Buying The Best Embroidery Machine for Beginners

hi everybody welcome to my channel my name is lauren and today i'm going to be talking to you all about choosing your first embroidery machine or what is the best embroidery machine to buy for a beginner this video is aimed at anyone who's just starting out with a hobby of embroidery we're focusing on single needle machines not larger industrial multi-needle machines we're not going to be talking about those today and we're also not going to be talking about integrated sewing and embroidery machines however a lot of what i say today will probably apply to those sorts of machines but this video is working on the assumption that you're a complete beginner you don't know what to get exactly and you're looking for a bit of guidance on your first embroidery machine so with that in mind we're going to be talking about domestic single needle embroidery machines and we're going to be going over a lot of hints and tips and then eventually i'm going to give you my personal opinion on what is the best embroidery machine to buy for a complete beginner this is the video i really wish i'd watched four years ago when i was buying my first embroidery machine it's all the things that i learned after purchasing an embroidery machine which i wish i'd known beforehand or which i'd known to research beforehand because as somebody who doesn't sew who doesn't really craft when i first started looking into purchasing an embroidery machine i didn't really know what i was looking for and now i do so hopefully i can pass on some helpful advice to you and you'll be a little bit better informed as you start researching embroidery machines and choosing the machine that best suits your needs so in this video today we're going to be covering five things firstly what will you be using your embroidery machine for the most then we're going to talk about how big these projects are going to be so that we can start actually looking at an embroidery machine and talking about the technical specifications of embroidery machines and what features they have how these features vary between models then we're going to look at budgeting and how you can save some money purchasing your first machine and finally we're gonna talk about what else do you need because it isn't just purchasing an embroidery machine there's a lot of other stuff that goes with it that you will need in order to embroider so before diving in head first and starting to look at embroidery machines you need to ask yourself what will you be using your embroidery machine for the most are you going to be making embroidery patches do you want to embroider huge designs on the backs of denim jackets do you want to put monograms onto t-shirts do you want to personalize your clothes then once you have a rough idea in mind of what it is you want to be making we're going to move quite quickly on to point number two which is how big are these projects going to be now this part is important you might not have considered it i certainly know i didn't consider the size of my projects when i bought my machine you'll find that not all embroidery machines are created equal and some of them might be restricted in their capabilities so you might have it in your head that you want to make this grand design but then you discover that your embroidery machine isn't capable of doing so really plan out in your head beforehand how big are these designs going to be and then if you can get out the measuring tape or a ruler and see exactly the dimensions of these designs if you've listened to that and now you're thinking well i have no clue how big my projects are going to be how do i know or how will i find out well here's a helpful tip i'm going to direct you to two online resources um i just want to point out that this video isn't sponsored in any way these are just two online tools which i refer to regularly and i find them very helpful i'll put the links in the descriptions below the first website is urban threads and the second website is embroidery library these websites sell pre-made embroidery designs that you can purchase and put onto your embroidery machine and then you stitch them out at this point obviously you don't have an embroidery machine yet but these two websites are still very useful because you can type into those websites to solve things you're interested in making and literally hundreds of designs will come up you will definitely find something that is relevant to your interests and then when you find that design you can click on it and you will see alongside the design are the dimensions of the design so you can find out how big that project will be when it's complete and this is really important and brings us quite swiftly on to point number three as i said not all embroidery machines are created equal one of the things that really let me down when i purchased my first embroidery machine is that i went for the cheapest embroidery machine i could find which also happened to be the smallest embroidery machine when you start looking at embroidery machines to purchase the first thing you want to look at is how big is that embroidery machine's sewing field the sewing field might also be referred to as the hoop size and by hoop size i am referring to this this is your embroidery hoop and this is the space in which the embroidery machine is capable of embroidering these sewing fields or hoop sizes vary from machine to machine a smaller cheaper machine might only be capable of embroidering in a 10 centimeter by 10 centimeters space or that's four inches by four inches for any uh international people watching this video you can buy embroidery machines with larger hoop sizes for larger projects but obviously the larger the hoop you tend to find the more expensive the machine but be mindful you don't want to buy a machine because it's cheaper and find out the hoop size is too small and you can't embroider any of the projects that you want to make the next thing you want to check out is does the embroidery machine you're looking at have automatic thread cut in some people might consider this a bit of a luxury but it is the ultimate time saver automatic thread cut in is this you see how the machine cuts the thread at one point then moves and starts stitching at the next point if this embroidery machine didn't have the automatic thread cut down there would be a long length of thread stretching between the end point where it cuts and then the point where it starts stitching again and then you'll have to go back and manually cut out that long jump stitch by hand which not only is time consuming you'll also run the risk of damage in your project if you slip up with the scissors so i would really recommend checking to see whether your first embroidery machine has an automatic thread cutter or not because it is worth a lot the next thing is the speed of the embroidery machine how fast can it finish a project the speed of an embroidery machine is measured in stitches per minute generally speaking smaller and cheaper embroidery machines run at 450 stitches per minute as a maximum speed the maximum stitch speed of a mid-range