I am interested in a embroidery machine.........Would appreciate your suggestions for model and etc. Also your experience if you own one............l What should I look for when making my selection...........
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I have a Brother INNOVIS'- 1500D. It came with lots of designs, one big and one smaller hoop, quilting foot, walking foot, etc. I really like it. I do quilting and embroidery on it. I am fortunate to have someone at the place I bought it that works on the machines, does maintenance etc.

I have a Pfaff machine and love it. I lived in Missouri and purchased the machine there and had unbelievable support from the shop owner and unlimited free classes. I since have moved to Texas and have no support for this brand in the area I moved to.
I would say that the most important thing is make sure you purchase from a shop that will be there for all your questions.

Just a general observation to start with - buy the biggest machine you can afford. If you start out with the capacity of only a 6 inch hoop, you will always want to embroider something larger. Most of the embroidery machines will also do sewing, which means you can construct the blocks for a quilt, sew garments or drapes, or whatever you want.
I've got a Brother Innovis 4000D which I have upgraded to a 4500D. I have 4 hoops, endless built-in embroidery designs, endless fancy stitches, it's really pretty amazing. The draw to the Brother brand is their contract with Disney. I have an entire section of Disney embroideries - the Princesses, Micky, Minnie, Pooh, the list goes on. Most people who have this machine absolutely love it!
The new Brother Quattro is unbelievable. The best thing is the ability to zero in on a specific spot to place your embroidery. You really need to see this demonstrated, because hooping correctly is hard.
All that being said, I have been wishing that Brother would offer the same size super large hoop that Pfaff has......but there isn't enough throat space to accommodate that size hoop on the Brother. Also on the plus side for Pfaff is an excellent software that is available to edit embroidery designs or create your own embroidery designs......but I believe their software is compatable with almost any brand of machine.

I agree with what CasaManana said. So many designs out since I bought my machine are to large for by 4 X 6 hoop and there are not larger hoops available for mine. The cheaper machines like mine (Singer Futura CE 200), do not have the same capabilities as the more expensive ones. If I was to do this all over again, I would have kept saving money until I could afford a better machine.

I would start with what is your budget for this machine and go from there. I paid less than 400 for mine but it only does a 4inch area, For now that is ok with me. I can download anything I want for free of the internet with the ped basic. It all centers on how much you can spend. I love my machine.

I love my Pfaff. It does everything I need.

My husband got me a Brother Innovis 2500 for Christmas & I love it. It has 3 hoops and does everything I want it to. He's the kind of person who does a lot of homework first before buying, and my daughter said he spent hours searching and talking to people.

I also love my Pfaff..does more than I will ever get done or realize it does

I saaw the demonstration of the Brothers 780D. I think this is what I want. I like the memory stick.......The 5x7" hoop was interesting too.........does anyone have information to share on this machine.

I have never used mine, some day.

I have 4 embroidery machines; a Brother PE-150, Bernina Deco 600 and 650 and a Brother Innovis 4000D. Some are limited in hoop size - can only use a 4x4 hoop or 4x4 and 5x7, etc., so you need to consider how limited you want to be in regards to hoop size. I have PED Basic software, which is very simple and allows you to download designs from your computer. All of my machines can use this software. The Innovis 4000D can take the PED Basic as well as a USB stick. The Innovis is a sewing/embroidery machine, the others are embroidery only. If and when I upgrade again, I will purchase a machine that does only embroidery. I will never sew on the Innovis, I use it exclusively for embroidering and I embroider a LOT. I have more than one sewing machine so didn't need that feature, but I paid for it and these machines are expensive so really think about whether you want an embroidery only machine, or a combination machine.

I just bought a janome 11000 with professional kit. Its very easy to use. I got a digitizer jr and a cd with 1100 designs which is a canadian designer but retails for 499.00 us go figure.
I got so many hoops with mine. A free arm for doing bottom of pants and a sqare which the sales lady said this brand has the only one. I don`t know if this is right but great for quilting squares. Also 2 hoops that use magnets to hold.
Gale

I think your most important considerations should be ...what do YOU want to do with it??? Then buy the machine that meets those needs.

Who is the Canadian designer? Do the magnests not mess up your computer board in your machine. :)

I had a Janome 10001 and loved it! Very reliable. If your budget allows though, check into the Brother Quattro or Babylock Ellisimo. They are basically the same machine, the Brother offers Disney designs and the Babylock has Nancy Zeiman designs. I have the Ellisimo and absolutely love it!

It really depends on your budget and how much you will use it. I bought a brother at walmart on clearance many years ago (5-10) and have lots of fun with it. It does not do big designs but some day I may upgrade. It is not a cheep hobby.

My big mistake is i bought the machines that uses the cards.I don't have the software.

You lucky lady!! I am drooling over a Janome 11000 special Edition. I just can't justify the money right now because I work all the time.

don't be concerned about right or wrong just enjoy what you have got.

As this is an older post I`ve had time to play. I just love it!
As for the magnet hoops which are great the magnets don`t bother the computer part.
I`m em a tree skirt with all the 8 reindeers plus Rudolf and the 3 grs names for DD.
will post under pictures when I get done hopefully next week.
Gale

I was gifted a Bernina Aurora 440QE. My cosuin passed away very un expectantly last year just after she bought it. Her husband just sent everything to me (she had all the acces and over 100 spools of emb thread,lap top computer and things I have no idea what they are). I found a fairly close by dealer who willing to teach me to use it and my first lesson is Monday.
I was hoping to see someone else who might have one to sort of help me if I had a question.

I am very happy to have gotten it as I am pretty sure I would have never been able to afford one to purchase myself.

I just purchased that machine. I settled on it because I can use all of the software that I had for my Bernina 650 on it and since it uses a USB stick also I can use designs that required a Magic Box that my new computer won't operate. The bigger sewing area will come in handy and I spent the extra money for the addtion extra large hoop. The salesman told me it was for doing splint designs. I wanted it because I can sew out three of the smaller designs without rehooping. I like the free standing machine because I can do other sewing on my other machine at the same time. If you haven't had an embroidery machine before you will quickly learn that the stabilizers, real embroidery threads and additional designs will be your biggest expense. There are lots of places on line to download designs for free or a small fee. Being able to use the USB stick makes that a real bonus. I have had an embroidery machine since the early 90's. I have made quilts, decorated clothing and made numerous gifts with it. I recently sewed out the names of all 250 members of my church congregation to be used on a 250th Anniversary quilt we made.

I have a Viking Designer 1 for about 6 yrs. I love it, the hoops are 2x2 to 6x10. I agree with getting the most you can afford and having a great support staff at my dealer is counts too. I'm trying to decide if I want to get a larger embroidery machine or a longarm machine.

I think I counted at least 25 rolls of stabilizer it seems there is quite the variety. I am sure they are all used for different applications. Also there was approx 10 cd's with designs. There is a huge oval hoop that she never even used yet.