Free Embroidery Designs

I would like to start doing needlework projects but am not sure where to start.
I am thinking about asking for some for Christmas is why! I used to do a needlepoint but I forget what it was, the fabric was the same colors as the yarn.

Alice and I started out the same, with stamped cross stitch. From there, I learned other embroidery stitches, did crewel as well as thread embroidery, and needlepoint. I can do counted cross stitch, but another that I choose not to do.
My mother latched rugs, that was as close as I cared to get to that. Just was not for me.
I sew, I bead on material, I make jewelry.

I would recommend stamped cross stitch, it is easy to learn, and as you can see, can lead to other kinds of stitching. And it is generally inexpensive to learn and do. I have some pillow cases in the works right now, they and the thread cost me way less than $10, I had the needles and hoops.

Lots of sites online, Michael’s and Hobby Lobby both sell it in kits, and some individual pieces like baby bibs. My local quilt shop sells lots of cotton with designs for embroidery stamped on it, some are copies of antique designs.

And from there, you can make quilt blocks and quilts, make gingham aprons with cross stitch designs, learn to embellish clothes and accessories, learn to bead fabric [it is easy].

I have a stitching book, I think it is from Reader’s Digest, that my Mom bought me, I have learned several stitches out of it. Visit your local library and book store to see what you might be interested in. And of course, ask for the book for Xmas, too!

I would say that I am an advanced sewer, however I have never done any embroidery on a sewing machine. I just got laid off this past June from my marketing job and have enjoyed just bouncing around not doing anything, however, I am now looking for a new creative job, something I could do with the skills I have an sell –perhaps on line, and the personalization of products seems really interesting. Your opinion would be gratefully received. TKS

Brother or Babylock are the most user friendly brands.

I have both and would buy none other.

Bernina for example makes a wonderful product, but they are very expensive and proprietary when it comes to software and accessories.

The other brands – I read too many problems – may be the machine and it may be the operator.

Stand alone models are less expensive than the combos.

Hoop size indicates how large a design you can stitch out without the aid of editing software. You want nothing smaller than 5 x7.

Connectivity. There will be designs and fonts already built into the embroidery machine. However, there are thousand on the Internet to download – some are free and some you will have to purchase.

To get those downloads to the embroidery machine you need an embroidery machine with USB ports for direct connect to the PC or to use a flash drive.

Supplies – medium weight cut away and medium weight tear away stabilizer.

Thread – rayon or polyester machine embroidery thread and machine embroidery bobbin thread.

Embroidery machine needles – a small supply comes with the machines.

You can get started for around $1,000. The models with the smaller hoop that uses a memory card is less money and with supplies about $700.

There is a series of books by Jeannine Twigg that are helpful when learning to use the embroidery machine. I started with this one – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873419995/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=087349847X&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13BBF9W6FA3WQB253K4T

Supplies, you can purchase when on sale.

Allbrands, Allstitch & ShoppersRule are a few of many, many sites that sell machine embroidery supplies.

http://www.allbrands.com

http://allstitchembroiderysupplies.com/

http://www.shoppersrule.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=sr

Now that you are "loaded" with info – hit the sewing machine stores and let them show you what they have to offer.

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

My intention is to be able to embroider golf towels for memorial golf tournaments each year and possibly do shirts down the road if I find that it is not to difficult. Can someone please tell me if I am going in over my head here with even thinking about trying to do this? Please help me out here with some answers. Thank you…

Visit as many sewing machine dealers as you can and tell them your interests.

Machine embroidery is easy – the machine does all the work. All you need to do is follow the instructions and watch the results as the machine does it’s thing.

Ideally, you want an embroidery machine that has at least a 5×7 stitching area, USB direct connect or USB flash drive for sending designs to the machine that you have downloaded from the Internet to your PC.

Do not buy an embroidery machine that uses rewritable memory cards and card reader box only – they are becoming obsolete as they are not compatible with Vista 64.

Do not buy software from a dealer – you need to become comfortable with the machine first, and some software is less expensive online.

Embird is one that is very popular and can be downloaded as a free trial.

You will need to also purchase, embroidery thread, embroidery bobbin thread and stabilizer. A package of needles and small scissors will come with the machine.

