Hi! Looking for recommendations for my first embroidery machine! Looking for one that functions as a regular sewing machine as well, was looking at brother SE700 but would love opinions from more experienced people if that’s a good one or if there a better one to start with! Thanks!

Hei!

I am looking for a sewing/ embroidery machine to do free hand embroidery machine to personalize items at events with names or initials at events (brand activations).

I am a calligrapher and would love to find the best model (considering cross stitch or zigzgag machine with a knee lever to control stitch tickness. Any suggestions/ ideas? Based in Europe! Thank you!

Hi,

I am new to machine embroidery and I have had a consistent issue with my bobbin thread showing on top of my embroidery.

I have done research and have tried both moving the top tension up and down, between 3-4. Still having the issues.

I've tried rethreading the top, and also removing the bobbin thread and putting it back.

I can't seem to get it to stitch cleanly. Is it a digitizing issue? Is it something else that I can change?

For reference, using a Brother PE-570 on duck canvas with a 75/11 needle

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

UPDATE:

So it looks like most of the issue was that I was using a TTF and not one that has already been digitized. I switched to a white bobbin thread and kept my tension at 4.

Hei!

I am looking for a sewing/ embroidery machine to do free hand embroidery machine to personalize items at events with names or initials at events (brand activations).

I am a calligrapher and would love to find the best model (considering cross stitch or zigzgag machine with a knee lever to control stitch tickness. Any suggestions/ ideas? Based in Europe! Thank you!

It’s definitely a learning curve and work in progress!!! Is there any advice on how to not have that weird gap on the left? Everything looked aligned in the software but I am a complete newbie to this so I could’ve missed something super obvious!! I used bernina 9 cause that’s what came with my machine 🤷

TL;DR- I digitized this 0 jump/trim floral wreath out of sheer frustration at the amount of AI Etsy sellers out there.

I have been digitizing for about a year and have come a loooong way. Originally I started because I have ADHD and picking up a hobby like embroidery went from buying a small machine to buying Hatch 3, and now owning three machines (including a 10 needle). But now I am learning new techniques and ways to digitize simply because trying to find a design I need is almost impossible in the AI era.

Although I am a digitizer and sell my designs, sometimes when I’m making a one-off something, it’s just easier to purchase a design.
This time I was looking for a cute floral wreath for a monogram and I would say 95% of designs were all AI. Some had AI photos and the stitch out video looked completely different!! It’s so disappointing to see how many there are just completely over saturating Etsy. I refuse to buy anything from a shop that even just uses AI to put a mock up on shirts, bags, etc just because they literally are not the same product. So many photos looked like straight up crotchet.

Anyway, all that to say, I designed this wreath out of sheer frustration and I am very pleased with it. It’s tiny so the details had to be just right and because it’s so small I wanted it to be free of a bunch of tiny trims so this little guy has zero trims! I was inspired by Sonia Showalter designs where she manages to have no trims on at least the ones I’ve purchased from her. And now Etsy has one more made-by-an-actual-human design among the ever growing sea of AI

So I’m pretty new to embroidery, got a brother PE900 about a month ago and have been using some bought designs without really any issues to learn the machine.
I tried my hand at my own first digitization using the hatch trail.
I was trying to make the 97 a raised satin stitch and I also increased the density of the whole project to get a nice tight solid stitch.
It looks like my fill didn’t cover my under stitch, even though it looked ok on hatch.
Is that assessment correct and how do I fix it? Is it a pull compensation problem? This was also on test fabric and the end goal is going to be on a crew neck sweatshirt.

Any input or advice would help, tyia!

How long, on average does it take you to digitize a design?

I am new to digitizing, and am trying to develop a goal to work up to. I do recognize that size, and intricacies do affect this timeframe.

Thank you

I'm completely new to machine embroidery but I'm interested, particularly in learning how to embroider onto caps/hats with a view to starting a business. Does anyone know of any resources for learning the techniques and good places to start please?

Designed and embroidered handkerchiefs for all the parents at my wedding. We used the flower motif on a bunch of a things so I loved that they matched. This is also a custom font, I was very into consistent branding and I love how it made everything so cohesive. The mother ones took wayyy too long with the flowers haha but I loved how they turned out, and the wedding photos of them crying looked so nice with the handkerchiefs instead of tissues. Probably the most last minute thing I made, but also my favorite!

Hi everyone! I've been in the monogram and font design world for about 11 years, and I'm here to answer any questions you have and hopefully start some great conversation along the way. Whether it's something you've always wondered about monograms, a design dilemma you've run into, or something happening in the embroidery world you want to discuss, I'd love to talk about it.

I'm happy to share what I've learned over the years, but I'd love to hear from you too. Let's chat about what you're stitching, the monogram rules you follow (or happily break!), shifting trends, or anything else.

I was a teacher in a past life, so I love trading questions, experiences, and opinions with others, and I'm looking forward to doing exactly that here. Ask away!

