I personally started with doing everything by hand. Then transitioned to doing mostly everything by machine.
There are things easier to do by hand and things easier to do by machine. In both cases I still spend time with "jack the ripper" because I'm not happy with whatever didn't come out like I wanted it to.
In general doing it by machine is much quicker, but sometimes can be harder to correct mistakes.
And there is a learning curve with either one. So give them both a trial run and then whichever you feel most comfortable with, go for it.
Have fun!!!