Did I do something stupid? :( Bernina Deco 650 Embroidery Machine...

[weHEARTmickey]

I bought a used one for $300. The seamstress I bought it from said she paid $1000 for it several years ago. (She has a new, HUGE Brother machine now.) The Bernina doesn't accept flash drives, just Bernina memory cards.

I'm only using this for personal use. I thought it'd be neat to embroider some shirts for our next WDW trip, rather than use iron-on transfers everyday. I would also like to use it to make baby burp cloths, onesies, etc for friends & family. Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Did I mess up??

 

[jessica52877]

If it has a card slot then I am assuming you can load to a card from the internet (assuming you want some Mickey designs). Go over to the family board and the disboutiquers thread. Someone might know more about that machine.

 

[eowensby]

I don't know anything about Bernina's. I have Brothers for my embroidery business, but you should head over to sewforum.com and ask your questions over there. The ladies and a few guys are so helpful there. There's bound to be someone there with your machine that can help you out.

elizabeth

 

[weHEARTmickey]

If it has a card slot then I am assuming you can load to a card from the internet (assuming you want some Mickey designs). Go over to the family board and the disboutiquers thread. Someone might know more about that machine.

Thank you! I was going to ask it there, but my posts get lost in the mix because the disboutiquers have such a busy, booming thread! I can also ask it over there. Thanks for your help

I don't know anything about Bernina's. I have Brothers for my embroidery business, but you should head over to sewforum.com and ask your questions over there. The ladies and a few guys are so helpful there. There's bound to be someone there with your machine that can help you out.

elizabeth

Ok, I will check out the sewforum.com. Oh no---another addiction! Thank you

 

[arminnie]

Bernina is known for making very good sewing machines. When I bought my Pfaff sewing machine - those two were considered the best.

I bought a Janome (embroidery only) about 6 years ago for about $1000 so that sounds about right for her original purchase.

I don't know if it is a good deal today as I have no clue what you pay today for a basic machine that accepts usb or flash input.

I do recommend the embird software. It is fairly reasonable from some guy in Eastern Europe. It's been around for at least a decade. You can download a lot of free stuff on the internet. embird lets you resize and combine designs. It can get espensive if you buy the preloaded designs.

If you really get into it you can digitize and create your own designs - but that can get pretty tedious. When I needed something digitized (logo for a friend) I just paid someone to digitize it for me.

Some advice - don't try the really complicated designs that call for 15 different thread colors. The most time consuming part is changing the thread.

I looked for a few years before I bought. Everyone said to buy it from a shop not online so you could get live support. I bought it from a store but they provided nothing in the way of classes, etc. My cousin in Texas has a store that offers tons of free classes and workshops.

 

[Nicolepa]

If you purchased the Bernina soley to do Disney emboridery then you are out of luck. The only company that is licensed to sell Disney designs is Brother. I have a top of the line Pfaff & a Bernina and have searched the internet high and low for free/cheap Disney designs and have found none and I don't have the patience to digitize my own designs.

But on the bright side, Bernina's are very nice machines, so if you are a sewer you should enjoy it.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

Thanks guys! Well, maybe I'm in luck???? I do tons of graphic designs (newspaper ads, t-shirt designs, shower/b-day invitations), but I know nothing about digitizing for embroidery. Is it the embird program that I need to do that? Maybe I could find an "online tutorial" website to walk me through the process? I have Quark & Photoshop, but I'm sure those will not be helpful for embroidery. Thanks again!

 

[Miz Diz]

Definitely keep it! You can buy something called a Magic Box and I believe the Disney cards will work with it. The Disney cards are not cheap, though.

There are lots of sites that have free designs. I like embroiderydesigns.com. Sewforum also has free designs.

I'm not sure if you will be able to embroider the shirts with this machine. I have a Brother table top and a Tajima commercial machine. I can not do shirts on the Brother, but someone else may have a trick to it. My Brother has some Disney designs on it.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Definitely keep it! You can buy something called a Magic Box and I believe the Disney cards will work with it. The Disney cards are not cheap, though.

There are lots of sites that have free designs. I like embroiderydesigns.com. Sewforum also has free designs.

I'm not sure if you will be able to embroider the shirts with this machine. I have a Brother table top and a Tajima commercial machine. I can not do shirts on the Brother, but someone else may have a trick to it. My Brother has some Disney designs on it.

The Magic Box won't be able to read the Disney cards. There is a special chip in the Brother embroidery machines with a model number ending in D to read those cards, nothing else will (including other Brother machines that don't end in D for a model number). There one card out there called "A Taste of Disney" which can be read by non-Disney machines. It has 16 designs (four Mickey & friends, 4 Pooh, and 8 from assorted movies). You can see them here. http://www.brother-usa.com/Homesewing/Accessories/AccessoryDetail.aspx?R3AccessoryID=SA306D


A Magic Box (or PE Basic) will allow you to download designs off the internet to write them to the card so your machine can use them. I think you need PES format. With that machine, I think you can use any design that is 4" x 4" or smaller (which is most designs that are being produced).
If you would like an embroidery-only machine that can read the licensed Disney cards, check into a Brother 180D (older machine that can only read the little cards so you'd still need Magic Bos or PE Basic) or a PE-750D (current machine that can use the cards or use a USB memory stick to transfer designs so you wouldn't need a box).

Digitizing software is a whole other thing. Brother's software is called PE-Design and it includes the reader box and blank card. There are many versions of it out there (you wouldn't need the most current version, but make sure it is the full version and comes with the reader box). The reader box is the "key" that opens the software. If you install the software and try to open it without having the correct reader box connected, the software will say something about not detecting the box and immediately close.

I have three Brother Disney machines and most of the Disney embroidery cards, so I do have some experience in this area. Good luck!

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that this machine is capable of doing shirts, burp cloths, onesies, etc. As long as it is fabric and you can get it hooped (make sure you only hoop one layer and get the rest out from under the hoop), you should be in good shape.

 

[sslyman44]

I am in the same situation my little sister up graded to a brother and the place where she got the new machine was just going to give her 100 dollars for the Bernina. To make a long story short i got her old machine for the 100 bucks. but she cant find any softwear for it can any one help me out?

 

[iheartdisney]

You can find TONS of Disney embroidery designs on Etsy, in tons of formats, so i'm sure you can find the format your machine uses.
Quick tip: Shopping on etsy late at night is dangerous territory. i can rack up quite the tab when I'm feeling crafty after midnight! lol
I can tell you a few of the sellers that i like if you PM me.

 

[riley2008]

I bought a used one for $300. The seamstress I bought it from said she paid $1000 for it several years ago. (She has a new, HUGE Brother machine now.) The Bernina doesn't accept flash drives, just Bernina memory cards.

I'm only using this for personal use. I thought it'd be neat to embroider some shirts for our next WDW trip, rather than use iron-on transfers everyday. I would also like to use it to make baby burp cloths, onesies, etc for friends & family. Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Did I mess up??

Not sure about your model. I have the Bernina Bernette 340 Deco($540 on clearance for my birthday last July) - 5"x8" hoop. It accepts a USB drive, so not much help to you.

I think once you figure out how to transfer files to your machine - a magic box or direct connection to a computer most likely - you will find ENDLESS things to embroidery. My favorite site is Embroidery Library. (again, though, I just buy the file and download it to my flashdrive)

I also second the Embird software! I don't digitize too many pictures, but I use all the font software and to make changes to purchased files.

ETA: don't forget to check out the Bernina site. I see you are in Texas. Anywhere between Corpus and Houston perhaps?