I have very limited knowledge so far on machine embroidery but doing as much research as I can to learn, as classes are not in the budget right now. I have been overwhelmed by the huge amount of embroidery designs both free and paid that are available. I have been downloading and buying a few designs but only used my machine once.

If you choose not to work on dishcloths, get an inexpensive tablecloth and stitch designs on it. The less than perfect ones can often be corrected with a fine tip magic marker and you have a work in progress that you can use in the meantime. Putting designs on pillowcases is another idea, as well an napkins. you are practicing and learning but also making something to use. Fun - Fun.

Hi Sewmum, and welcome to Cute! You have found the most important site of all because of this feature! You can't go wrong with a membership to cuteembroidery.com and you will be amazed at the bargain it is. My best advice to you would be to jump in and start stitching. At first I would get really nervous just to stitch something. I bought lots of those cheap dish cloths, the cotton ones that are huge, and practiced on those. Just jump in and get your feet wet. It's okay if you have some disasters - which you probably won't!

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by hightechgrammy 31 Dec 2013

I've never taken a formal class, just learned from my friends and the other Cuties!

Hi after stitching out a few designs you will soon decide what are quality and which are not. Stop or slow down the collecting designs and enjoy yourself with embroidery instead. Before you know it you will have a heap of sew out designs. Happy sewing

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by asterixsew 31 Dec 2013

I havenot had a lesson on how to use a embroidery machine but have passed the bug on to others

Great advice from our Cuties below...and Sue is so right...this community has lots of knowledge and experience, so if you have a question..by all means...ask...Welcome to Cute!

You have already been given some good advice. Remember that all knowledge is here so ask any questions you want to ask - don't struggle on alone!
There is no substitiute for actually trying out some designs. Why not start with some of those which are built in to your machine?
You could also give us some idea of the styles you like and what you want to do with the designs, then perhaps we could make some recommendations.
Finally, if you haven't already done so, take advantage of the membership sale on this site. That will allow you to download 100's of fabulous designs to play with.

Avoid designs that do not show a stitch-out; a software generated picture does not tell the whole truth. I found it best to store the designs per site, so I could remove the whole lot if I found them unsatisfactory.
Freebies often are a way to show the quality a site offers - those are well worth having.
On blogs etc you might find designs varying from excellent to very poor indeed, especially if they are auto-digitised (which they won't tell you) and some might even be illegal. Some time ago I did a design 3 ways: completely auto-digitised, partly done that way and manually and the results show the difference - see link.
Jump stitches can be unavoidable, but are often the result of poor pathing (not thinking about a logical stitching order). I've seen designs offered which image looked pretty but that had over 300 jump stitches, an embroiderer's nightmare!

It is a great help when you have some customising software, especially when it lets you virtually stitch out the design - that way you can see if it has underlay, stitches in a logical order etc.
So my advice is to stick to reputable digitisers / sites when your only way of checking the designs is stitching them.

O.K. it shouldn't have done that - click on the address below or if id doesn't work just type in the address below in your search engine.

http://lynniepinnie.com/Good_Desi...

Love Chris

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by Sewmum1 31 Dec 2013

Great, that's it thanks so much

I've found some information on Linnie Pinnie's pages that tell you what to look for. I tend to only buy from reputable companies where you can tell as soon as you look at the designs whether or not they are going to be good. I think it's a bit of trial and error when you are first starting off but you will soon learn to be selective with designs. Good luck. Love Chris

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by Sewmum1 31 Dec 2013

Thank you for that link. I am off to have a read right now
Karryn

by Sewmum1 31 Dec 2013

Chris that link takes me to the main page, but think I have found some information on the tips and tricks page.

thanks