embroidery machine is here need advice
 

my new and first embroideryt machine arrived a few days go. its the project runway limited edition brother LB-6800.

when i first started playing with it i was very over whelmed.. took me hours to figure stuff out. on day one i got it to embroider a 3 line label for me. i was super excited. day two i was winding bobbins as i was sewing on my other machine. again i was super excited. now on day three i am sewing. i am having trouble getting use to it. mainly the size. i normally sew on a elna 6200. this new machine looks like a toy next to it. but i must say this little machine as lot of features i am not use to. i feel very spoiled. my husband thinks i am crazy when i get excited everytime i find a new feature. now if i buy a new sewing machine it will have to have the same features.

now for the reason i started this post i was wondering if anyone could tell me a good site to by embroidery thread thats not over priced for a set of like 60+ and also i good place to get embroidery patterns to down load or buy cards.

thank you in advance

I like threadart.com for thread and SewingMachinesplus.com. A friend of mine ordered Brother embroidery thread through Ebay and she is very happy with it.
For designs I like the Embroiderylibrary.com and embroideres.com.

There are so many sites out there - have fun looking.

I like threadart.com for embroidery thread. I have purchased embroidery patterns from etsy sellers and embroidery library.

Have fun with your machine.

I too like thread art embroidery threads. When Joann has thread sales I buy thread there too, but mostly buy from thread art. My favorite site for designs is embroidery library. I also search out free designs from the internet too.
Enjoy your new machine.

I would suggest to not buy thread assortments. I made that mistake years ago and i have many spools that have never been used. That does not save money. Buy thread for specific projects, in my humble experience. Buy extra black. I use it often.

Have fun learning your machine!

Sandy

And now for the opposing point of view. I got a thread assortment when I got my machine many years ago. I think it was a good decision. I like to do embroideries with subtle shading and many colors. If I were buying thread by the spool, I'd have all pretty colors, but none of that weird taupe that I need to get my design to pop.
If you are planning on doing simple labels, or kids' designs with large blocks of primary colors, then an assortment may not be the best.
I would purchase a single spool of thread that you are considering for your set and make sure that your machine likes it. I have successfully used Thread Art in the past, but it won't work on my girlfriend's machine. Sometimes they have minds of their own!

My embroidery machine does not like ALL of the brands. Buy a couple of spools and try them first would be my suggestion.

Check out Metro embroidery thread http://metroemb.com. They are reasonable priced which is something I appreciated as a beginner machine embroiderer. The few items I embroidered look great.

If you're looking for embroidery designs try OregonPatchworks.com they have some great prices at times. Be fussy what you buy, or you will end up with thousands of designs you never use, and make sure they are the correct size for your hoop.

I also bought a thread assortment when I bought my machine, and feel it is the single most valued thing I did. I don't have to "make due" for a color on a project I am working on. I have all the colors I will ever need....and buying in assortment saves money VS buying what you need when you need it. Thread is very expensive. Assortment prices make thread affordable, in my opinion.

Before you buy an entire set of threads, try one or two spools of the brand and see if you like them. Some machines are picky, and we all have our own preferences for style. For example, I got an entire set of metro threads, and I can't stand them! Many others love them. I personally prefer a more matte appearance so I love Isacord. Others like shiny, and prefer Floriani. It also makes a difference how fast your machine is. I have a pro multi-needle that I routinely run at 850 spm so I need a strong thread that can handle the stress. If you run at 300-500, you can use a weaker thread.

thank you for all advice i will have to check everything out thank you

My friend and I ordered a large assortment of thread from Metro and have been thrilled with it. I have a Bernina Artista 630E. Friend has a Janome.

Thread is not cheap. Keep your eyes open for sales. If you buy online, check to see if the shipping is cheaper if you buy more than one spool of thread. Some sites will charge the same shipping no matter how many spools you buy, or free shipping. Because there aren't any shops around that I can go and see the threads and colors, I buy a thread charts that have actual little patches of thread so that you can see the real color. They are not cheap... maybe $15. So if you find a brand that you like, it is worthwhile purchase in the long run.

When starting out, decide if you want to use polyester or rayon thread. Poylester will not fade if bleached, while rayon can. Some of the rayons stand up better to bleach nowadays. Some like rayons because of the lucious colors. But now some brands of the poly threads are looking as lucious as the rayons! You can use both types in the same design witihout a problem. As others have said, just buy a spool of a brand to see how it works on your machine. When you find a brand that you are happy with, get a set of it. Some thread collections are only 500 yds and therefor cheaper. A one hundred spool set will probably meet your needs. Sounds like a lot, but once you start stitching, you'll need a color palette to choose from. Use the color chart to see which colors you would like to add to your collection. The more thread that is on the spool, the cheaper the per yard cost is lower. You might think that you'll never use 1000yds of a thread, but when you find yourself using a particular color...like a Christmas red that I use tons of...buy a bigger spool of it.

When you buy bobbin thread, buy a 10,000yd spool. Yes, I didn't think I'd use that much either, but it'll last a long time. I use only white and black unless the backside is going to show. Then I put embroidery thread in the bobbin too. Some people use serger thread in the bobbin. It is very linty, but will do if you run out of bobbin thread. Just make sure you clean the bobbin area out frequently.

Metallic threads are notorious for being finicky, but you gotta love them. King Star is the only brand that I've found to be trouble free on my machine.

