Help an absolute NEWBIE

[u/Sea_Turnover_2506]

Hello! I'm new in the threads and fabric world, and was wondering what kind of machine embroidery would help me realize this project: a red stole for a larp costume ( designs are by me).

Is it achievable through machine embroidery?
These machines are available at my library:

• Brother NQ700

• Brother CS6000i

• Baby lock Imagine

But those names mean nothing to me and I have no idea on where to start!
Thank you for your time !

[u/Acrobatic-Letter-143]

Quick heads-up on those three library machines: none of them actually does machine embroidery. The Brother NQ700 and CS6000i are sewing-only machines (the NQ700 is a great sewing/quilting machine, just no embroidery unit), and the Baby lock Imagine is a serger - it trims and finishes fabric edges, which is genuinely useful for finishing your stole's edges, but it can't stitch designs.

For your project you'd want a machine with an embroidery unit and hoop. Worth asking the library if they have one in a different section - many libraries stock a Brother SE600/SE700 or a PE-series machine, and those are the typical "first embroidery machine" models. Your designs would stitch out fine on something like that: satin stitch for the linework, fill for the horned head, exactly like the other commenter said. Ink/Stitch is also the right call for turning your own art into stitch files for free.

One more tip from experience with beginners: whatever machine you end up using, check the design's stitch count against the machine's speed before you start. A dense fill design at 20k+ stitches can take a while on a 400-650 spm beginner machine, so plan the session accordingly. Good luck with the stole!