embroidery machine is about 700 stitches per minute and then as you look at embroidery machines that are say 2 000 pounds plus those machines tend to run at about 1 000 stitches per minute as a top speed now here's where it tends to get a little bit technical in regards to speed but try to bear with me as it's something i've learned over the course of using a variety of different embroidery machines and that is when an advert states that an embroidery machine runs at 1 000 stitches per minute it's a little bit of a gimmick because what it should really say is the machine runs up to 1000 stitches per minute how fast a machine runs is dependent on how a design is digitized the spaces between stitches have to be at an optimum length for the embroidery machine to run consistently at its top speed i'd say most embroidery machines are comfortable at stitching at about 700 stitches per minute the speed will only then increase if the stitches are really short which is why in my opinion you will notice a bigger difference in how long an embroidery machine takes to complete a project between an embroidery machine that only runs at 450 stitches per minute and a machine that runs at 700 stitches per minute there's a big difference between those two speeds and how fast they will complete a project compared with a mid-range embroidery machine that runs at 700 stitches per minute as a top speed and the higher value embroidery machines that run up to a thousand stitches per minute and this is because the 1000 stitches per minute speed isn't sustainable and as most embroidery designs have variable stitch lengths then the machines tend to run a little bit slower so keep that in mind if a machine is advertised as being able to run at over 700 or 800 stitches per minute this is just my experience i'm sure somebody disagrees they will voice that disagreement in the comment section below another factor relevant to speed is the faster you run your embroidery machine the louder it's going to be so you need to take into consideration where you're going to put your embroidery machine when you buy it because if you have neighbors they might not be that impressed to shoot all day all night coming through the partition wall i've put my machines on an outside wall in a semi-detached house and so far i've had no complaints but it's just something to think of and then when you do find a space for your embroidery machine it's important to remember that the embroidery dimensions don't actually just relate to the physical size of the machine itself you need to think that the embroidery hoop is on an axis and that access moves forwards and backwards and side to side and that can take up even more space so make sure your embroidery machine is away from a wall and make sure there are no obstructions that your hoop could bump into because if your hoop hits something or if your hoop is unable to move in the direction it wants to move you'll find that you'll wreck a lot of embroidery designs as the hoop is aligned and the needle might not be able to fall where it wants to or where it should so now that you've got all of the technical things sused out it's time to think of budgeting how much you're prepared to pay you might be thinking lauren you've just told me that the cheapest machine is too small and i'm going to outgrow it as soon as i buy it possibly the general rule of thumb with embroidery is you should try to buy as big as you can afford but if you purchase a larger machine and you spend all of your budget on the machine you're gonna come home and realize oh no i haven't got any of the other things i need to embroider equally you might be thinking well a smaller machine might be better for me because i'm just starting out in the hobby and i don't know if something i want to stick with you don't want to be spending two thousand pounds on something that turns into a glorified paperweight my top tip for keeping costs down when buying your first embroidery machine is buy it secondhand and i don't mean buy it off ebay or gumtree even though those are two great resources to buy cheap embroidery machines from i personally bought three industrial embroidery machines second hand off ebay and all these transactions have worked out just fine but i was very confident in what i was buying i knew what i was looking for and also i had the opportunity to be able to see the machine running before i purchased the people i bought them from let me come along with my own designs and i was able to run my own designs off on the embroidery machine before i put down any cash which is a must do not buy any secondhand embroidery machine without being able to see it running first which is why i really recommend you do a little bit of research and you find out where your local embroidery dealer is this might just be because i have a really fantastic relationship with my local embroidery machine dealer but i recommend you get onto google and you find out where your local embroidery machine shop is in the uk there tends to be one in every major city and if you go to this shop in person i know that's a little bit of a funny thing to suggest now here in 2020 and these times of social distancing but if you can go to that shop in person and meet with the dealer and say hey i'm looking to start up this new hobby and i'm interested in purchasing a machine from you whether it's second hand or brand new the dealer is there he is going to support you he's going to answer all of your questions i'm saying he i'm assuming his gender it's just because my embroidery machine dealer is a man and he's really great but it could be she they they are going to want to help you throughout through the process of purchasing your first embroidery machine and also it's great to strike up a good relationship at the start because they're going to want to help you out if you purchase your embroidery machine from them you'll have a friend for life because they're going to want you to keep coming back to them to buy your consumables your threads your needles your stabilizer and it's very reassuring to have somebody local who can help you out in your times of need i'm not saying things will go wrong but if ever they do having that point of contact where you can physically take your embroidery machine to and say it's making this terrible sound what do i do and have somebody pat you on the back and say it's okay we can fix this that is worth the world that brings me to what embroidery machine would i personally recommend for a beginner i'd recommend you stick with a popular brand for your first embroidery machine uh like singer or genome because as they're quite popular machines you'll find that your embroidery machine dealer will have experience with those machines and be able to fix it if there's an issue which is why the brand that i would recommend over all other brands for your first embroidery machine is brother brothers seem to have a monopoly on the uk market their every embroidery machine dealer i have been to i'd say 90 percent of them sell brother machines which means even if you move away to a different part of the country there should be a shop in