Okay, I've read several posts where people suggest NOT getting a home embroidery machine to start with.
My question is, Why? Please be as detailed as possible.
A little background...Mark and I are just starting out with our business, and we're working primarily with vinyl, but we'd like to be able to offer left-chest logo embroidery, too.
We're already considering getting a sewing machine for some non-related projects, so what would be wrong with getting a home unit that will also do basic embroidery?
Again, this would be for left-chest, one-to-three colors only. If we wanted something more detailed or larger, we could have it outsourced.
The machine I'm looking at right now is the Singer CE-250 for $799 with free shipping from an authorized Singer dealer on ebay with a feedback score of 100% with over 5,000 reviews. Not too bad if you ask me.
I know he wants to sell his machines, but I spoke with that seller on the phone (yes, he provides a phone number) and he seems to think that this machine would do what we want it to do until we could afford (or had the space for) something bigger and better.
Again, please tell me WHY we shouldn't buy a machine like this even if we were thinking of getting a sewing machine anyway for other projects...and be as detailed as possible.
It's usually because the machines are not designed to run 24/7 in a commercial environment and/or they are not built to the rigid standards of a commercial machine and won't deliver consistently professional results. But...If the machine will cover your size requirements and you are not looking to run it all day long, it could work out just fine. It's a good brand name so it should be a quality machine.
It's usually because the machines are not designed to run 24/7 in a commercial environment and/or they are not built to the rigid standards of a commercial machine and won't deliver consistently professional results. But...If the machine will cover your size requirements and you are not looking to run it all day long, it could work out just fine. It's a good brand name so it should be a quality machine.
Also that with a home machine, you can't do hats and it's more difficult to do larger items, but if you're only really interested in left chest, go for it.
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Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
One thing to bear in mind with any machine is does it trim the threads between colours. I know you said you'd only be looking at 3 colours, but you will have to rethread the machine after each colour. As a starter single head 6 thread (auto trim and colour change) I would recommend looking at the Babylock or Brother PR600II machine. Whilst not capable of normal sewing, they do save a lot of time and frustration over thread colour changes.
I started out with a Janome 300e embroidery only machine, this is a very good machine which has a freearm, allowing you to do tubular items like t-shirts etc. but this model does not trim the threads, not sure if their newer one the 350e does or not.
When looking to upgrade to a multi thread machine, I considered a lot of them, and will eventually get a full industrial embroidery machine (didn't want the hassle of another call out charge item at this time) but the industrial market is moving on swiftly at present, and as an interim I went for the Brother PR600, only problems experienced so far has been the auto threader packing up, I just thread it myself now I've had this machine for 18months and it still hums away doing all I ask it to from t-shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces through to badges.
For normal sewing I still use my 20 y/o Viking Husqvarna Prisma 990 (one of the early computerised machines), plus my industrial overlock (serger) which my husband got for me when he was in the clothing trade.
I have a Singer CE200, which I've had for about 2 years. I've not had any problems with embroidering small areas, and caps are no problem with the Hoop it All. But it's a little tedious. I did 16 caps for a ball team one day and didn't want to see another cap for a while. But they turned out beautiful. If I were in the embroidery business, I would check into a commercial machine - they come in all sizes. I think you would be happier.
I just looked at the Ce250, and I would say a big NO again. I remember that I bought a similar Singer machine years ago, and it was just a total waste of money. I tinkered with the machine for 2 weeks and it's just so frustrating. Overall, the stitch quality is just poor compared to an industrial machine. This is the number one reason why you should'nt use one for your t-shirt business. The second reason is the same as crier Lady's: it's too tedious and tiring to use; you will spend a lot of time to complete a project.
Other reasons I can think of:
1) Using multiple color threads; I imagine you have to "wind" the threads into a "special spool" before using them. Color changing will take TOO much of your time.
2) Digitizing - it's equipped with a very simple digitizing software which you can only use for that machine. The quality output of this digitizing software is very poor.
3) This machine will surely not last for a year if you use it for 8 hours everyday.
4) After some time, you will get very inconsistent embroidery output. The changing upper & lower thread tensions will cause this. And I expect that you will destroy a lot of shirts along the way.
5) I remember I got thread breaks every 5 seconds on another project, and It's just so frustrating.
For your sake, get a Tajima, SWF, Barudan or maybe the top of the line Brother single head. Then get a digitizing software, and you will surely enjoy embroidering while learning.
Outsource all your embroidery until you get enough volume to buy a pro machine. (I use Tajima's)
You will learn a lot from this process, ie. what logos will sew out well, what design elements don't translate into threads etc.
Set your prices to make a little money for your time, but still be inline with the competition.
If you by a home unit, you will burn a lot of your time and money to create a second class product. There is a lot to learn in embroidery, get some professional training with your machine purchase.
Your time is better spent selling and building a strong customer base.
I started with a home machine. After using it for a year, bought a commercial machine (melco). Am I sorry I didn't start with a commercial machine. NO WAY!! Using the home machine gave my business a good starting base with only a tenth of the cost. I learned a lot in that year and do not regret for a minute going the route I did.
Mary
AMEN Mary. We started with a Babylock (I think they are about one grand now)and never regretted it. It's a great way to learn the trade without the twenty grand investment. Of course the autothreading never hurts I still enjoy using it and actually prefer it in some instances. Unless you are running production work, changing threads isn't really a big deal and I've never seen a design yet that both machines won't sew. The stitch quality of the commercial machines is better, but a good home machine will stitch just fine if you learn the basics of stabilizers and hooping. Yes, you have to trim threads manually, but usually that isn't a big deal in a simple design. Those of us who do it all of the time like the big machines because you can turn them on and let them go. And I still spend time cleaning them up afterwards. The home machines require that you pretty much sit and watch so you can change and cut threads when appropriate. You can get a conversion program if necessary for free. I would not recommend buying off of ebay though, but that's just my preference. You may not have a good dealer close to you. You will get free lessons and support from a dealer and if you can find a good one, you wont be sorry. There will always be some who think you have to start up whole hog, and in some instances it is better, but not always and not for everybody. There are three shops in my area who all started with home machines so it can be done. Since you want to do simple logos(about 80% of buisness anyway), I'd worry as much about software as the machine. There is lots of digitizing software out there and it isn't something you can learn overnight. I'd say that is where your major bottleneck would be unless you sub that out. I do a lot of it for other shops and have used a lot of software. You don't need the top of the line stuff for that either. Just like everything else, learn the basics, then graduate to the big machines if and when you feel comfortable. IMHO of course.
We'll think about it for a while before we jump into anything.
Of course, if we can find a way to buy a professional machine once we're ready to get into embroidery, we will. But again, these are just simple left-chest logos that we're thinking of doing right now.
Thank you again. We're not doing anything RIGHT now.
WHY Not Home Machine to Start With? 
I've had this machine for 18months and it still hums away doing all I ask it to from t-shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces through to badges.
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