What is a good machine to buy?

Depends on what you think expensive is I guess.........what's your budget??

I suggest you consider a dedicated embroidery machine if you don't want to pay a fortune for one that does everything. The more complicated a machine is the more expensive it is and the more apt it is to have problems. I would not recommend a used embroidery machine under any circumstances as it will likely have too much wear on it. For new ones, lower priced, you might want to have a look at Babylock or Janome, though I'd hardly classify either as cheap. If you go too cheap, your machine may stitch nicely for the first 30 or 40 hours of embroidery and then look like hell after that. Be sure to check out the warranty and find a reliable dealer who will let you spend some time trying one out. If they won't spend the time before you buy, you won't get much attention after. Hands-on lessons are essential for embroidery and there is a rather large investment in thread, stabilizers, needles, hoops and other paraphernalia as well. Be sure you know what your investment will be.

Phae

Thanks so much, i was hoping not to spend over 500.00 can I get a good machine for about that cost?

Sorry, I'm not sure. I hope you can find one that is at least acceptable. Look closely at the quality of the stitching and how much finessing the operator had to do to get it to work. Will it work with relatively few steps or will you have to fuss with it a lot to get it to work? (Keep in mind that machine embroidery patterns *all* must be tested in a practice run first before stitching on the real object) Have them test it out on single line, simple embroidery as well as dense stitch-outs. Sometimes they do a decent job on dense patterns (lots of coverage to hide errors) but look far less nice on single line or simple patterns. You also need to consider the cost of patterns as they are incredibly expensive. To do your own patterns, most decent software costs at least $500. And, of course, then you would need a machine that hooked up to a computer (more expensive). There are, however, free designs on the internet but many of those are poorly designed and don't transfer well from one machine/software type to another. In addition, you should be aware that there are currently numerous legal actions over copyright claims. So one must be very careful not to buy any of those too good to be true, hundreds of patterns on a single CD over eBay deals.

One other thing I forgot to mention: I advise great caution on buying a floor model embroidery machine (other machines are different), no matter a great price or the promise of a full warranty. It will likely have been used and abused quite a lot. I've visited plenty of shops where those models are running constantly for endless hours, doing stitch-outs for shop employees and paying customers who do not have their own machines. Also, be highly skeptical if they say something like "It only has 10 hours on it". Please be sure to let us know your findings and good luck!

Phae

Have you considered a reconditioned used machine? I picked up a Husqvarna Viking 1+ a little over a year ago for $1,000 at a local dealership inside a JoAnn fabric store. This machine was over $5,000 new; it does beautiful embroidery and will sew though anything I can fit under the foot. They provided me with classes and even a warranty. I do wonderful free motion quilting with it and it was by far one of the best purchases I've ever made.

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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with the viking machines, there is a mnx code that lets them see how many hours the machine has. i watched once and saw that come up but too quick foe to learn how to do again!

ask much usage; if they mumble, ask them to call mnx and ask how to read the time. they have computers and the computer knows!

klh in va