See this site for tips and techniques for machine embroidery – http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=techniques

Forums that are helpful are http://www.sewforum.com and http://www.annthegran.com/

I am going to get a brother pe700II and I need to know what kind of things I need to get in addition to the machine. Do I need a speical backing when embroidering, etc. Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

You will need stabilizer and depending on what you are embroidering on, will depend on the thickness and they type you will need.
a good pair of embroidery scissors, machine embroidery thread (this is different than normal thread) embroidery bobbin thread (again different than regular thread)
that should get you started, although i would invest in some cheap fabric or felt to do test stitching on because you will always want to test stitch designs, especially if they are free.
Go through your closet and find old clothing you don’t want or need any more and do some testing on those, or go to good will to get some cheap stuff to use.

there are several forums and yahoo groups you can join.
and you don’t have to join a brother specific group because a lot of the stuff is the same for any machine.
I have two brother 8200’s and a Happy commercial machine.
this is a very addicting hobby!

I need the conversion chart for this embroidery thread. I have looked everywhere on the internet and there has got to be one somewhere.

I did a llot of looking

If you are not able to find what you are looking for with our free online thread conversion tool please feel free to try out the My Thread Box software which offers you different levels of accuracy in matching threads from over 70 different thread manufactures. Another option is a free download the thread converter pro for free which converts between 14 thread manufacturers. We also have many other embroidery software packages available from digitizing to lettering.
This site show a lot of manufactures but none with your brand.

http://needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=1707

This link has a lot of charts but you will have to click on the picture to find the one you need. When you get to the bottom of the first page look just below it to see more and that will continue until they have no more pages to go to

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&va=conversion+chart+for+thread+embroidery+thread

This may be the last of the conversions and I hop you can find it in there otherwise please enter threadRus into your search and see if this or the paper work wrapping you floss gives the name of the manufacturer.

I do wish I could have been of more help……..Sorry

Embroidery is proven to be one of the most enduring arts and crafts of all time. For centuries, this art form has long pervaded in many civilizations and has produced results that are truly worthy to own. Embroidery, whether traditional or contemporary, is in fact one of the most popular projects that found its way inside homes and has long been enjoyed by many individuals as a form of productive hobby. Embroidery is not cheap so to say. It requires equipments ranging from threads, needles and garments to sewing machines and digitizing software. However, if you really would like to make embroidery as your productive past time or perhaps a small business, you could actually cut back on its cost by simply having free embroidery designs.

One of the main advantages of using free embroidery designs can be credited to their cost-effectiveness. Unlike embroidery designs that are expensively sold in arts and crafts shops, free designs for embroidery projects, as their name suggests, can be acquired without imposing financial burden on your part. They also come in a wide variety of designs and styles, giving you more options to choose from. Hence, you could easily select the pattern or style that would ideally befit the embroidery project you intend to work on.

There are many ways through which you can acquire free embroidery patterns. The first and perhaps easiest thing to do is to surf the internet. Nowadays, many design websites that specialize in embroidery offer embroidery designs that can be downloaded for free. Such sites will provide you with countless embroidery designs for nearly every embroidery types such as crewel, counted-thread embroidery and hardanger embroidery, which you can print up as many as you wish. There are also embroidery enthusiasts who share their embroidery designs on their personal blogs as well as in public forums.

Aside from the internet, you can also find free embroidery designs from embroidery magazines and catalogs. Usually, these printed mediums publish monthly collections of embroidery designs contributed by readers and professional embroiders. These sources also provide free designs from well-known embroidery companies. However, since they are only released once a month, the designs are not updated frequently, contrary to online sources which add new designs everyday and sometimes by the hour.

If none of the free designs from the Internet or from magazines and catalogs do not tickle your fancy, you might want to consider creating your own embroidery patterns. You can do this by downloading free digitizing software from embroidery websites. One of the main benefits of using such software is that you could customize patterns based from your own preference and style from which you can create striking designs that are truly unique and high in quality. Of course, if you would be choosing this option, it is necessary that you have some knowledge about basic graphic commands in order for you to easily navigate and manipulate the software.

Basically, embroidery doesnt have to be costly especially in terms of design. You only have to be patient and creative when going through the process of design selection in order for you to land on the right pattern that would become the foundation of your embroidery project. Once you are able to secure the design appropriate for your garment or craft of choice, you can easily start stitching the best embroidery items that you can share to your family and friends.