Embroidery Machine Questions

[sl_underwood]

I am not really crafty, but my husband decided he wants polos with embroidery on them. I found that Zazzle.com will make them but the cost is very high. I was thinking maybe I could get a machine and figure it out myself. How complicated is an embroidery machine? What is a good machine and what do I use to change image formats? His company logo for instance is a jpg format, how do I get it into a format that will work on the machine?

 

[rlovew]

My mom just got an embroidery machine but I can't believe buying one and learning to do it would be less expensive than having it done for you. I don't know about formats but I do know that with the machine she bought she has to buy another package to add other designs in (she can individually pay for the ones by the makers of her machine).

Unless he wants 1000s of shirts this would be the expensive way to go.

Rebecca

 

[sl_underwood]

He wants shirts for all employees which would mean about 100 shirts. Zazzle was the only place I found and they wanted $30 a shirt plus more than $100 to change the image format. They also did not have the colors available that works for his logo so it would have to be changed to meet their rather sparce color choices. We live in a very small town so going online is pretty much our only option. He always wears polos too, so he would also like Disney ones for our trip. I do not think I will save money for a long while but as he has 10 employees who need 10 shirts each, I assume that with normal wear and tear we will be replacing them atleast yearly maybe more often.

 

[Reddy]

I would go to JoAnn;s & look at all of their machines - talk to the lady/guy that works there. I know alot of the new machines you can make your own images.

size of the design is another thing to think about - smaller size is cheaper but would you want the bigger size later for something else

 

[dznystar]

I am on my second embroidery machine. Both of the ones I have had I purchase used off ebay. Very risky, but did lots of research ahead of time. The first one I resold because it just wasn't big enough. For me, the most user friendly ones are made by Brother and their sister company Babylock. If you are looking for just a start up machine, Walmart sells a pretty decent one for about $350. It will embroider up to 4x4" which is plenty big enough for polos. In order to create designs or download them from the internet, you will need digitizing software and if your machine does not hook up directly to your computer with a USB, then you will need a reader/writer box as well. It was a pretty big initial investment for me, but has paid off in the long run. I make all sorts of Disney shirts for my kids, have embroidered half of the towels in my house, save tons of money making gifts for baby showers, etc because I can do it all myself now. There are SOOO many options out there and it can be quite confusing. If you have any questions, please don 't hesitate to ask. I literally spent months doing research before I made my purchase.

 

[dbarker]

I bought a Singer Futurra 250 from JoAnn's. The sales lady said they would price match if I found it cheaper on the internet.....I did. I don't remember the price, though.

It has the necessary software built in. You have to hook it up to your computer. It will change different formats (such as .jpeg) into the proper format for embroidery. It will also do any font you have on your computer.

This is my first embroidery machine, and I love it. I find it pretty simple to operate.

 

[Sewfun]

I have 3 embroidery machines and love to embroider as much as sew.

Brother makes a good entry level embroidery machine. My Brother 180D has built in Disney designs, but the hoop is limited to 100x100 mm (4x4") hoop. You can split a design with the 3 section hoop, but that is still 100x170mm.

Embird makes very good software and it is very reasonable. The regular program is like $169, and digitizing is $150 if you need do it yourself. As long as you realize there is a learning curve with the software and hooping itself (the biggest problem beginners have is not getting the fabric taut enough in the hoop or using enough or the right type of stabilizer), you will do just fine. I prefer the Viking software, but that is because I have been certified to teach it and I am far more comfortable with it. Embird is a very good program though and I do have it on my PC.

If you have anymore questions, I am happy to help. I can recommend the Brother machines for embroidery with high marks...especially the Disney embroidery machines. I love mine!

Tammy

 

[purse lady]

Hi,

I agree with what the other posters above have said. I too have a Disney Brother and LOVE it. I tried several years ago to learn to convert a jpeg into an embroidery file and it wasn't as easy as I expected. It's something I wish to learn. This was many years ago though so new technology may have made this much easier.
I think though the point I'd like to make is that in my opinion, this isn't an investment in time or money to provide one project. This is a hobby, for some a side job or even a career. This is something you invest in because you want to create something and make it your own. This isn't going to simplify your life or polo situation if you aren't EXCITED about it. It can actually be very frustrating. If you want polo shirts, buy them. If you want to be a craftsman in machine embroidery then go for the machine.

Good Luck whichever you choose!

 

[Miz Diz]

If you decide you want one, in my opinion, if you want to do 100 shirts, a home embroidery machine is not the way to go. You will get very frustrated with lining things up and getting it straight. I would look for a used Brother PR620 or PR 650. I have a home Brother machine and a commercial Tajima and would never do shirts on the home machine.

If you want to digitize your own designs for your dh's logo, it isn't something you can just put into the software and it does it for you. Of course, you can try and if you are unable to do it, you can use a digitizing service to create it for you.


I just did some shirts for a business for about $20/shirt. The price varies, depending on the quality of the shirts. You might be able to find someone locally that can do it for you, at a better price than Zazzle.

If you do buy one, pm me and I can give you several companies where you can purchase stabilizer and thread.

 

[Disney845]

I know the original question was some time back, but just wanted to throw this out there.

If you are still contemplating buying the machine/learning to embroider vs ordering them from somewhere, I was going to suggest Queensboro.

We have used them for years at work and had good results (for embroidered polos/oxfords/etc with our company logo). You pay an initial artwork set up fee and then they have lots of different types/styles of clothing (shirts, hats, jackets) they embroider. Their website makes it easy to play around with your logo and see it on different colored backgrounds and with different thread colors to see what you really want.

Be forewarned though, they will email you EVERY SINGLE DAY with sales/specials, so you might have to block those emails if it gets too annoying!