The wife is occasionally hinting that an embroidery machine might be a nice gift (my fault ... I showed her some specs off eBay last year).
There seem to be many different levels of machine and capabilities (and communication methods) ...s o I was wondering if any of the extended CBN family have some experience with these toys? What to look for? What to avoid? What features are good and which sound good but never get used?
pete
it's a shame that common sense isn't
Pete
An Embroidery machine or a Serger? My wife wanted a Serger real bad, so a couple of years ago I got her one. She likes it better than the old sewing machine, and it gets better care and more use.
Steve
definitely an embroidery machine. I have already gotten her a pretty good serge and an excellant sewing machine .... she wants the "immediate gratification" of am embroidery machine
it's a shame that common sense isn't
Is this a commercial machine? When you say "embroidery", my brain keeps getting stuck on jackets, patches and hats. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
Steve
I'm sure she'd happily take a commercial unit, Steve ... but I was thinking more of one of the home units. They're usually used for clothes, tablecloths, etc, etc ... but you can get adapters for hats and they'll all do patches.
Commercial units are about 10k used while the most expensive home unit I've found so far (Viking Designer) is about 1/2 that new.
I think her first "wish" is to do some fancy stuff on our bike club vests ... but she does love to make stuff for her grandkids ...
pete
it's a shame that common sense isn't
WINGNUT, Home this isn't tooooooooooo late. A friend of mine bought his wife a top of the line Singer sewing machine. It has an LCD screen for a preview and comms with the machine. It has lots of built in fonts and patterns like teddy bears, hearts, and such. She personalized some towels for us by using a script font in gold to write our names on dark blue towels. She does a lot of stuff on her machines and has taken several classes to be able to use the features.
She did take first place in the doll competition at the state fair with her pair of ragedy Ann and Andy dolls which had embroidery on them.
If you want the model of the machine or anything, let me know. If I recall they got it on sale about 2-3 years ago for $1600.
Patrick
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Pete
I don't think I've ever seen these machines, either advertised or in a store. If you get one, take a pic for me. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Steve
Patrick,
thanks for the info .... hadn't even looked at the Singers yet since I'd always considered them "used to be good" machines. I was searching for input on the top end "hobby" machines since I've consistently been guilty of the "darn, I should have bought the bigger/heavier/faster/4wd model" the day after i buy something ... and besides, since she talked me into the biggest motorcycle and didn't blink an eye over the cost .... well ...
But, I will go and take a look at the Singers in addition to the Viking and others.
Steve,
I'll grab a pic when I have a chance ... but if you want to see what's available ... go to eBay and do a search for "embroidery machine" (I use "between 1000 & 10000" to narrow it to real machines)
pete
it's a shame that common sense isn't
There are a lot of good machines available but good isn't cheap. Some of the Singers (and probably others but I don't have personal knowledge) have the ability to download software/patterns/prototypes for the embroidery through your PC (I think). Anyway, don't count Singer out, just yet for sergers or embroidery.
I don't have a fancy machine (I sew, my wife doesn't) but if I found one on the doorstep, I'd sure have fun. They have built in patterns that are scalable. They have all kinds of borders, animals, plants, and on and on and you can do your own. I have been to the Singer store with my friend when he took his wife to get some accessories for her computerized embroidery machine and I was impressed with the capabilities I saw.
I would bet a low res digital image could be translated to embroidery but haven't tried.
Patrick
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
What I've learned so far in researching these toys ... is that a good one should be able to connect to a PC or at least read a recordable diskette (some use proprietary cards and are off my list). This allows you to scan a picture and, using shareware or off-the-shelf software, turn it into an emroiderable image.
Most have LCD panels which preview the image and also are touch screens allowing you to access the many, many features.
You normally get hoops to tightly mount your material and you can even get hoops for most of the popular machines to mount baseball caps for embroidery.
The more expensive machines allow larger hoops meaning they can do larger patterns.
You can do everything from the ubiquitous monograms through Disney characters ... and Goldwing emblems [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
I haven't counted anything out yet, Patrick .... I certainly have no problem with Singers ... I bought her a high end Kenmore sewing machine and a 3/4 Singer serger ... not sure what else she really has room for in her "craft" room (I'm not permitted to go in there ... she's probably afraid I'd call the fire marshall [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )
pete
it's a shame that common sense isn't
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