In reply to a previous post about machine embroidery. There are stand alone machines. They are great for beginners, but it sounds to me that for someone who wants to use their own designs a better machine is the one to go with. Unfortunately it also comes with a bigger price tag, at least the figure on it is bigger. One needs digitising software to go from a drawing to a design that is ready for stitching out. Neither my wife, the embroiderer, or I are artists, but given a good drawing I scan it and make it into a bitmap or jpg, again this depends on what the software can do. Digitising is not easy. See what the machimne dealer has to offer. A Bernina dealer in Adelaide, Australia, has an embroidery forum once a month. December is sausage sizzle month and January is off as the forum is held on the first Saturday of the month. For every forum there is a newsletter in which a technique or project is discussed in length. The newsletter is published on his website these days, it used to be sent around the world, but this became too unwieldy.
If anyone is interested I can give the website.
Frits
