new to embroidery and buying a machine. HELP

17 years ago

My husband this morning said he wants to buy me an embroidery machine for Christmas. He would like to stay under the $2000.00 range and used is also fine with me. I am an experienced sewer and have a very nice Janome memory machine I paid $1200.00 for about 7 years ago. I have no experience with the embroidery machine world. After doing some research here I have several questions:

Should I go for a machine that does both embroidery and straight sewing?

I just started to do machine quilting and saw one of the machines has regulated stitches. That sounds great for quilting but do I really need to spend the extra money just for that feature or is there more to it that would make buying the combo machine worth it?

I want an embroidery machine mostly to do monogramming.

Which is best for me?

Do I need a larger hoop option than the 4 x 4 I have read about? or is the 4 x 4 good for most monograming?

I appriciate your input, I have already come far just reading this forum.

Sue

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Comments (4)

Islay_Corbel
17 years ago
Since you already have a nice sewing machine, I would suggest that you would be better off with an embroidery only machine. I have seperate machines and it's great to be able to set one up to embroider, and sew away on the other. I have the Janome 300E and love it. So easy to use and it sews beautifully. There's a 350E out now, I think that cuts threads and uses USB keys. Great! The sewing fields are 4X4 AND 5X7 which is great for a ot of designs. You are very limited of you only have 4X4. The only software you'll need to buy is something like Embird - cheap and works well.
Good luck in your search!
stitchntime9
17 years ago
I would do a search on line for the machines that appeal to you, print their specs out to write notes on later when trying the machines out, and then go try them out to find the machine you really like...take hubby along for a lunch/dinner date.

From what I understand, the stitch regulator on the combo machines do not affect the embroidery side of the machine.

Also be aware that sometimes the software to run the embroidery side of the machine is extra and a real budget buster. You have to be really careful when you check what is included and is extra for the price quoted for some brands. Some brands are computer dependent for the embroidery side, some are not.

The Singer XL line is a really good line with continuous bobbin and self-threading/thread changes itself features, the software is included in the price. The better news is that it is a combination machine that will use your Janome feet because they are both low bar.

As Islay said, it is always good to have a backup machine...or two. You accomplish more in the same time frame, embroidery machine going and sewing on the other machine.
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sewnice50
Original Author
17 years ago
I appreciate the advice. I will think about a separate embroidery machine, it sounds like it makes sense. I saw a machine on Simply Quilts that did a stitch that looked like hand quilting running stitch. I want one of those!!
thanks again.
Islay_Corbel
17 years ago
That stitch isn't very nice :( You have to use invisible thread to do it so it's all scratchy! SorryLOL. I just hate invisible thread.