SM with Alphabet capability

By any chance do you have a sewing buddy who has a machine to do the lettering and maybe you could get her to help you make up your labels on one of your sewing days? I have one of those machines, but I'm on the wrong side of the pond for us to get together Barbara in SC No I never did find my copy of the post card of the Royal Navy monument

It is an idea, but I´d quite like a new toy, um, er tool. Can't have too many sewing machines.

Just drop me line if the details of that post card ever turn up :)

Lizzy

I just bought a secondhand husqvarna 750 and it does letters SO nicely. I dont' quilt (yes, its a quilt machine) but I've been using the lettering to enhance my applique work. Its very simple and it works so well.

I havent' been using the machine long but I adore the machine. Its easy to use and works beautifully.

A number of the Husqvarna's do this. I bought a Platinum 770 - it was as TOL as you could go without buying an embroidery machine. I love it to bits, as I did with my previous HV.

Like you, I didn't (and still don't) want to produce embroidery, but I did want fancy stitches and text.

My one comment would be (and this would apply to all brands of machines) is the size of the text is limited by the L-R swing of the needle - i.e. max. character height is only 12mm. Obviously you could produce larger text by using satin stitch and monogramming.

HV's are good solid machines, you can find your local dealer by popping on to their website.

HTH

Sarah

Thanks for the report Beth. I know I'll have to test drive my short list, but a recommendation from other users is always very useful. Whatever I get is destined to stay with me for a long time - my mother still uses the machine (Singer, straight stitch only) that she got when she got married in 1958, so we tend to hang on to our basic machines in my family.

Lizzy

Yes, that's one thing I wanted, too, and so three years ago bought a second hand Husqvarna Viking 1+. Love it so much this past summer I bought a gently used Husqvarna Viking Rose, so I could dedicate it to the embroidery and lettering, and use the 1+ for everything else :)

-Irene

Thanks Irene. Following Be's and your recommendations I have just looked at the UK HV site. I have a choice in my price range, but am also now wondering about their entry level embroidery machine. I think this could be a slippery slope....

When DH gets back from his current trip I shallhave to take myself up to the local main dealer that carries HV, Brother, Janome and Pfaff to see what I like after test driving.

Lizzy

Lizzy if you are going to the Janome dealer have a look at a Janome 300E (recently superseded) or 350E (current model). These are both 'embroidery only' and would be a great addition to your Toyota. Once you start doing embroidery a whole new world will open up before your eyes. It's soooo addictive!!

As Sarah mentioned, a sewing machine that does lettering is governed by the swing of the needle....but....with an embroidery machine you can make a single letter as big as you wish, the only limitation being the size of the hoops that machine can use.

I have 2 x Janome sewing/embroidery machines and wouldn't swap them for anything. I make my own quilt labels and mostly they have a tiny embroidered design in the border.

Bronwyn ;-)

Lizzy Taylor wrote:

Hi Bronwyn,

Thank you for your advice, it may just have tipped me over the edge especially as our Land Rover club has need of its new logo being embroidered on to various items of clothing.

Now I have more questions:

In your experience how easy is it to generate your own designs for the

300E/350E? Does it only take a proprietary file format or can it use other formats?

I think I need to hang out in a machine embroidery ng for a bit.

Thanks

Lizzy

G'day Lizzy

Beware....machine embroidery is very addictive!!! LOL

There are several digitising programs and they all have a learning curve, but it is possible to do any design you wish once you've mastered the program. Personally, I don't delve into too much digitising as there are sooooo many designs available, many of them are free, some for a small cost and I can usually find what I want, although I have done a couple of logos and simple designs.

Why not join the Janome 300E group where you can see what other owners are doing with their machines?

you buy a machine from the dealer do NOT let them tell you that you need expensive software, unfortunately many people have been caught. In the beginning you are better off with Wilcom (free) or Embird (free 30 day trial) to convert designs to .jef format that would suit this machine. Hope this helps? Bronwyn ;-)

Lizzy Taylor wrote:

Thanks Bronwyn. Although at work I use a M$ machine at home we run Linux so I don't like using software that costs a fortune and would rather use a more open type of product. I don't object to paying for a product, but I do object to paying over the odds.

Lizzy