peach of a deal with the built-in usb port and was such a sweetheart in telling me I could get it from HSN. com at a better price than he could offer — especially since the regular PE-700 has no built in USB port…He said these machines use the same parts as the Babylock version — just a lower priced brand name by the same maker. Anyway, I LOVE mine! And best of all — I really loved the special price, the extra’s, & the easy low monthly payments using my check card. Now I have hundreds of designs at my fingertips stored on my computer and cd’s. So yes — the PE-700 rocks — but is even better if you can get the PE-700 II with built in USB rather than having to pay more for USB converter hardware/software like PE-Design Box. Good luck! (P.S. I don’t know for sure when hsn.com will have more of the machine in –but I am told more ARE due in very soon, so keep checking the website with a search for the Brother Embroidery machines. It’s likely to be featured all day this Thursday or until it sells out again.They usually have several brands & models–the Singer Futura embroidery machine has had less positive customer reviews on hsn’s website — some difficulties reported with Singer’s software compatibilty with the new Windows version and requiring too many updates before being able to use.(I use XP with my Brother—no problems at all. The Brother PE-700 II has had nothing but stellar feedback on on HSN feedback pages as well as other websites such as embroidery web–rings. Personally, I was advised to select the Brother brand over the Singer because Singer’s are said to be more prone to tension problem issues, require more "singer-only" parts such as bobbins, etc, need for software updates and patches, are said to change county-of-origin contracted manufacturing sources more frequently- hence less uniform control in the manifacturing process, more complicated software issues, higher priced Singer specific parts, and is a less consumer-popular name as Brother. Because Brother also uses the same quality parts in the embroidery machines as are used in the higher end Babyloc brand name machines — component quality is not an issue.) I’m not against Singer products, but this is what I’ve personally learned after reading many websites, customer reviews on both brands, talking to the manufacturers technical support people, taking sewing/embroidery classes and attending embroidery conferences (my last embroidery machine was a Brother too) and most importanty, talking to other user’s and visiting several local authorized Singer and Brother repair shops for input prior to each purchase.) Once again –good luck and happy stitchin!

Embroidery Educator Diane Brown gives a video tutorial on using AnnTheGran’s Alphabet Xpress to add text to a design.

Duration : 0:1:15

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i am new to this whole embroidery machine thing so i dont know anything yet. i am looking to buy a machine so i can add designs to my own creations that i started for my kids. i want to monogram but also do those cute little designs for cheering, fairies and trucks and cars, things like applique. im not doing quilting and i already have a serger and a sewing machine. so this would be all it is used for. will make several items but dont want to buy a $1000 machine until i get into making my money back.

can you give me a run down on what i need to look for.
i dont like the cards that you have to buy for certain designs. i would like to find clip art or free designs online and send them to my machine through usb port or something. also handmade designs maybe that i can design myself. is there accessories i would add to do all these things or would a certain machine have it all.

also what about the thread. i would like it to have multicolor on one design but i think only the large industrial machines do that.

In order to get a machine that will transfers via an USB port, and create your own designs or even use clip art you will end up spending $1,000 or more.

The Brother PE II has the USB option. http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp15438-0068.html

To create your own designs is another heap of money.

You cannot just download clip art and sent it to the machine. It has to be digitized in a machine embroidery format.

To do this you have to purchase digitizing software. This can cost $300 and up.

Forget the cards, they are practically obsolete – almost every designer has the option to download directly from their site.

Embird is a popular software that many people use for digitizing. http://www.secretsof.com/content/1869

You start with Basic Embird, and then add plug-ins (digitizing it one) as you learn and want to expand your talents.

You can do just as well with the $500 dollar Brother at Walmart or Costco and use an reader/writer unit and rewritable memory card, which you can get for just over $100. http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp01060-0165.html With Embird, that is still around $1,000.

There are many free embroidery designs you can download from machine embroidery sites without digitizing your own. You would still need the USB or a reader/writer and card.

Thread – There are stops already in most designs and this is where you change colors – you can use any color you want.

Editing software (Embird Basic) can be used to add stops where you want them for color changes.

About the only thing the industrial or professional models can do is work faster, using multi needles and multi spools of thread – the design colors stitch out the same on the home version or or pro version.