I am thinking I might like to get an embroidery machine. Would like to hear from others who have them, if they like them and what in your thinking is the best one to consider and is it worth having? Thanks for any input from all of you.

I have a couple and I totally think that they are worth it. I am partial to the brother. There are several different models.

I recommend that you get as big an embroidery field as you can. The 4x4 doesn't give you much space. 5x7 minimum.

I do know some people that never took to it but me personally took to it and I spend almost as much time doing that as sewing and quilting.

I was at a sewing store yesterday,which I won't name.
I saw a large hoop, looked like a 16 x 16 or there abouts. lol
Anyway, I ask about the prices of the two machines in front of me. One was 6500.00 and the other was the newest Viking out and it was around 10,000.00, which the large hoop belong to. Not me! For that price I will buy an industrial machine and a cheaper sewing machine for 500.00. My embroidery machine was 4,000.00 and I don't think it is worth that much money, but again, I don't think any of the machines are worth that much money anyway. If you are not going to do embroidery as a business, I would find one for around 600. Brothers are user friendly.
Syl Just my opinion.

I have a Janome 350E and love it. I find it very user friendly, it does 4x4 and 5x7 sizes. It has 3 built in fonts as well as some designs. So long as a design is in the JEF format, my machine's 'language', it will work. It has a USB port that you use with your computer, flash drive or an external hard-drive, which is what I do. I began with a brother combo and quickly realized that I would prefer to have two machines instead of one. I also learned that I wanted a larger field, 5x7, than the 4x4 that I was limited to. I make Maxine dishtowels, everyone's favorite, personalize handmade items, even make my own quilt labels. For me, it was a great investment of a part-time nanny job that I worked to be able to buy my machine.

We just got a brother 2800d about 2 months ago...my DH has actually used it more than I have. I have sewn with it and enjoyed it, but still use my older Pfaff out of habit.

I'm glad we got the brother but with summer coming up it won't be used until it cools off more I'm sure.

If you have a friend with one, maybe you can play with theirs some first and see just how many projects you will be doing.

Remember, patterns can add up pretty fast and you generally can not do your own designs without mucho training and big bucks...how much time & money do you want to invest?

WOW!!!! I certainly didn't know they cost thousands. I am coming up on 75 years young. Don't know if I can justify spending that much on a machine this late in life. Have to give that a lot of thought.

I have 3 brother machines. I moved up with each machine. So buy as large an embroidery field machine as you can afford. My last one is a 4000D and It has the Big Micky Mouse The machine also does quilting. and stitches 1000 stitches a minute. I have had mine 4 yr. and I love it.
Busy Granny My DGF also has the same machine and she got hers a yr before mine she is 84. She does all kinds of thing with hers.

I would like to have an embroidery machine, but there is NO way I could possibly come up with the money to get one. So, I say God bless anyone that can afford one and enjoy it for me!

I bought a Janome Memory Craft 10001 on ebay for less than $800. It was a steal, but they CAN be found. Keep your eyes open and be patient. My seller had Janome spelled wrong and another error-don't remember what it was. I just had several saved searches with partial information to find just that kind of error. Then lurk until the bid time and bid at the last possible minute, and I do mean the VERY last possible minute, with the most you'd be happy to pay. You'll be surprised at how well that strategy works!

I have a Pfaff 2144 and absolutely love it for embrodiery. My Pfaff 7570 did great to for embrodiery. These are both a little older machines now but I am more than happy with them. I guess it depends on how heavy you want to get into embrodiering. I would check with your local Pfaff dealer and see if they have either of these for you to try - the price would be alot easier to justify.

Good luck,
Sherryl
Candlequilter

PS - the quilt in my avatar I did on my 2144

The large hoops on the newer embroidery machines are wonderful. I have a Bernina 630 and an 830, which is a joy to work on.

This is a small throw quilt I embroidered for our bed. The blocks are 10 inch squares, done in a single hooping. The pillows are also embroidered.

Awesome quilt there, cj!

Watching this thread. I also would like one.

Beautiful set up!

I have both Pfaff and Bernina that do embroidery, but I prefer my Bernina to do my embroidery. It just seems to run smoother.

Love my Bernina 200E upgraded to 730 and I also recently purchased the new 830. If you have a dealer near you that carries Bernina machines sometimes they have trade-ins. I know they one machine that only does embroidery.

mltquilt

Check out amazon. I got a notice this morning about a sale on Brother emb. machines. If I needed one, I think I would be getting one of these. Really good deal.

if I had to do it again I would buy one off craig's list but get it checked over to be sure how many hours are on it and to be sure its in good condition only because I don't use mine as much as I thought I would. I have a Janome 11000 and its fabulous but it was very expensive and now that my husband is out of work I regret spending the money

I have a Brother 4500D and love it. I do suggest you go to a dealer and try out different ones. I also do suggest you get the most you can afford, you won't be sorry.

robin

THAT is gorgeous!!

Absolutely breathtaking!!! Sure would like to be able to do something like that. I'm learning a lot. Hope I can afford what I would like. Thanks everyone for all the input.

I just bought a Janome 11000 at just above cost. I know they are coming out with a 12000, but I can do just fine with this one and save a bunch. It has a 4 hoops, one rather large one. Ebay does have some great buys.
Tommie

Remember what ever machine you get you will want some type of software in your computer so you can digitize or get designs off the internet, unless you only want to buy the cards.

Good luck on your search.

I absolutely love machine embroidery and encourage you to buy a machine. As for what machine??? You will hear many opinions. In all honesty, there are many quality embroidery/sewing machines available.

Do you have any sewing machine dealers in your community? I really think that is the place to go. A good dealer is invaluable. They will warranty/service your machine, offer you free user classes and just support you in all that you do.

They also have trade-ins available. If I had to do it over again I would really look at the trade-ins. I think you can get more machine for your money this way. Some sewers trade their machines in quite frequently because a new model is available and they think they need the latest and greatest. This means, there are many gently used machines available, and you can purchase them at a greatly reduced cost. The dealer will warranty the machine, and again, offer you free classes.

My advice to you is too check out the different brands and spend the time test driving them. Get a feel for the support you could expect from the dealer. Go to the websites of the different manufacturers to see their product lines. If you can, request brochures so you can compare features at your leisure at home before you go for test drives. You will be more informed that way, because it can be a bit overwhelming. Good luck in your search. Here are some websites.

http://www.husqvarnaviking.com

http://www.babylock.com/

http://www.babylock.com/

http://www.brother-usa.com/homesewing/

http://www.berninausa.com/

http://www.pfaffusa.com/

Thanks a lot...I read your post, checked it out, and my new embroidery machine will be here next week.... :lol:

which one did you get? my sister and i got the brother pe770 with the 5x7 hoop. it is so much fun. i have been playing with it so much. found a pattern for a marine emblem and made my boss a few for a going away gift and have made some for other people. i am starting to work on a double wedding ring for my mother (cheryl phillips way) and got some quilting patterns that i'm going to put in the center. the practice one i did turned out great! and there are so many quilting designs available if you want to get really fancy. your going to enjoy it so much

I have the new Brother 780D and I love it..It does 5 x 7 and you download patterns on USB sticks then in machine...Have not had a minutes trouble with it...

Brother LB6800 PRW...should be all kinds of good fun

I'm sure you can buy embroidery only machines for less than $4,000!! I plan to get one, a Brother, and its about Aus$1,200. Has the larger hoop, and does embroidery only. Has a USB and takes cards.

You could also try looking for a second hand machine, some are very good, the owner might only want to upgrade. Try it out first though!!