If you are getting puckering you might need to add an extra piece of stabilizers under your hoop if you are using a pattern with a lot of stitches 10,000 or more. Look on your package it should till how many stitches. It better to have to much stabilizer then not enough. I learn that from a class I took NO More Puckering. Hope this helps you to.

I am interested in trying my hand at embroidery but since I don't know if I will enjoy it or not, I do not want to spend over $500 on a machine. I would also like a sewing embroidery combo machine as I am currently using my mom's old Kenmore from the 70s and it needs some work done. I would like something with a little larger hoop area than 4 x 4. I have found the Brother HE-240 that fits this bill. I have also found the Singer Futura 9960 but can't determine if this is a sewing embroidery combination. Does anyone know if it is or not? Any other suggestions?

Thank you for your input.

So glad I found this thread! I just bought a Babylock Destiny and only have a couple spools of embroidery thread. I want to get more so I can play with the embroidery feature. In my package deal for the machine I am getting a subscription to Anita Goodesign which means a lot of thread! Can anyone recommend a good but not so $$$? I have a feeling this is going to be a large investment... sigh.

I believe the HE-240 only has a 4x4 embroidery field and the Singer is not an embroidery combo machine. I don't know that you can get a combo machine that does 5x7 embroidery for your price range. I'm not saying there isn't one, just that I don't know of one. Brother has a new combo Simplicity machine, the SB8000, that does 5x7 embroidery but I don't know how much it costs.
I felt the same as you when I first wanted to try machine embroidery so for my first machine I bought the Janome MC200E. It has a 5.5x5.5 hoop, which is substantially larger than a 4x4. I found I can often stitch designs that are for a 5x7 hoop, you just have to look at what the actual dimensions of the design are. I loved that machine so much I now have 3 embroidery machines and am looking at buying another. Alas, 4 machines are just too many and the MC200E will probably be the one to go when it comes time to sell one.

Cari

Yes machine embroidery is an expensive hobby. I use Madeira thread simply because it was the least expensive thread that my dealer sells when I bought my first machine. I bought 30 small spools to get me started. Then I started looking on line for less expensive options. I found allstitch.net sells Madeira thread on 3 times larger spools(mini cones) for half the price so I started buying a few or 10 spools every couple of months along with almost all of my other embroidery supplies. You can find many thread sets on Ebay or Amazon for good deals, but you need to be sure your machine won't be fussy about the brand of thread before you make a huge investment.

Cari

The Brother E240 only has a 4x4 field, according to the specs. It does have an USB port, so you can import other designs. The Singer Futura 9960 has built in stitches. If you want to embroider you have to chose from the stitches that are there or you have to do it "freestyle" (cannot use embroidery files though). I have 2 Brother PE770's with a 5x7 field. These machines are embroidery only, but reasonably priced at under $600 on the internet. If you buy from a dealer, it might be the PE780, but one is a little more expensive. The Brother's are easy to use and I also have a separate sewing machine from them. The Singer Futura XL400 is a combination machine with a 10x6 field. ($600.oo on the internet). Just remember, that you don't get support when you buy online. You do have the same warranty on the machine as by the dealer. Another thing to consider is, that when you buy a combination one at a lower price point, you have to do a lot of homework. I love that idea that I have different machines for sewing and embroidery. Sometimes I have a very large embroidery file, that might take me an hour or so and this way I can keep on sewing at the same time. Hope I gave you some more fuel for thought and good luck with any machine you buy.

My babylock likes floriani, sulky, Madeira. It does not do well with the less expensive brands!

I purchased a Baby Lock Ellure for a bit less than $500 on ebay. It worked great. Then I bought an Ellure Plus for a $1,000 and sold the first one. They do a 5 x 7 inch field.

There is 5 1/5 years and 300 plus pages in this one thread. Yowza! Just do a "search" for your inquiries. Or Join a brand specific yahoo group. Which turns into amatuer digitizers wanting to sell their designs. Yawn.
sandy

I have a babylock Ellure Plus and Ellismo Gold. I am thinking of selling my Ellure Plus and buying the babylock Aventura.
Thanks
Kathy