miholmes

Hey there,

It's me again...asking for advice...AGAIN! :)

***rant on***
Anyway I was wondering if there were more cost effective alternatives to the Bernina Embroidery Software. I'm sorry but $1400 seems like highway robbery to me....for a piece of software...I mean I'm all for making a profit....but that price just seems ASTRONOMICAL to me.
***rant off***

Okay...that being said...is there another software I can use to create embroidery designs that isn't so expensive. Any input is appreciated.

I just get discouraged because there are things I would like to try out, and don't want to spend over $1000 on something I'm not sure I would use all the time.

quiltilicious

I use Adobe Creative Suite in my freelance work... and the upgrade to the newest release is close to 2000 dollars. For an UPGRADE.

I can see spending that kind of money on embroidery software if you were going into business, but for a hobby... I think it's steep, too.

We have to get the open source community psyched about embroidery and quilting :)

kathy

I got my Singer Futura machine and software for just under $500, it does a lot and you can see if you're interested enough to spend the big bucks, it connectes to your computer, and I really like mine.

Cuilteanna

Have you looked at Embird? It seems to be popular, though I've never used it myself.

Maride

I just buy my patterns already made, but I have a question. Have you gone to a dealer to try this software? I am not sure about other softwares out there, but many are not user friendly. I own a few Bernina products and have never being unhappy with any. They are expensive, but usually worth every penny. It would be a nice idea to give it a try and see for yourself that is not for you.

Candace

If I were you, I'd stick to using pre-made embroidery designs. Especially since you're new at this and your machine. If you need a specific design made, it may be worth it to pay someone to make the design for you. Also, understand these packages are great, but there's usually a steep learning curve involved. I'd say, take it slow and don't jump in and drown. ;>

MaryStoaks

I agree.

oldhag

Try this place: www.sandscomputing.com I use all of their products and love each and every one. SewArt is the one you might be interested in. It is a semi auto digitizing program that will get your feet wet and see if you want to do more. They have free trials of their software and the prices are very reasonable. The best news is that if they update the program you don't have to pay more for the update.

miholmes

Alrighty, well here's what I would like to try and do. I'm making a Raggedy Ann doll, and want to embroider the face.

I'm a techie person, and it would easy for me to go into publisher or even photoshop and whip up what I want. It's really just circle, triangle and a few lines for the eyelashes, brows, smile.

So basically if I found a pattern I liked I could have someone put this together for me?

I've seen a few of the collection of doll faces, and really just need this one, as I don't plan on going into doll making. Just doing this for a friend who just adopted. :)

LaurieE

I would say be careful about having someone make the design for you. My daughter took a design to a person who turned the design into a digitized embroidery design. He embroidered the design onto 2 bags and then refused to give my daughter the digitized design. There are other details to this story but, this is the bottom line to the story.

I can't guide you on software since I don't use that part of my machine. There are a lot of free embroidery designs on the web as well as to purchase. My favorite site is Embroidery Library.
http://www.emblibrary.com/