There's nothing more satisfying than completing a hand-embroidered project – especially when the actual making of that project took too many hours and saw you picking out stitch mistake after stitch mistake. Sometimes that completion can end up being the last a person ever sees of their embroidery kit because the project was so frustrating.
Enter machine embroidery. No longer are embroidery machines limited to industrial facilities run by big companies. You can now buy embroidery machines that look like slightly bigger-than-normal sewing machines and upload patterns into the machine's memory. If you truly prefer to embroider by hand, you can still do that, but adding machine embroidery to your repertoire can bring a few welcome benefits.
Finish Projects Faster
One is that projects can be finished much more quickly. Some machines can do hundreds of stitches per minute, making short work of small projects. If you've moved and want to decorate your new place, want to create gifts for friends, or just add your initials to everything you own, you can do that in a short amount of time. Stitch speed varies by machine and by project, but in most cases, the machine will be faster than your hands.
No Mistakes to Unpick
Machine embroidery is done via computer program now, so as long as the connections and software are working well, and the pattern has all the correct stitches, the project shouldn't have any mistakes in it. Compare that to hand-embroidering, where you could end up making an extra stitch in a color you intended to stop using earlier, forcing you to unpick the mistake. Unpicking once or twice is no big deal, but when you're making a big project and end up unpicking numbers in the double digits, it gets to be a little oppressive.
Consistency Between Copies
A programmed embroidery machine will turn out consistent copies of the same pattern. That combined with the fast stitch speed means you could turn out many copies of the same design, which is exactly what you need if you want to start an embroidery business. Embroidery machines cost maybe a little more than sewing machines of equivalent quality, but the investment could be worth it to you if you know your embroidery designs are popular and could sell well.
Whether you're just tired of unpicking mistakes or you want to start your own home business, an embroidery machine is a perfect addition to your crafting tools. Companies like Kimberbell Designs and Notions and others offer patterns, tutorials, and tools to complete your switch to machine embroidery.
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