Embroidery machine
 

Just purchased my first embroidery machine, I pick it up on thursday. Any advice, or extras that you recommend.

What did you get? I have a Janome 300E..Took a chance, and got lucky on Ebay, probably 5 years ago now..
Seller was a great help. Love it, once I learned a lot of tips from reading about thread breakage, and how to transfer design and so forth...

Read the manual. If they offer classes take them as they are a great bonus. Ask what thread they recommend and if none buy just a couple of spools of ones on sale like at Jo-Anns or your LQS. If you are just learning, make your samples all the same size (that is like blocks for a quilt) then you can put them together for a sampler quilt with your new hobby. Remember sometimes it takes a while to have the best results but just read things from here and go have fun. A pair of small scissors for trimming threads is really handy.

Read your manual before class, make notes of any questions you may have during class.
Enjoy your new machine. :)

Congratulations. For me the biggest extra that I bought have been a few hoops. Mine came with a small one and a large hoop and since then I've gotten a few more like the 8x8 quilters hoop, the endless hoop and a couple of others. I'm always checking out different stabilizers; there are so many. I have different threads and I'm lucky because my machine loves them all so far. You'll need a variety of different needles for different types of fabric. Emblibrary.com has a project section which is good to get an idea of different things you can do they also have a section called Kenny's corner and it has tutorials of threads, stabilizers, etc. I signed up for oregonpatch.com. They represent alot of different companies and I get emails every week with great sales and freebees. They are good to work with. Make sure you take what ever classes you can; it makes life so much easier when you find easier ways to do things and things you never knew you could do. Have fun and enjoy your new machine.

check out www.designsbysick.com. They have many freebies and sometimes run a special where you can get lifetime membership for half price. Emblibrary is a great source and has a bunch of tutorials which you will find very helpful also. Get stabilizers a cut away,and a wash away to start out. I found I really don't like the wash away that looks like plastic wrap,but maybe you can find a bunch of different samples and see. Have fun!

Try different brands of embroidery thread and when you find one your machine likes, bite the bullet & buy a whole set of colors. A set will be pricey but then you will have all those colors that you would never think to buy that will add dimension to your designs (shading etc.)
There are lots and lots and lots of different stablizers, both types and brands. Depending on what you are embroidering on, you may need only one or two types. I get mine from all stitch. The stablizer can make or break the success of your design. Here's a link to the all stitch page. If you scroll down there are several links to articles on stablizers
://www.allstitch.net/department/machine-embroidery-stabilizers-embroidery-backings-for-home-commercial-embroidery-machines-10000.cfm?killnav=1

Take all the classes that your dealer offers. different fabrics like terry cloth, Tshirts, sweatshirts and qulting cotton will all have slightly different techniques (types of needles, stablizers etc.) so if they don't cover this in class, ask your instructor for recommendations.

I just picked up an 8 year old, well cared for, Brother PC-8500D for a song...going to pick it up this week I hope! What did you get??

The 2 things I've purchased that were the most useful was an extra set of hoops in the sizes I use most and a thread stand (the website below shows the one I have).

http://www.sewvacdirect.com/the-10-s...FcZxQgodKGkAnQ

the new brother dreamweaver, the dual fit foot is amazing way better than a walking foot. The price difference from sewing to embroidery was only 2000 so it wasn't worth it to me to just get the sewing. I have been researching embroidery machines for sometime and while the quattro is the best embroidery machine to me out there, this machine is more suited to quilters needs with over 11 inches next to the foot. The guy said for what I wanted the dreamweaver was a better fit for me