Does anyone have an inexpensive embroidery machine???

[ohiomom1121]

Since I've had kids I've become obsessed with monogrammed and personalized items for them! I am planning on buying a sewing machine (haven't sewn in a while, but think I can pick it back up pretty easily). BUT, I've seen some embroidery machines that are around $400 and was wondering what people think of them? Are they easy to learn on your own? Is a 4x4 area large enough for most projects? Am I better off saving money to buy a better machine? HELP!!! Any advice would be appreciated!!!

[tarabenet]

Most of the $400 embroidery machines will be about the same, as most will be made by the same company, just with different branding and made to slightly different standards. And they should be fine. I'd suggest you go to your local Brother dealer. Most of the stand-alone embroidery machines are made by Brother, but if you buy through a dealer you will have much better support and education available. Brother quality is generally good. Skip the ones from White, Singer, and any company you haven't heard of. But unless you have specific large-format projects in mind or plan to sell embroidered goods, don't bother with saving for a more expensive machine. do look around, as different machines have different built-in collections. You can always buy designs, but it is nice to have some you like right from the beginning.

4X4 is not a bad work space at all, plus you can always combine designs with re-hooping and create something much larger if you want to.

Embroidery is very easy to learn on your own -- basically, thread the machine and push go. When it stops, thread the next color and push go. But the magic to making your project look good is in the stabilizer you use. There are a whole bunch of different types, but most people need only 2-4 of them. Tell me more about what you think you want to personalize, and I can point you toward what you need! Personally, I use only OESD stabilizers and threads. There is a huge quality difference between those and Sulky, but you might not even care. OESD is available on-line or at Bernina dealers, because it is a Bernina company now.

Have to go. Connection is acting up. Feel free to ask more!

ETA: I worked in my friend's sewing store for several years. I'm partial to Bernina, but I don't think it is what you need at all.

[lizajane]

ditto on brother, but NOT singer. singer machines are not good anymore. don't waste your money. also, buy one from a STORE so you can have customer service. if you buy one off ebay and can't figure out how to use it, the store isn't going to help you unless you pay for a class. most sewing machine stores have classes for free to teach you how to use the machine you just bought.

i have a janome that was $999. i use the heck out of it. way more than i should, and it does cause issues sometimes that i use it too much. also, it will not do things like purses that aren't one flat piece and aren't stretchy enough to move the "back" out of the way, like a tee shirt.

if you just want to monogram tee shirts, polos, hand towels, etc you will be totally fine with 4x4. but you will not be able to do bathtowels, beach towels, etc. i often wish i had larger than a 5x7. but i use the 4x4 WAY more than the 5x7- so much that i got an extra hoop so i could load one project while the other is running.

[ohiomom1121]

Thanks so much for the advice...I'm feeling a little more confident about pulling the trigger on one. What do you ladies think about this one?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001AQER4I/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
I think you're right about finding a local dealer who sells it. I'll have to research that. I would love to take classes just to get myself started. I am basically looking to monogram the kiddos shirts, maybe some hand towels, stuff like that. Would I not be able to do anything on beach towels because of the 4x4 size, or because of the strength of the machine? My kids have a couple of monogrammed bath/beach wraps that I love. Thanks again for the words of wisdom. I've been debating this for months. I was also looking at a sewing machine at Costco but it's a Singer (Martha Stewart endorsed I think) but sounds like Brother is the better way to go.

[MamaKath]

A store that specializes in quilting will also be able to help you figure out what would meet your needs. Hancock Fabrics often has good ones also and people experienced with using them.

I looked awhile back at commercial quality ones that do all kinds of fabrics and sizes. Ended up not getting one, cost was in the range of $12,000. Makes $400 look like a cheap investment. ;)

[swrc00]

Ditto to the not purchasing of a Singer product. I have a Quantum Futura 200 embroidery machine. It was about $1000 when it first came on the market. Their customer service stinks. They replaced my machine a month after I purchased it because it stopped working. It is currently not working again and the cost to repair is worth more than its value. Even for a $1000 model I quickly outgrew its capabilities. The machine couldn't handle the size or detail of designs I wanted to do. I highly recommend Brother. My sister runs an Embroidery business and only uses Brother. Whatever you choose make sure you have a local business that can help you learn the ropes and do repairs. Good Luck!

[ohiomom1121]

SO, I got my machine (Brother SE-350) and am loving the sewing part so far. I haven't ventured into the embroidery yet. The machine comes with 4 alphabets and some other designs. I'm looking at getting some more fonts and came across the PE Basic for downloading designs. It sounds pretty good, but when reading reviews people say you can't do any editing with it. So, if I downloaded an alphabet I can't use it to embroider a name or monogram...is that correct? I also saw some editing software recommended (Embird?)...would I be able to download and then edit with something like this? I am hoping someone can help me make sense out of all this before I purchase. Thanks in advance. I really appreciate all the help!

[lizajane]

SO, I got my machine (Brother SE-350) and am loving the sewing part so far. I haven't ventured into the embroidery yet. The machine comes with 4 alphabets and some other designs. I'm looking at getting some more fonts and came across the PE Basic for downloading designs. It sounds pretty good, but when reading reviews people say you can't do any editing with it. So, if I downloaded an alphabet I can't use it to embroider a name or monogram...is that correct? I also saw some editing software recommended (Embird?)...would I be able to download and then edit with something like this? I am hoping someone can help me make sense out of all this before I purchase. Thanks in advance. I really appreciate all the help!

my seamstress/friend uses embird and likes it. she gets tips from message boards for free. you can get designs off ebay and many, many websites. many have free designs, some that change the free ones monthly.

i would recommend software. i use mine a LOT. (i have the janome software that MIL got for me with my machine.)

key to embroidery: use the right stabilizer and make sure your fabric is "drum tight" in the hoop.