Embroidery Questions

[bengalbelle]

I see a few of you have embroidery machines. I would really love to have my own equipment to embroider. I'm not interested in doing this as a money making venture or anything, it would be solely for my enjoyment and to monogram/embroider things for my children.

I know several people who do this, but they have extremely expensive set-ups, like Janome's and the digital software. Is there a more reasonable way to get started with this, if you're willing to put in more time and labor? Are there any good resources for me to begin to research? I will be looking for classes in my area, but I wanted to do some research before that.

[rcraw45425]

My first machine was the Disney Brother machine the one Walmart sells. I paid a little over $400 for it, and it sews too. The limitation of this machine is that the hoop is only a 4x4, limiting you to smallish designs. I invested another $200 in a card writer, enabling me to download designs (free) from internet sites and write them to a card that goes in the machine. I've had that machine for ~2 years, recently invested $900 in a BabyLock Ellure, it's the same embroidery format, but a 5x7 hoop size.