Own Your Own Embroidery Machine

Embroidery machines were once only used in factories for manufactured clothing, with elaborate embroidery still done by hand in homes until 1990, when Janome introduced the first home model of an embroidery machine, the Memory Craft 8000. It was a hit, and revolutionized craftwork for millions. Although the cost of an embroidery machine is steeper than a sewing machine, the complexity of the machine makes it well worth the investment.

Today there are dozens of manufacturers producing machines ranging from sewing/embroidery machine combinations for homes to light industrial machines for those who want to go into business producing crafts (www.happyemb.com has a nice selection for small businesses) and embroidered clothing items primarily for sale locally or at arts and crafts festivals on up to huge industrial embroidery machines for factory use for giant corporations. Whatever your need, there is a size and style of embroidery machine to fit it.

Embroidery machines are so popular because they are so easy to use and because the quality of work they produce today is so superior. A mid-range embroidery machine can be programmed to execute thousands of complex patterns perfectly containing dozens of different colors and stitches with no mistakes, producing beautiful results every time. Most are pre-programmed with a few hundred design (monograms, borders) to begin with and you can then buy virtually limitless additional software to add to your embroidery machine.

At www.icanhelpsew.com, the Singer Quantum XL-6000, a top-of-the-line embroidery machine usually running nearly $6,000, is on sale for $2,999 and includes a CD of 3900 patterns. Or compare brands at www.epinions.com. One thing to keep in mind – if you are creative and want to do some of your own designs, look for an embroidery machine that allows you to use software you can download from your computer so that you can convert your own line drawings into embroidery patterns. Some don’t do this.

For those who simply want to embroider their own sewing creations and make gifts, an embroidery machine like the Brother CE-100 for $497.23 at Wal-Mart is a good combination machine, allowing both sewing and embroidery in one package.

What Kind of Embroidery Machine?

There are three kinds of machine to consider. If you get a combination sewing/embroidery machine, you will have the versatility to use it for both purposes, but you do have to switch from one function to the other, so if you plan on doing both a lot you may want to spend the extra money for two separate machines.

An embroidery-only machine can be expensive, but if you do a lot of it and programming or pattern uploads are important to you, visit www.Allbrands.com and look at machines by White. These are considered some of the best by dedicated users for their exceptional quality and fine stitching. The White Viking 3300 is $599.99, a great holiday gift idea for your favorite sewist!

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Embroidery is a fun hobby. There are tons of people doing it all over the world. We've dug up the most important articles that we could have written for you and present them here for your embroidery hobby viewing.

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