[mh22gw]

hi
We are planning to buy a emboideey machine. Now I wonder If it is possible to do our own designs? Can you please point me in right direction? We know how to work with vector art We prints shirts.

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[imarcnut]

Hi! The short answer is "yes". You can download demo versions of software and play around to get a feel for designing. I use Embird, might not have all the features of the "big boys" but it works for me and the price isn't too bad. Digitizing yourself can take a long time to do up designs but you can tweak and adjust as needed if something isn't right. Using outside digitizers can save a lot of time (money) and money (time) and there are a lot to choose from. Talk to the machine vendors, some offer software and lessons ( mine didn't) which will make the curve much shorter.

 

[skits]

Yes it is practically possible to make your own designs but if I were you I would first learn to run the machine and all the aspects of the machine before I get into digitizing because there's a lot to learn.

If you wish to do both, how will you ever know if the problem is the design or the machine?

I would suggest outsource the digitizing. And watching the design run is half the training for digitizing done.

 

[tfalk]

Be forewarned... just about every embroidery software program out there will tell you it can auto-digitize pictures, vectors, etc... Can they create shapes? Yes. Will it stitch to a quality that you can sell? Rarely. As much as printing is an art form, so is embroidery and digitizing. Text, particularly small lettering, is another art that most people rarely achieve.

Your best bet to start is:

1) Buy designs that are already digitized
2) Have an experienced digitizer create files for you
3) Watch how they stitch and learn how/why the digitizer did it the way they did
4) Experiment with your own designs

 

[mh22gw]

Thanks for your answers. I have understand that it is not so easy as i first thoghth. I think i will outsource and learn as your say.

One other question. Is it wrong way of thinking like this, we buy a simple cheap machine ro start with and learn The most basic skills. We havet looked at a Singer XL 400. The the reason we look at this machine is that it has big embroidery area and is cheap. If we learn how to do we will buy a better machine.

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[skits]

2 Ways of seeing this:

yes its a good idea to get into the industry with small investment to try it out. then when you see a potential for it, you can buy a multihead machine and this single head can then become your sampling machine.

no its not a good idea because it won't be a good situation to know the demand out there because with a single head you will be limited with output volume. what if you get an order for 100 pcs?

 

[Mtnview]

Singer XL 400? Are you starting a hobby or a business? That is not a production machine. You will have to thread the bobbins often and you will have to stop the sewing and change the bobbin with each thread color change in the design.

 

[mh22gw]

I know it is a hobby machine. I was thinking it may be is a good idea to start with a cheap machine and learn to do emroidery. If we dont like it or not learning we have not spent so much money on the machine.

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[Mtnview]

I know it is a hobby machine.

Alright then. Just wanted to make sure you knew the limitations on a machine like that. Machines like that have small bobbins which you will need to thread from a larger spool. For every color you will have to change that bobbin. Even if you have just three colors but the design requires each of those colors to be sewn at different sequences with multiple breaks in the sewing you will have a lot of time involved in one sewing. Example: design has red, white and blue. Your design requires 3 different breaks in the sewing sequence for each of those 3 colors. You are changing the bobbin out nearly a dozen times for one job.

 

[mh22gw]

I guess you right. But do you think it can be a good machine to learn emroidery.

I mean it is a big difference to pay 2000 usd or pay 20000 usd. well i guess you understand what i mean. It also Will take monthes before we can have any income from emroidery i think it Will take AT least three month before we have learned so much so we can sell it.

So when we are ready to go for production we will buy a production machine. Then we just need to learn The new machine.

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[Mtnview]

...do you think it can be a good machine to learn emroidery.

Couldn't really say. I have never used something like that.

 

[tfalk]

At one point in time, we bought a single needle machine as a backup. Ran some one color lace designs on it, decided it wasn't worth the effort and traded it in on another 6 needle machine.

The only way I would consider starting with a single needle is if the shop you purchase it from has a 100% trade in within a year like the shop I do business with does. Even with that, I don't think it's worth the trouble. Outsource to start and if you have the volume, then buy at least a 6 needle machine to start.

 

[Mtnview]

If you outsource like Ted says that frees up your time to concentrate on other aspects of the business. If you really want to learn embroidery see any big shops in your area are hiring.