Free Embroidery Designs

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.

I only have a 4-inch embroidery field, thanks!
does anyone know? C’mon!!

The Rose uses the HUS format *NOT* PES format but if you have editing software then you can convert from other formats such as PES. You will need to have hardware to save your designs to Viking cards (usually known as #1+ & Rose Viking Embroidery Card). You can find many sites that offer free designs such as Secrets of Embroidery, Viking site, Brother site, etc. If you don’t have the Viking card reader/writer, then you need another Reader/Writer so that you can write your designs to a Viking Card or a Magic Card that is designed for Viking Rose machines.

You can also use VIP formats as well as the HUS format but you still need to convert those designs to your embroidery card. Editing Software to check out is Embird.com and Buzz Tools as well as the Viking software.

There are many designs that fit in a 4×4 inch field available. In addition to downloading designs and outputting to the Rose Card, you can buy cards that the Rose Machine accepts. These you get at your Viking dealer, or from OESD and Amazing Designs. The cards are very expensive, about $100-$150 each. So, your best bet is to have Reader/Writer Hardware that saves designs to a Viking Rose #1+ Card. The Boxes that are available are Viking Card Reader/Writer Box, PES2 Reader/Writer, Amazing Designs or Magic Box Reader/Writer to name a few. Today’s boxes use USB ports. If you buy Embroidery Software, some higher end brands such as Viking require a Security device called a USB Dongle to run the software. if you lose the dongle, you lose your investment in the software. NO Dongle=Embroidery Program won’t run and the Manuafacturer won’t help you. So, never lose the dongle and if you buy used software, if there is no dongle, then you’ve lost your money. Embroidery software often costs over $1000. The Reader/Writer boxes cost about $300. Try Allbrands.com for Amazing Box.