A lot of people don't like Sulky threads, but my machine and I love them. You can buy them in small amounts at your local Joann's store. They are starting to carry larger size spools, but sometimes I just need one particular color and it is convenient to go to Joann's. I watch for their sales, or use coupons to buy threads there.

http://www.allstitch.net/department/...mber-10075.cfm for Maderia rayon&poly
http://www.allthreads.com/colorcard.aspx for Robinson Anton threads, sample of color chart rayon&poly
http://www.isacordthread.com/categor...ery_Thread/c88 poly only
http://www.embstore.com/p-1561-kings...ter-cones.aspx for metallic threads
http://www.uncommonthread.com/Sulky-...Rayon-s/42.htm can be purchased at Joann's

I buy mostly from ebay. I have the same embroidery machine and the Brother thread assortment works with it. I also buy the cards from ebay.

I bought a ton of Metro and it's constantly shredding and breaking. Does not work well for me.

Marathon thread also has some good prices. Google it and go to their site. Have never had a problem with their thread. They have both polyester and rayon

I bought a nice thread assortment at Amazon. It works great and I usually have colors I need to do a project.

I have many..many..designs..which I have mostly got for free..I put them on a memory stick..then switch them to the blank card as I use them.just surf the net before u buy..because unless u plan to use a design over and over...why spend the money..save it for thread..😁

Check NancysNotions.com. She has specials on Madeira thread quite often...rayon and polyester. I don't try to match thread numbers with embroidery patterns, I get the closest color or sometimes even change it. It is your artwork. I get a lot of designs from embroidery library too. Very reasonable. I like the Amazing designs, but expensive.

I have an assortment from Metro Thread, polyester is what I use. I have a 10 needle, single needle, serger and various sewing machines. Works well in all of them. Those of you that have shredding problems you may need to clean out between the tension disks and in the bobbin area. Lots of dust can collect very quickly. Also make sure your tension is set properly.

All the guild members who embroider on their machines use Aurifil 50wt in top and a thinner thread in the bobbin. They have a separate group that meets just for embroidery and I go every now and then to see all the different machines they use and their results. They may come with different thread but get converted to Aurifil in no time. That's all I know about embroidery thread.

I have tried several different brands of thread and have had the best results with Madeira rayon threads. Also, It is the thread called for by Embroidery Library (emblibrary.com). I have been buying my thread online from allstitch.net. I buy the 1100 yd mini snap cones for $3.45 (price as of about a month ago). I've been choosing 10-20 colors at a time to place an order. Their shipping is reasonable.

I agree. Love the Metro thread. I bought the 64 thread set at a very reasonable price and have all of the colors I will need for a very long time.

you can add me to the list of those who love threadart.com and metroemb.com for thread and emblibrary.com for designs. Metroemb is on sale right now for $0.89 per 1000 meter cone which is a great deal.

I find that ebay usually has a lot of different brands and assortments. I have been buying there for years. Another place that has reasonable assortments is designsbysick.com. Good luck.

I started out with Sulky rayon as it is included with Viking products but wanted to use polyneon as most of what I was doing was to be washed and so I began using Madeira Poly and love it and now I also use Metro poly and am happy with that. I mix the threads according to what colors are available. I also change colors to suit me--don't always follow what the digitizer suggests. Secrets of Embroidery also carries designs from many digitizers.

Will the shop where you purchased give you free lessons to learn your new embroidery machine?

I (also) use metro thread. You can't beat their pricing. They had their 1000mm mini spools on sell $.89. That's right, 89 pennies. Might check them out, but people are right, my machine doesn't like some threads, but always runs when I
use Metro. If you are still confused about your machine, take a class or two. Most places have free intro classes when you
buy the machine. As for designs, try goggling free embroidery designs, you'll find hundreds. Hope this helps.

Other things I'd suggest:
Thread - I've been using Glide thread because it's what I have here. I have a few spools of Marathon but find it twists a lot, even on a thread spool placed away from the machine - it's only 2 of the 4 spools I have which is also weird. Both brands require the odd tension change to change between each other but that just goes with the territory if you want to be able to run whatever you want.

If you do want to buy some embroidery designs, see if the company you want to buy from has some free designs and stitch out one or two of them first to see if you like the quality the company puts out. One thing that I watch for is unnecessary thread jumps and thread changes. If I have to re-thread 6 times with the same color in a design, it's maybe not been set up the best. I've stitched out a few of the designs from designsbysick.com (They have random free designs hourly and daily. They also have a "membership" option I'm considering - It's thousands of designs available to you all the time rather than having to hunt everywhere. I wish UrbanThreads would do the same. I love their stuff but don't have the budget at the moment.) and have had no trouble with them. I think it was a design on the Cd that came with my machine that wanted black and white 4 separate times each in the same design. That gets tedious after 30 seconds of stitching then a request to change threads. ;) The other thing to watch for is good coverage - not too few or too many stitches to fill a particular area.

I also find I get nicer results if I cut the jump stitches before the machine can satin stitch over top of it and tie it into the design.

I purchased two assortments when I got my Ellegante. I am glad I did. I can always find a color I want to use. I agree that having extra black is a good idea. The only issue I ever have is with metallic type threads and that can usually be conquered with a metallic needle. The price on my assortments from eBay was affordable. I could never have the selection I have on hand if I purchased a spool at a time.

I ordered the Brother thread through Amazon. I didn't think the price was bad compared to other places.