# New to embroidery



## Eastdsm (Mar 10, 2007)

I am trying to learn a little about embroidery. I am just looking for a small machine to do just names in a small area. One color would be fine. How much would a machine like this run a person?

Thanks!
Chase


----------



## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Hi Chase. I'm a Tajima user but in your case, I think you can check out the BROTHER machines.


----------



## mattarmstrong (May 12, 2007)

hey...check out a used pfaff.....i am looking into these machines..a german company.. there is an older model 3-4 years....called Pfaff 7570 apparently amazing results for a few thousand.?????? i am going to pick one up...1900 all in used..once! this one has all software and extras..!


----------



## imeccentric (May 13, 2007)

Chase,
Either a Brother or Babylock Ellure would be a good starting point for you. They are great machines and have a 5X7 embroidery field. New, around $1000 but you can find nice used ones at the dealers sometimes, or even ebay since a lot of people upgrade to the fancier machines once they really get into it. If you're not familiar with embroidery, there are other things you will need, like stabilizers, threads, software, etc. If you are just doing lettering, most machines have built in fonts and a few designs. I use commercial Brother myself, and have been very pleased. It's not hard to invest $20,000 into embroidery to do it right

Jim
Embellishments in Thread


----------



## Eastdsm (Mar 10, 2007)

Yeah I have seen that $20k price quite a bit... there aren't many places around here that do embroidering quickly or small jobs. I figured it would be a good addition to my small shop as it doesn't take a lot of room(from my understanding?). I really want to do screen printing but with a 12x12 area with a computer, heat press, hat press, room for clothes, room for transfers, etc. I have no room for screen printing. 

I figured I could probably get $5-$10 to embroider a name here since not many people will do it. Plus I could do small jobs instead of ordering transfers if needed to make a few more dollars. If i could get a used one under $1000 I think it'd be worth it.


----------



## Eastdsm (Mar 10, 2007)

Another question I have for you guys, is what is the TIME involved in switching shirts and doing lettering on shirts? I mean if I had an order for 20 shirts, 5-6 letter names each, single color, as an example, about how long would that take?

Thanks!
Chase


----------



## imeccentric (May 13, 2007)

Chase,
If you are JUST going to do lettering, you should be able to find a decent used machine for about $500 or new for a grand. I won't even turn my machine on for less than $10. We usually charge a $5 hooping fee plus so much per thousand stitches. You should have two hoops so that you can be hooping one while the other is sewing. Most home machines run at around 800 stitches per minute(they say 1000, but are limited by the type of stitch and your thread) so a typical name won't take longer than 5 minutes. You can have another one hooped and ready to go in that time. A plus for just doing names is that you really won't need any other software or accessories. Most machines have the built in fonts, and you can resize, rotate, group, etc from the built in software. The trick to making money is buy your supplies at wholesale and NOT at the sewing shop or walmart. Let me know if you need anything else.

Jim
Embellishments in Thread


----------



## Eastdsm (Mar 10, 2007)

Hey Jim
Appreciate your help. My thoughts were that I'd start with lettering, and see the response I get and how many people ask for other things that I'd be turning down, and then make a decision if I should expand that route or not. $500 or so isn't too bad to try out that route. Would a machine like that be capable of doing other 2-3 color designs in a left chest? Perhaps I could play around with it. I was going to be taking a trip to Europe next month with a friend, but I have been considering cancelling it and if I do that would be the perfect money for a machine. It's sad that I think like that... haha!


----------



## imeccentric (May 13, 2007)

Chase,
Yes, you can do as many colors as you want, you just have to change them each time manually( that's why we like as many needles as we can get). It really doesn't add much time to the design for what you are looking to do. I'd go for it if I were you. Like I said, that's how most of us got started. Little machine, made a few bucks, liked it a lot, and ended up with lots of stuff and broke

Jim
Embellishments in Thread


----------



## Eastdsm (Mar 10, 2007)

eBay: Brother PC 8500 Sewing & Embroidery Machine (item 300112104452 end time May-23-07 10:33:16 PDT)

How's this one look you guys?

Chase


----------



## imeccentric (May 13, 2007)

Chase,
You can't go wrong with brother. 21 out of 23 people in one of my groups say they WOULD buy this machine again. Here are a couple of links with a couple of reviews. Remember that brother and babylock are the same machine. Just don't buy the brother at walmart Brother Personal Embroidery And Sewing Machine PC-8500 Reviews at Epinions.com

Jim
Embellishments in Thread


----------



## KenS (Apr 27, 2007)

Not this past Christmas, but the one before.... Wife asked for a home embroidery machine. Got her one.... only problem was that now all the friends wanted stuff embroidered. I told her that if she was going to do that, she may as well start a business herself. Well ...we did. Went totally commercial equipment. We are a single head store... but it stays busy. We outsource big orders...mostly for caps.

I would say this.... if you are looking into this as a business and want to start small.... great! But.... get a cheap used "commercial grade machine". The more needles and colors...the better. Ours has 15 needles/colors...and I still get tired of changing them. Most remain on the machine at all times... like white, navy, black, blue and red. You will be suprised at how many designs are out there and how any colors they take.

Just my 2 cents


----------



## plaid (Mar 2, 2007)

I started looking at a single head machine to start my business, I embroider on dog clothes and dogs on people clothes. I took the plunge and got a 6 head Babylock Pro. I think a bigger machine was the best choice I could have made! I am easily making enough to buy my dog shirts, people shirts, bags, other things, and still able to pay for the payments on my machine (we got it financed through a dealer for a year). We accually go out and peddle our wares at an out door, higher-end market and this is only 2 days a week. The other days I am trying to keep up with what I sold those 2 days! If you have the ability, I would go larger. If not, at least you are able to start somewhere! Good luck on your venture!


----------



## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

KenS said:


> The more needles and colors...the better. Ours has 15 needles/colors...and I still get tired of changing them. Most remain on the machine at all times... like white, navy, black, blue and red. You will be suprised at how many designs are out there and how any colors they take.


+1 on that. I thought before that 15 needles is too much and 9 is enough, but although a design seldom contains more than 9 colors, it's not really enjoyable when changing threads and threading. So now, I even think that 18 colors is a necessity, so that more color threads just stay on the machine, and you just press a button when you select which color you want to embroider. Even when doing just monograms (names/text) nowadays, some customers requires more than 1 color. The "name cloths" (name patches) would almost always require 2 colors, 1 color for the text (name) and another for the border.


----------

