I do and I love it. I do hand work too, but there's something soothing and relaxing listening to the machine run. (besides you can start the machine, and sew on a second machine and be twice as productive) It can also be quite hypnotic to watch the needle jump up and down.
I buy many of my designs at the shop I work at, but I also really like being able to buy my designs individually. Unfortunately design collections can be really expensive, and as cool as they may be, if I'm not going to use them all it's just not practical. So here's my reviews of some of my favorite places to get machine embroidery files online. Some of the sites are country specific (I'm in the US) so if you have a problem let me know and I'll see if I can find you the right link.
Embroidery.com is one of my favorites for downloading both packs of designs and individual designs. They're the online vendor for Cactus Punch designs and you can buy them individually as well as the whole package. They also sell lots of smaller vendor designs, and I've never purchased anything that has stitched out poorly. Make sure you get on their mailing list, they've got amazing sales.
I also have a coupons for 5 free designs from them... We hand them out at work for people to try the site and start embroidering on their new machines!
1. Go to www.embroidery.com
2. Enter your sewprize number in the box on the upper right hand corner AFG6K8PC427J
3. You can then download the 5 designs in your choice of formats
Ann the Gran.com
Ann the Gran has lots of designs as well, including large names like Dakota and Vermillion Stitchery. They also have a large section of the website devoted to free designs that can be stitched on items to sell, give, or keep for yourself. The free designs vary in quality as they've been digitized by users of the site and not necessarily an individual company or a professional.
Criswell Embroidery and Design
The Criswell site is full or gorgeous machine embroidered lace. They do sell through dealers as well so you may want to see if there is a store or shop near you that sells them. They're thread intensive, but are amazing once they're finished! My personal favorites are the snowflake lace and the Peacocks 2 CD.
Embroidery Library
Again- lots of designs and well organized. Also well digitized, and they offer various free and cheap designs. They have great sales a well and routinely have 17 cent designs.
Zundt Designs
These are some of the most elegant designs available. They've got religious designs, kids, lace, etc. They're amazing well digitized and again, stitch intensive. I have one of the butterfly CDs and it's unbelievable. They sell hard copies (CDs) and downloads.
Pfaff Software Online
These are a sampling of Pfaff Embroidery Designs online (often including the ones they use in their advertising campaigns). These are the FREE designs :) click on the Downloads sections, and then on "Showcase Sample Designs" for the different groups. It's a random assortment of files, all well digitized, but only available is *.VIP, *.PCS and *.DST. You can always convert them if necessary. Pfaff's home website also has a few free designs available here. The design to the right is from the Grand Elegance Collection by Pfaff (Not Free though, Sorry).
Inspira
Inspira designs have been bought by VSM (which owns Pfaff, Viking, and Singer), and are now available here. They're great for kids, but not so much of it is grownup looking. They're pretty straightforward designs, few color changes, and nice.
Bernina Designs
Bernina designs are in the same quality bracket as Pfaff and Viking. They stitch amazingly and they're expensive. So even better if they're free! Bernina has an inspiration gallery with free designs located here.
Viking Sewing
Viking again are high quality designs, and expensive. They have a selection of free designs on their website here and here.
Whew! That's a lot of links for you to look at- This is just a beginning, I'm sure There will be more to come.
I buy many of my designs at the shop I work at, but I also really like being able to buy my designs individually. Unfortunately design collections can be really expensive, and as cool as they may be, if I'm not going to use them all it's just not practical. So here's my reviews of some of my favorite places to get machine embroidery files online. Some of the sites are country specific (I'm in the US) so if you have a problem let me know and I'll see if I can find you the right link.
Embroidery.com is one of my favorites for downloading both packs of designs and individual designs. They're the online vendor for Cactus Punch designs and you can buy them individually as well as the whole package. They also sell lots of smaller vendor designs, and I've never purchased anything that has stitched out poorly. Make sure you get on their mailing list, they've got amazing sales.
I also have a coupons for 5 free designs from them... We hand them out at work for people to try the site and start embroidering on their new machines!
1. Go to www.embroidery.com
2. Enter your sewprize number in the box on the upper right hand corner AFG6K8PC427J
3. You can then download the 5 designs in your choice of formats
Ann the Gran.com
Ann the Gran has lots of designs as well, including large names like Dakota and Vermillion Stitchery. They also have a large section of the website devoted to free designs that can be stitched on items to sell, give, or keep for yourself. The free designs vary in quality as they've been digitized by users of the site and not necessarily an individual company or a professional.
Criswell Embroidery and Design
The Criswell site is full or gorgeous machine embroidered lace. They do sell through dealers as well so you may want to see if there is a store or shop near you that sells them. They're thread intensive, but are amazing once they're finished! My personal favorites are the snowflake lace and the Peacocks 2 CD.
Embroidery Library
Again- lots of designs and well organized. Also well digitized, and they offer various free and cheap designs. They have great sales a well and routinely have 17 cent designs.
Zundt Designs
These are some of the most elegant designs available. They've got religious designs, kids, lace, etc. They're amazing well digitized and again, stitch intensive. I have one of the butterfly CDs and it's unbelievable. They sell hard copies (CDs) and downloads.
Pfaff Software Online
These are a sampling of Pfaff Embroidery Designs online (often including the ones they use in their advertising campaigns). These are the FREE designs :) click on the Downloads sections, and then on "Showcase Sample Designs" for the different groups. It's a random assortment of files, all well digitized, but only available is *.VIP, *.PCS and *.DST. You can always convert them if necessary. Pfaff's home website also has a few free designs available here. The design to the right is from the Grand Elegance Collection by Pfaff (Not Free though, Sorry).
Inspira
Inspira designs have been bought by VSM (which owns Pfaff, Viking, and Singer), and are now available here. They're great for kids, but not so much of it is grownup looking. They're pretty straightforward designs, few color changes, and nice.
Bernina Designs
Bernina designs are in the same quality bracket as Pfaff and Viking. They stitch amazingly and they're expensive. So even better if they're free! Bernina has an inspiration gallery with free designs located here.
Viking Sewing
Viking again are high quality designs, and expensive. They have a selection of free designs on their website here and here.
Whew! That's a lot of links for you to look at- This is just a beginning, I'm sure There will be more to come.
