Need Machine Embroidery Forum Recommendations
 

I own a Bernina 635 sewing "computer," including the embroidery attachments. I'm struggling to use the embroidery function. I spent mucho $$$ to buy it, so I need to become competent! Can you recommend a user forum where I might find help?

I ask because as a beginning quilter a couple of years ago, you all were among my most valued teachers! Thanks to your advice, including links to websites and book recommendations, I have made some very beautiful quilts. I now even consider myself an "intermediate" quilter! This is the learning experience I'd like to replicate vis a vis machine embroidery.

I look forward to your responses and thank you in advance!

There is a post here that talks only about machine embroidery -- it is very lengthy and unfortunately I don't think it is very user friendly as it contains hundreds of posts so it doesn't make a lot of sense. I will watch to see if anyone recommends a forum as I would be interested also.

sewforum.com has a VERY active embroidery community who are very welcoming and helpful to newcomers.

I second the sewforum site as it is free. An inexpensive site is artisticthreadworks.com T hat is where I started, but it has a lot more off topic chatter now, but still helpful.

I too like sewforum however because it is sponsored by a firm that sells mostly Brother machines, so most of the the discussions are from Brother owners. There is also a free designs category which I have used quite often.

There are probably Bernina groups on Yahoo, too. Sewforum is good, and there's a Bernina Central Forum:
http://www.berninacentral.com/

There are also Yahoo groups for Bernina machines. There is one that icudes your machine. If you have the software there is one for V6 that is very good. I have the 640 and also I the 830. You can PM me if you have questions.

Google Eileen Roche - she even has a class on Craftsy. Great information.

There are many different groups on Yahoo for different models of Bernina's. Scroll down the list and choose which groups you feel would apply to your machine. These groups are literally the best thing on the planet for anyone who is struggling with their machines/techniques etc etc. You will get great help from them! Good luck!
If you are not a member of any yahoo group you will need to go through the membership process, simple and easy
http://groups.yahoo.com

Is the shop where you purchased your machine close by? I am not into embroidery but I know that my shop has a monthly embroidery club and a lot of different things going on.

I agree, I mostly use sewforum for my embroidery questions, and yahoo groups for my specific machine questions. Those are probably your best resources

I have a Bernina 440 and also Bernina Designer Plus software ver. 6. Did you take the classes for your machine when you bought it? I bought mine used and was able to pay my local dealer an "adoption fee" that included all the classes plus servicing for a year. I learned a lot from the classes. If you didn't take the classes, you can download the workbook and do the exercises to help you become more famillar with the functions. My dealer has the wookbooks posted online:

http://www.keizerbernina.com/my-bernina-workbooks.htm

I really get a lot of information from two different Yahoo groups:

430_440_630_640_730

BerninaV6Software

I concur!
sandy

Is the shop where you bought your machine conveniently located? Although I am not a fan of embroidery, I am aware that my shop hosts a monthly embroidery club and other events.

I would suggest you start watching OML embroidery on YouTube. Sue Brown walks you through step by step on how to use your machine. She does not get into specifics about different machines, because they are pretty much the same. However she will walk you pretty much anything you want to embroider. She demonstrates using Kreative Kiwi, Sweet Pea, Anita Goodesign, DIME, and her own designs.
Also OML embroidery is on Facebook, so you can also get help there.

There is a learning curve to doing ME, but is well worth the effort. You do need stabilizer under the fabric and sometimes a topper if you are stitching on something like a bath towel. There are a lot of different kinds of these toppers and stabilizers available. The quilt ME designs you buy online designed for quilting (or maybe your machine has them?) are great. However, if you are stitching a dense filled design like a dog on quilting fabric, do a practice first on the fabric you are going to use so you can see if the outcome is satisfactory. I"ve seen quilts done with ME and they were all gorgeous. Also, the additional thread will add weight if the quilt has a lot of dense designs on it.

The place I bought my machine from helped me a lot!

Here you go. Tailored to your Bernina machine.
Embroider-along Part 1: The Four Basics of Machine Embroidery - WeAllSew

Folks, I think this is an old question from 2013. The Bernina 635 is not being made anymore. Bernina still has the manual available but a lot of the other videos ect are on the site are showing the newer machines.

It is.

Andrew Crowley keeps bumping old embroidery-topic threads to promote his digitizing software...