This is a reprint of the 12/12/2010 Shibui Originals From Thought To Thread blog entry of the same name.
Why are you buying an embroidery machine? Is it to embroider stuff for your friends and family? Or are you wanting to start a home-based business where you embroider products and sell them on eBay or etsy? Or are you starting a home-based business where clients pay you to embroider products with their design/logo/text?
Currently, I use three machines to stitch out my machine embroidery: a Pfaff 2144, a Pfaff Creative Vision, and a Brother 600II. When I first started buying sewing/embroidery machines about eight years ago, I was a Pfaff fan. I needed machines that doubled as sewing machines, and I invested a lot of dollars in feet and face plates and other machine add-ons that only fit my Pfaff machines. Pfaff has since changed ownership, however, and if I were buying a machine right now, I'd make different choices.
The Brother 600II only embroiders and is an older model that Brother no longer even lists on their website. The newer multi-needle machines have some beautiful features that weren't available back then.
So why are you buying an embroidery machine?
If you are buying one to embroider for your friends and family (and, of course, yourself), the question to ask yourself is: does this machine have to double as a sewing machine? If you're going to use the same machine to do both sewing and machine embroidery, you're limited to choosing from the single needle machines. Both of my Pfaffs fit into this category. Don't get me wrong, I love my Pfaff 2144. It embroiders and sews beautifully. The sewing on the Pfaff Creative Vision, however, doesn't measure up to that on the Pfaff 2144. Neither of them, however, have some of the placement features available in the Brother/Baby Lock models.
If I were making the Creative Vision decision all over again, I'd go for the Brother 6000D Quattro or the Baby Lock Ellisimo. Why these two machines? Brother and Baby Lock are effectively the same machine with different branding, but both of them have a needle cam. This means that you can see exactly where the needle is about to sew. As a result of the needle cam, both machines offer two exceptional features: they have a figure eight "snowman" marker that allows you to easily place the starting point for your design as well as the perfect placement feature.
With the snowman marker, the needle cam scans for the marker position and tilt and then starts the design at the marked location (after you've removed the marker). Perfect placement has the needle cam scan the entire hooped area of fabric and then shows you exactly what's already within the hoop on your display. You can then place your design exactly where you want it within the hooped area. Both of these features are unbeatable when you're working with a multi-hoop project or when you're trying to place a design in a certain location on a print. Applique placement also becomes a breeze. The only disadvantage to this machine is that every thread color change means you changing the thread.
If you're buying a machine to embroider for yourself, friends, and family, but it doesn't have to double as a sewing machine, the question is one of budget. When your embroidery machine no longer needs to double as a sewing machine, you open up the possibility of a multi-needle machine. The overall advantage of a multi-needle machine is that you can easily embroider more colors without having to change thread. The main disadvantage is the cost.
If I were sticking with a single thread machine because of cost considerations, I'd stick with the same Brother/Baby Lock models because of the needle cam. If I were opting for a multi-needle machine, I'd go for the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise. Both of these machines have ten needles as well as a needle cam for snowman positioning. Unfortunately, neither have the perfect placement feature that the single needle machines do. I'm hoping that Brother/Baby Lock will update the software to offer this feature in the future.
Now, you could buy a used six-needle machine for a pretty reasonable price right now because multi-needle machine users are trading theirs in for ten needle machines. This seems to remove the cost consideration from the single vs multiple needle question. None of the six needle machine have the snowman placement, but if you're not going to work with large, multi-hoop designs or applique placement, this may be an option for you. I do work with large jacket backs and multi-hoop projects which is why I prefer the ten-needle machines that recently came on the market.
If you are part of the last group, and you are starting a home-based embroidery business, I'd recommend going directly to the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise option. Yes, the price tag is higher so you have more of an investment to recover, but with ten threads you'll also spend less time swapping in new thread colors in the middle of a stitch out. Furthermore, when you're stitching out jacket backs or other multi-hoop projects, the snowman placement feature is invaluable for getting the starting stitch in just the right place so that your design looks like it was stitched out all at once.
My last point: unlike a television or DVD player, sewing and embroidery machines require service just like cars do. This means that regardless of the machine you choose, buy your embroidery machine from a dealer that is within a reasonable distance from your home and get a service maintenance contract at the time of purchase. I learned the hard way with my first mechanical sewing machine, that sending a sewing machine through the mail causes it to sew a little wacky (and then a lot wacky) making you want to set it on fire and then throw it out a window. I didn't know about getting sewing machines serviced back then and when I got it serviced a couple years later, it sewed better than it ever had.
If you insist on buying a machine online, you'll still need a service contract from a local sewing machine store. You'll probably have to pay for one service up front, however, so that the store can determine the condition of your machine before it will sell you a service contract. It isn't cheap, but do it anyway.
A service maintenance contract gives you a place to bring your machine if it starts acting crazy or it just stops working altogether. As someone who uses sewing and embroidery machines virtually every day, this can be a lifesaver, and it's cheaper to buy the contract than hope for the best and pay piecemeal.
Because even if you purchase from a location where you can drive your machine home, you'll need to maintain the machine so that it continues to sew out smoothly. And once you've got the service maintenance contract, remember to take your machine in for service when you've hit your stitch count or at least once a year (for those of you who don't use the machine every day/week). This way you won't be in the middle of a job when your machine loses its mind and eats the custom job you're doing.
