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Embroidery too??


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Hi all,  I have been pondering whether its worth the time and money to have embroidery capabilities for my quilt customers.  I do mostly tshirt and memory quilts with occasional embroidery pieces as a part of the quilt (or pillow).  I do longarm as well.  So, with all of that, is it worth it to try to do my own embroidery as well?  I don't have an embroidery machine and I would have to be taught the whole process.  I find that I mostly need embroidery pieces with words only, no images.

 

Thanks for your help!!  Denise in Georgia

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Denise-I have an embroidery machine (Bernina) and when I purchased it, I thought I'd be embroidering "everything". Alas, it hasn't worked out that way. To embroider words, you are going to need a computer with embroidery software. Problem is, the software is constantly being updated and of course, they want more money for that. When I changed computers, the "old" software wouldn't run on my new computer and to update the software, ....well you know the rest. What little embroidery I do, I can not justify all the upgrades. Mostly what I do is: Baby name and date of birth or Bride & Groom with the wedding date. Occasionally there is a quilt label. My advise is to consider the $$$$$. Will it be profitable? In my case, it wasn't.

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I also have an embroidery unit for my Bernina.  It's fun, but I use it mostly for my granddaughter's stuff.  I wouldn't think that adding it to a quilting option would be very profitable.  There is a lot that goes into it, and don't forget the thread which is not cheap.  I agree with Vickie that the software needs to be updated and if you don't even own the machine yet, that's a huge expense for occasional use.  I tend to jump in with both feet when I start a project, and I would even shy away from that one!

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I have a Brother Quattro for embroidery.  Some of my quilt customers have me embroider the label information right onto the quilt backing before I quilt the quilt.  I charge $1.50 per thousand stitches plus $5.00 for every time I have to re-hoop.   With my Quattro the fonts are  built right in the machine.  I do have other programs for lettering as well but it is super easy to just use the built in fonts and do it right on the machine screen.  I really got the Quattro for my own fun purposes, but this gives me a little justification for getting the machine.  Watch out though, embroidery is a whole new addiction to add to the quilting "problem" we all have!  Isn't it fun to be quilters...we will never be bored!

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I did embroidery before I got my longarm and I had fun with it but I never got the top of the line embroidery program....some machines now come with a lot already built into the machine...but top of the line embroidery machines can cost more than a brand new Lucey....and then if you want the fancy software add on more $$$.  I paid about $500 for my simple embroidery editing program....but...if you want to do just labels and words, you may get by with a simpler machine and program...the programs do get replaced every few years and to stay up with the latest, you would have to upgrade frequently.....I have my old computer and my old software and am thinking what I should have done was to stop upgrading the old computer and take it off line and just keep on using it with my old embroidery program until the computer goes belly up.  I probably will never buy another embroidery machine again although it is fun and who knows...maybe when I am too old to long arm I may sit in my wheelchair and embroider away!  Lin

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I agree with the other ladies.  I happen to have an embroidery business along with longarm.  My machines are multineedle Brothers and I love them.  Unless you are planning on jumping head into embroidery one of the domestic machines with embroidery would work.   You can make quilt labels and wording on them just fine.  A friend of mine makes a killing on "mug rugs".  It all depends on how much time you have to play.  The Brother embroidery machines have a lot of designs and fonts built into them so you wouldn't need extra software unless you want to dig deeper into the emb business.  Most Brother machines have a usb port so you can us designs downloaded from the internet too.  Embroidery capable machines aren't cheap but do-able.  I also have the Brother Quattro which is a single needle embroidery and regular sewing machine.  I prefer the Brother over Bernina for embroidery.  I also have the Bernina 440QE (sewing machine addiction).  I feel the Bernina embroidery software/programs are harder to use then the others plus they picky with their .art formats.  I know a lot of quilters that like the Husqvarna too.  Check around, I think there's a few used machines on here for sale, I saw ae Babylock Elisimo  being advertised recently.  I use Glide thread on my longarm and embroidery machines.  The sky is the limit.  You'll never get rich doing embroidery or longarm but it's fun and very rewarding. 

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