Is it too much to ask? make my own embroidery design w/o spending thousands!!

[sewjayded]

I'm (sort of) on the hunt for a new (to me) machine.  I'd LOVE to get a machine that does embroidery, but it's not that useful to me if I can't use my own design.  I don't want to spend HUNDREDS more to buy cards with designs I don't want/need or to buy the "magic box" and software.  The Singer Futura machines are a GREAT concept, use your own computer to do the designs and embroider.  But Singer wouldn't be my first choice and the machines seem to have mixed reviews.  Are there any other brands/models that use this same concept that aren't THOUSANDS of dollars?

[Henn_Stitching]

You can find machines for less than 1000's of dollars that don't need special boxes or cards - the Janome 300/350E comes to mind though I don't know if that's the current Janome model. The key here for you to do your own designs from your own art is actually the software, not the machine. Some software aimed at the commercial market costs in the 10,000's! Recently a software called Stitch Era Universal became available for free (you pay shipping/handling) that you might want to investigate. I have no personal experience with this software so you might want to look for a user group before jumping into it. Justine

[sewjayded]

Thanks for your input.  It's a big WANT rather than a need and I'm having trouble justifying it.  I've looked at a couple of used machines, but if they don't already have the card writer they don't seem worth the price.  *sigh* Someday.

[Henn_Stitching]

The Janome's don't use a card reader, they use a small size compact flash card - like the throw away size ones that are sometimes included with camera's. You would also need a PCMCIA card. Both items should be available on eBay for cheap. Once the card is formatted in the embroidery machine, you just drag and drop embroidery designs into the folder on the card. If you find someone selling a used Janome, they should already have the card and adaptor. HTH Justine

[sewjayded]

Oh, thank you, that is very helpful information!  I'll keep a look out for Janomes.  There are so many brands and models and most aren't sold at the same dealer, so it's hard to know who has what.   Mind boggling!

[kitschicat]

I just want to add, I got a Janome Memory Craft 9500 this week and learned that it will not handle higher capacity compact flash cards. I am using a 32MB and that's about the largest I would attempt to use, because the machine has limited memory capacity on its own, and will have difficulty reading a larger capacity card. Additionally, it apparently will only handle 100 files per card, regardless of those file sizes. I tried using a 512MB card and it made my machine go a little koo-koo. So when it comes time to buy a CF card, it should be pretty cheap to do, because the smaller capacity ones are older and generally less desirable. Except for those of us with Janome machines! 

Additionally, if you decide to order online, I got a great price, free shipping, and great service so far from http://www.mrvacmrssew.com and they have a very good Google seller rating, so clearly, I'm not the only satisfied customer out there.

[kaledrina]

I recommend Janome also. I bought the "Heart Truth" model a few years ago and have not been disappointed at all. You really want something sturdy that will last through the various tortures you're considering putting it through. It's somewhat hard to lug around because it is so heavy, but I know that it won't break nearly as easily with all the metal parts.

It's also really customizable, although in reality all you need is a straight stitch, zig-zag stitch, and some form of button-hole stitch. Everything else is excess that I assure you that you will never use more than 3 times. I have 50 stitches and only use about 5 ever.

On the other hand, it isn't specifically for embroidery, but it does feature a handful of fancy embroidery stitches. There isn't a memory card or any sort of overly fancy stuff but it's perfect for me. It has a needle-placement memory (if you have the needle stop down, it will do that until you change it to stop up), and a speed setting button. That part saves me every time I start a project. Nothing beats hitting the pedal too far and zooming across all the wrong bits.

It's also really easy to drop the feed dogs and switch out the needle. Personally, I'd rather have a sewing machine I can use for a variety of projects, than have 3 or 4 machines that get rusty by the time I pull them out.

It's a very personal thing. The best thing to do is find a local sewing machine shop and bug the heck out of the salespeople there. Try everything. Play with everything. Ask questions. Most of all though, keep in mind which brands you'd want to buy and which you want to avoid. That way you'll save yourself from buying Mystery Brand X on good faith alone, only to find out that it spontaneously combusts at random intervals.

[miezimau]

I have a Singer Futura CE-250 and I love it. Nothing wrong with the Machine at all. I also have the StitchEra Software and it is something you have to invest a lot of time into. You cannot download the Software and start Digitizing right away. It is not one of those import design click and you have a Embroidery File. It takes a lot of learning and trail and error to Digitize a design.

Good Luck with whatever you decide (oh there are also some Yahoo groups on both the Singer Futura and the Stitch Era Universal to help you out with questions and answers)

[Yarn or Fabric]

Brothers also take thumb drives - which is a ton nicer to transfer your designs than a memory card which you'd need a reader and all to transfer designs...

You'd have to decide what you would want as far as hoop size and take it from there.  I recently got  a Brother 4500d and I love it.  Sure that machine and I have had our squabbles but I think every machine does from time to time  but overall I have been very happy with Brothers.

There are TONS of free or inexpensive designs out there.  There is also free digitizing software available if you want to design your own designs.

I personally would avoid Singer machines (of any type not just embroidery..) like they have the most infectious disease you can think of - they are just not made like they used to be and people generally are not happy with them and they have a very low resale value.

I started off with a Janome embroidery machine and now I have a Brother just because I wanted the larger hoop.  I like both machines and both stitch out beautifully.  I would recommend either one - just try to get one that takes a usb thumb for transferring designs.  It will make your life SOOOO much easier.

If you don't need a bigger stitch out area than a 5x7 you can get away with getting an embroidery only machine.  Trust me when I say that you will want to be able to do two things at once most of the times.  There are times when you have to baby sit a machine - like when you are doing shirts and whatnot - but other times it is rather boring to just stand there and look at it stitch out.  I'm glad I have two separate machines and do not find it to be beneficial to have both on one machine.  I dont' think I'll ever use the sewing feature of my 4500d.  It's embroidery only for me.

[sewnutzz]

I'm (sort of) on the hunt for a new (to me) machine.  I'd LOVE to get a machine that does embroidery, but it's not that useful to me if I can't use my own design.  I don't want to spend HUNDREDS more to buy cards with designs I don't want/need or to buy the "magic box" and software.  The Singer Futura machines are a GREAT concept, use your own computer to do the designs and embroider.  But Singer wouldn't be my first choice and the machines seem to have mixed reviews.  Are there any other brands/models that use this same concept that aren't THOUSANDS of dollars?

Do you want to digitize your own designs?  If so, you will need software, and it can be expensive and difficult to learn.  SophieSew is available free online, but I found it hard to use and abandoned it pretty quickly in favor of my old Origins (that cost $1200).  EmBird is another option, and is available as modules, so you only purchase what you need.  I would probably go with EmBird if/when I need new software.

As for the machine, try to get one that lets you transfer designs to the machine without hooking up to a computer (like my Pfaff 7570) or a card reader.  So look for one that uses a usb thumb drive.

You also will want to consider the size of the embroidery you want to be able to stitch out and find a machine that can hoop up to that size or beyond.  Mine does a 5 by 6 which is adequate for most things without splitting the design, but I would really like a somewhat bigger design area for bigger projects.

Look also at dedicated embroidery machines...I think Brother makes them.  Not necessarily the multi-needle ones, but ones that do not double as a regular sewing machine.  They can be less expensive than the dual machines.

GL