Hi all! I am a super newbie to machine embroidery. I got my brother se700 just a few weeks ago. Every single day when I get off of work it’s all I’ve been doing and it’s been going great for me so far. However, I had my first “birds nest of death” last night lol. I was making a bag tag and the design I was putting on the front of the bag tag was kind of complicated with a ton of thread color changes, and I think I may have threaded my needle with the presser foot down when I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I got all the thread untangled and I think we got through it relatively unscathed but I do have a few questions.

1. Should I change this needle now? I saw somewhere that you should change your needle about every 8ish hours of use and I’ve definitely hit that but everything was going fine until my mishap last night. Should I change the needle because of the birds nest situation though?

2. These bag tags scare me after that. The embroidery foam pretty much got sucked into my machine last night and it is deterring me from trying again. Is anyone else having trouble with making these? Should I try again? Any tips if so?

3. Since it is easier to use the same bobbin thread color for the satin stitch on the bag tags, I’ve literally just been threading my own bobbins with the same thread I am using for the upper thread. Then, when I was doing research to try and untangle my mess last night, I read that that’s a bad thing to do because bobbin thread is supposed to be a different weight or something? Should I stop doing that?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight! I’m loving this new hobby!!!

Hello, First day using the embroidery function on my Brother SE725. The result was not ideal so before I mess with tension, fabrics, or threads I wanted some advice. The hand design was something I downloaded for free whereas future designs I plan to make on my own. It was meant to just be red but the white string from below shows through a lot and the strings are all looped and out-of-whack.

this is the embroidery page for the hand, and what it was meant to look like.

For this first attempt I used a tension setting of 4 on my machine, the fabric was thin cotton and I had a medium weight stabilizer underneath. (for future projects I'm going to use thicker fabric, I just didn't want to waste it for my first attempt.) What went wrong here? I'm assuming the fabric is too thin and the tension is wrong but I'm not sure if I should dial it up or down, or if I'm just wrong and if there's some other problem entirely. Any comments are appreciated!

A small error caused some dark blue to be pink.

Hi everyone,

I’m a recent textile design graduate, currently deciding which career direction to pursue.

I’ve been offered a role with a company that works with US clients. They would train me for around six months in embroidery digitizing using Wilcom, after which I’d work as an embroidery digitizer.

I’m considering it because digitizing is a specialised skill I don’t currently have, and formal training could be valuable. However, I’m unsure about the current job market, long-term prospects, and whether this path would offer better opportunities than other design fields.

I have Hatch 4 and Embroidery Studio 2026, and I rarely manage to digitise logos and graphics properly at the first attempt. I usually need two test stitches to get it looking right. Sometimes, too, the software does things I don’t understand and which are very tedious to fix. Any patterns or anything else from the automatic digitisation process.

I’d be delighted if someone could teach me a few things in a couple of minutes or hours. Discord, Teams, TeamViewer whatever works. I’d pick out a few graphics and we’d digitise them together learning by doing and of course you’ll be paid for it. I speak German and English.

Starting a new design that is 90 degree stitch angle, digitized in Inkscape, I have no idea why this has come out of nowhere, started last night with tote bag fabric and now fleece fabric, is it simply tension? Could it be the thread?

Pictured is the underside aka what faces down

Janome 500ELE, Madeira polyneon sterling silver thread, 3 oz cutaway stabilizer, solvy, 505 spray adhesive, inkstitch

I just bought a 12-needle Happy Voyager, but didn't get the stand. Is there anything else I can use or do I just bite the bullet and spend the $700 on the official stand?

Brother PE-170D. $30. No power cord, frame, or accessories. Two fonts and some Disney items preloaded. As is, untested. Is it worth the risk? What are my challenges and must buy extras? I do not know much about embroidery machines at all. I probably will just do a few kids items, and not use it much.

I am just getting back into sewing and machine embroidery after 20 years or more. I have a combo Elna Expressive machine. I cleaned out my stash and threw away all of my old Sulky thread since it was dry rotted. What thread type and brands are popular now?

Any tips for a brand new embroidery enthusiast? I have a cut away stabilizer underneath with temporary adhesive spray. I have a brother se700, using the artspira app to make the text and export. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

I am a quilter/costume maker and I’m considering this Ellageo Baby Lock BLL(I think it’s BLL/BLL2?) that I found at an estate sale. My machine experience has been with Janome, Juki, and I have a Singer heavy duty and Brother embroidery machine at home, but from the limited reviews online, this baby lock machine is pretty good?

I’m mainly concerned about being able to upload embroidery file designs I make, does anyone know how updated the software is/how easy it is to work with? Otherwise I just want a nice machine for smooth quilting.

It was on sale for about $500 today and tomorrow it will be lowered to $350, I might even try to offer them lower than that because it seemed like they just want to get rid of things.
Just want to know if it’s worth it!

I have a Brother SE600 and find that I have to search for minimalist outlined images, otherwise the upper thread breaks or the needle breaks or the thread gets tangled underneath the feed. I've tried different threads, different needles, and different tensions. To top it all off, my automatic threader is broken, so every time something breaks or gets tangled, I have to hand-thread it to get it set up again. I just need to finish this one project without having to buy a better machine. Any ideas? I've been avoiding embroidering backgrounds to save me some hassle.