I have a Brother PE150 which I bought on ebay. It is a good little machine to start out with and not too expensive. To digitize your own designs you need a program like Embird. It is one of the less expensive and comes in parts so you don't have to buy the whole thing at once.
Colleen

Thanks... My wife has looked at the Brother SE270D from Walmart.com and I was wondering what the Pros and Cons are? plus you need to buy the Brother PED-Basic Embroidery Software can it work with Embird as well?

She is not sure if she will want to do Embroidery or not... she does Cakes for fun http://www.nsnd.com/cakes/ and she does sew more lately. I bought her a serger just recently and she is using it to make some stuff...

I wish I could help her and make money doing it... (grin)

Thanks,
Nathan

Here is a link that might be useful: Stacey's Cakes

I started with the Brother PE150 and love it. I have felt no need to upgrade yet, although there have been times I wished I had a larger embroidery field. But, mostly, it's been great. I do use Embird with it, but it's not necessary - at least at first. She can buy plenty of designs ready to go that will give her many options and let her know whether this is something she wants to pursue further.