Tomorrow: the question of software.
Why are you buying an embroidery machine? Is it to embroider stuff for your friends and family? Or are you wanting to start a home-based business where you embroider products and sell them on eBay or etsy? Or are you starting a home-based business where clients pay you to embroider products with their design/logo/text?
Currently, I use three machines to stitch out my machine embroidery: a Pfaff 2144, a Pfaff Creative Vision, and a Brother 600II. When I first started buying sewing/embroidery machines about eight years ago, I was a Pfaff fan. I needed machines that doubled as sewing machines, and I invested a lot of dollars in feet and face plates and other machine add-ons that only fit my Pfaff machines. Pfaff has since changed ownership, however, and if I were buying a machine right now, I'd make different choices.
The Brother 600II only embroiders and is an older model that Brother no longer even lists on their website. The newer multi-needle machines have some beautiful features that weren't available back then.
So why are you buying an embroidery machine?
If you are buying one to embroider for your friends and family (and, of course, yourself), the question to ask yourself is: does this machine have to double as a sewing machine? If you're going to use the same machine to do both sewing and machine embroidery, you're limited to choosing from the single needle machines. Both of my Pfaffs fit into this category. Don't get me wrong, I love my Pfaff 2144. It embroiders and sews beautifully. The sewing on the Pfaff Creative Vision, however, doesn't measure up to that on the Pfaff 2144. Neither of them, however, have some of the placement features available in the Brother/Baby Lock models.
If I were making the Creative Vision decision all over again, I'd go for the Brother 6000D Quattro or the Baby Lock Ellisimo. Why these two machines? Brother and Baby Lock are effectively the same machine with different branding, but both of them have a needle cam. This means that you can see exactly where the needle is about to sew. As a result of the needle cam, both machines offer two exceptional features: they have a figure eight "snowman" marker that allows you to easily place the starting point for your design as well as the perfect placement feature.
With the snowman marker, the needle cam scans for the marker position and tilt and then starts the design at the marked location (after you've removed the marker). Perfect placement has the needle cam scan the entire hooped area of fabric and then shows you exactly what's already within the hoop on your display. You can then place your design exactly where you want it within the hooped area. Both of these features are unbeatable when you're working with a multi-hoop project or when you're trying to place a design in a certain location on a print. Applique placement also becomes a breeze. The only disadvantage to this machine is that every thread color change means you changing the thread.
If you're buying a machine to embroider for yourself, friends, and family, but it doesn't have to double as a sewing machine, the question is one of budget. When your embroidery machine no longer needs to double as a sewing machine, you open up the possibility of a multi-needle machine. The overall advantage of a multi-needle machine is that you can easily embroider more colors without having to change thread. The main disadvantage is the cost.
If I were sticking with a single thread machine because of cost considerations, I'd stick with the same Brother/Baby Lock models because of the needle cam. If I were opting for a multi-needle machine, I'd go for the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise. Both of these machines have ten needles as well as a needle cam for snowman positioning. Unfortunately, neither have the perfect placement feature that the single needle machines do. I'm hoping that Brother/Baby Lock will update the software to offer this feature in the future.
Now, you could buy a used six-needle machine for a pretty reasonable price right now because multi-needle machine users are trading theirs in for ten needle machines. This seems to remove the cost consideration from the single vs multiple needle question. None of the six needle machine have the snowman placement, but if you're not going to work with large, multi-hoop designs or applique placement, this may be an option for you. I do work with large jacket backs and multi-hoop projects which is why I prefer the ten-needle machines that recently came on the market.
If you are part of the last group, and you are starting a home-based embroidery business, I'd recommend going directly to the Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 or the Baby Lock Enterprise option. Yes, the price tag is higher so you have more of an investment to recover, but with ten threads you'll also spend less time swapping in new thread colors in the middle of a stitch out. Furthermore, when you're stitching out jacket backs or other multi-hoop projects, the snowman placement feature is invaluable for getting the starting stitch in just the right place so that your design looks like it was stitched out all at once.
My last point: unlike a television or DVD player, sewing and embroidery machines require service just like cars do. This means that regardless of the machine you choose, buy your embroidery machine from a dealer that is within a reasonable distance from your home and get a service maintenance contract at the time of purchase. I learned the hard way with my first mechanical sewing machine, that sending a sewing machine through the mail causes it to sew a little wacky (and then a lot wacky) making you want to set it on fire and then throw it out a window. I didn't know about getting sewing machines serviced back then and when I got it serviced a couple years later, it sewed better than it ever had.
If you insist on buying a machine online, you'll still need a service contract from a local sewing machine store. You'll probably have to pay for one service up front, however, so that the store can determine the condition of your machine before it will sell you a service contract. It isn't cheap, but do it anyway.
A service maintenance contract gives you a place to bring your machine if it starts acting crazy or it just stops working altogether. As someone who uses sewing and embroidery machines virtually every day, this can be a lifesaver, and it's cheaper to buy the contract than hope for the best and pay piecemeal.
Because even if you purchase from a location where you can drive your machine home, you'll need to maintain the machine so that it continues to sew out smoothly. And once you've got the service maintenance contract, remember to take your machine in for service when you've hit your stitch count or at least once a year (for those of you who don't use the machine every day/week). This way you won't be in the middle of a job when your machine loses its mind and eats the custom job you're doing.
Tomorrow: the question of software.
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