I stepped out of my comfort zone with this purchase. An Embroidery Machine!
Not only is this a whole new ballgame, but I even moved away from my beloved Janome brand and bought a BabyLock. I looked at the Janome, and would have purchased that one, but the deal was just not as appealing. So, here is my BabyLock Ellure Plus. The machine is more of a base model. It has a simple black and white screen and offers only a 5x7 hooping area, but it is perfect for me. I didn't want, nor did I need to purchase a more advanced machine - this is not, and will not be my main business. The benefit is that this machine doubles as a sewing machine. I did test it out in that regard, but much prefer my Janome Memory Craft 6600 for my purposes.
I have been contemplating buying an embroidery machine for a while as I often get requests for personalization of my products, but never jumped in. Honestly I have not had the time to undertake learning how to embroider.....but now, I am forced to.This little baby is part of the reason I have not posted much this past week. I have been spending any spare time I have trying to grasp how to use this. The machine itself is quite easy to use, it's learning about what stabilizer to use when, how to position everything and learning software that is the tough part.
I have a lot to learn, so I am not offering embroidery customization in my shop yet - but it is on the horizon. For now I am having fun playing around and my girls are LOVING that I can put cute pictures and their name on things.
For now I will continue to play with the machine, and will slowly integrate this art-form into my shop.I am open to any tips/techniques/advice you have to offer on embroidery. I am a sponge trying to learn as much as possible!
How timely! I've been getting a lot of requests for custom embroidery on my products all of a sudden. However, I just spent a good chunk of change on my serger so an embroidery machine isn't on the near horizon. The embroidery you've done so far look great; and doing a good job of tempting me into another machine. :)
ReplyDeleteAhhhh...temptation! Well, if it helps any, the machine is very easy to use, but once you purchase it along comes the cost of stabilizer, thread, software and different size hoops. I know that Brother has a base model that costs about 1/2 that of the BabyLock Brother makes BabyLock! Try to get your dealer to throw in some software with your purchase - it's worth the "haggle"! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI purchased my first emboridery/sewing combo almost a year ago. Only 4X4, its a Brother LB6800.. I love how easy it is to use and within an hour of getting it out of the box, I was embroidering with NO experience. But as most found, I wanted something a bit bigger, so I bought a Brother PE700II. It only embroiders. I just love it. Embroidery Library always has sales on their stuff. I also love Digistitches. And another one I absolutely love is Five Star Fonts.... I am thinking about learning how to digitize myself.. I am currently doing some research on that now.
ReplyDeletecheck out some of the things I have made on my blog. http://thatsastitch.blogspot.com/
Oh Thank you That's A Stitch... I appreciate the links....I really like Five Star Fonts! I am loving this whole new world of embroidery, but am finding that I have no time to play.....I need more hours in the day!!!!
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