Before you buy, there is a free software for digitizing --
http://sophiesew.com/SS2/the-software/ and
http://www.thredworks.com/index.php Sophiesew.com also has video tutorials you can download to your computer- http://sophiesew.com/SS2/portfolio/s...n-1-tutorials/
I have a friend who has taught herself with this one. I have PE Design, so I cannot speak for the free ones...but it might be worth a trial run.