your area that also services brother machines so you'll always have a point of contact to take your machine to for advice and servicing specifically what brother embroidery machine i'd recommend to start out with whether you buy it secondhand or new the embroidery machine i'd recommend for a beginner is the brother innovate f440e i haven't personally owned this embroidery machine myself but i owned the model below it which i've forgotten the name of and the model above it which was the brother v3 the brother v3 costs 2 000 pounds which i think is a little bit pricey for a first machine but the machine that i'm recommending to you the innovas f4 f440e yeah that machine costs 900 pounds brand new including vat which is still expensive but it's a popular machine so if you do find that the hobby isn't for you you can always sell that machine on whether you take it back to the dealer and and they just take it off your hands and sell it for you or whether you put it on ebay yourself and try and sell it to someone else it's a popular machine and it's great for starting out with for a number of reasons the machine only weighs 10 kilograms so it's quite portable like even even i could pick that up just about it's always a light machine you can take it home with you yourself from the shop you can set it up yourself it's no great big drama to get it in and out of the house the machine has a 13 centimeter by 8 centimeters so in field which generally speaking most of the designs you can buy online will have some version that fits within those sizes because it's a very popular hoop site and you'll also find you're not as restricted starting out as you would be if you purchased a smaller embroidery machine with a 10 by 10 embroidery or sewing field the top stitching speed is 650 stitches per minute so it's by no means the slowest machine which is decent i mean it's not the fastest speed out there but as we mentioned before even the bigger machines rarely hit those top stitching speeds unless the design has been specifically set up to stitch at the fastest setting so 650 stitches per minute is pretty good it also has a usb port so you can take your embroidery designs directly from the computer and just plug them into the side of your embroidery machine and off you go and last of all it has that all-important thread cutter and we really like the thread cutter it's a good thing to have that machine is my personal recommendation that's not to say that any other brand you buy won't be just as good i just personally feel that with brother machines you have that little bit of extra reassurance when you purchase them because there are so many people in the uk selling brother machines so by now if your head is bursting with ideas you know what you want to make and you know how you're going to make it and hopefully i haven't overwhelmed you too much with all of my ramblings the next thing we're going to talk about is what consumables you actually need in order to make your designs so what else do you need aside from the embroidery machine we're going to start with talking about threads it doesn't really matter what thread you buy if you're just starting out if you purchase some cheap and branded thread off ebay that will probably work out just fine but be prepared to have more thread breaks and thread tears with unbranded thread than you would when buying a poplar brand like say madeira or isocord i personally use madeira's classic cottons they come in a very wide range of colors and they're all lovely vibrant shades and they really make your embroidery design stand out the next thing you'll need is material to embroider the designs onto scrap material is fine if you have old t-shirts or old bed sheets you can embroider onto those i personally like to embroider onto felt because i find i have really good results with felt i like to embroider any test designs onto felt first before putting them onto the final garment or wherever they're going to end up this is because felt is really easy to stabilize and it doesn't shift around as much as say a stretchy lycra or similar if you are stitching onto fabrics that shift around a lot then you need stabilizer you should stabilize every material anyway there are so so so many stabilizers to choose from and i'm going to make a separate video talking about stabilizers and what each type does however just to get you going i recommend you purchase a medium weight cutaway stabilizer as that tends to be a very safe option then you're going to need bobbin thread embroidery machine especially if you're buying it brand new usually comes with a reel of bobbin thread bobbin thread is the white thread you see on the underside of embroidery designs then you're going to need embroidery needles you tend to find that needles usually come with the embroidery machine as well so when you run out you can just look at the packing needles you already have and buy the same again if they're working well for you you can swap brands but it's just helpful to see what you're already using to compare it to what else is out there so you make sure that even if you get a different brand you're still getting the same type of needle that works with your embroidery machine and then lastly is either creating your own embroidery designs or purchasing pre-made embroidery designs of etsy or like i said earlier urban threads or embroidery library there are absolutely loads of online resources out there and i really recommend you join in a few facebook groups so you can see what other people are making and then you can always ask them where did you buy that design and more often and they'll share the resource then you can head to that website and you can purchase that embroidery design from yourself online to create for yourself uh if you want to make your own pictures into embroidery patterns then you're either going to have to invest in some digitizing software digitizing software is another expense it can be anything from 300 pounds to 4 000 pounds however you don't need to shell out on digitizing software immediately if you don't want to if you want to get your own designs turned into stitchable files there are people who digitize for a living so you can just take your picture or take your logo send it off to a digitizer they'll then give you a quote and then you can decide whether or not you want to use their service and they will turn your image into an embroidery pattern for you to use on your embroidery machine and yeah i think that about covers it i hope i haven't scared you off or overwhelmed you too much if you have any questions or comments please leave them below and i'll respond to you if i can i really hope you found this video helpful and hopefully i'll see you next time thank you goodbye

Channel: Pink Bird Embroidery

Views: 53,054

Keywords: machine embroidery, embroidery machine, beginners, starting out, embroidery made easy, choosing an embroidery machine, the best embroidery machine for beginners, hobby, hobby machines, embroidery basics, learning to embroidery, tutorial

Id: 3Je16ePAkQE

Length: 21min 48sec (1308 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 27 2020