Machine Embroidery for Beginners embroidery machine

Have you ever seen a beautiful or intricate piece of embroidery and wished you could replicate it yourself without spending hours hand-embroidering? With machine embroidery, you can. 

Single Head Computerized Embroidery Machine For T Shirt Logo Label Multifunction Embroidery Machines

And if you’ve heard of machine embroidery before and thought it must involve expensive machinery and complicated techniques, you’ll be happy to learn that’s not the case. With a beginner-level machine, some basic sewing supplies and a few handy tutorials, machine embroidery is easy enough for anyone to learn. 

You’re only a few key supplies away from creating your own machine embroidery masterpieces. 

Your first order of business is to find and choose the right machine. Believe it or not, it doesn’t even need to be a dedicated embroidery machine: With a little resourcefulness, you can create eye-catching embroidered pieces using a normal sewing machine. 

Using a technique called free motion, your sewing machine can “draw” unique embroidery designs on almost any fabric you’d like. 

So if you already have a sewing machine, you’re good to go. If you don’t, you can expect to spend about $150–200 for a beginner-level machine. 

But what if you want to create more complex, precise or symmetrical designs than a normal sewing machine is capable of producing? That’s where dedicated embroidery machines come into play. 

With an embroidery machine and some fabric, you can quickly create an almost endless array of designs, whether you’re decorating an entire quilt or creating a simple felt coaster. 

Embroidery machines are more specialized than standard sewing machines—they’re also more expensive. Consulting an embroidery machine buyer’s guide can help you determine the functionalities you’ll use. Depending on which machine you buy, you can expect to spend anywhere from $350 for a basic model to $15,000 for a highly-advanced one. 

Fortunately, the best embroidery machines for beginners usually fall on the less expensive end of that spectrum. So while you’ll probably need to spend at least a few hundred dollars, you won’t need to shell out a few thousand. And if you’re really trying to get the most bang for your buck, try checking platforms like eBay, OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace for deals on secondhand machines. 

Besides your embroidery machine, you’ll also need: 

If you’re using a normal sewing machine instead of a dedicated embroidery machine, you might also benefit from using: 

And no matter which type of machine you’re using, you’ll find it helpful (but not necessary) to have items such as: 

The good news is that while sewing and embroidery machines can both be pricey, the materials you need to start machine embroidering don’t need to be. 

Basic sewing tools like scissors and thread can be purchased for cheap from your local craft store or an online retailer, and you can always use repurposed, recycled or thrifted fabric rather than buying it brand new. 

If you’re interested in machine embroidery, you probably already have some potential projects in mind. But what else can you use it for? 

Personalized tote bag? No problem. One-of-a-kind t-shirt logo? Done. Historically accurate reproduction of embroidered stockings from the 18th century? Yep, you can do that too. 

Talented embroiderer and historical costumer Sewstine even used machine embroidery to create her own version of a Dior tote bag, featuring personalized touches and lots of cute raccoons. 

Suffice it to say that when it comes to making custom clothing and accessories with machine embroidery, the sky’s the limit. 

The world of quilting is bursting with creative techniques for sewing breathtaking quilts, and machine embroidery is one of them. 

With a sewing or embroidery machine at your disposal, you can create more detailed and uniquely decorated quilts than ever before. 

And with thousands of machine embroidery quilting designs available via the internet (including plenty of free ones), you’ll never run out of motifs to try. 

From throw pillow covers to wall hangings to table runners, you can use machine embroidery to beautify almost any cloth-based type of home decor. 

In fact, you can even frame your machine embroidered pieces and let them be works of art in their own right. 

However you like to customize your home decor, machine embroidery can help you do it. 

Although machine embroidery can seem intimidating, there are usually only a few basic types of stitches in play. 

With just those three stitches (and more advanced variations of them), you can create an unlimited number of machine embroidery designs ranging from minimalist and simple to complex and ornate. 

We’ll be the first to say that hand embroidery is an incredible art form, but machine embroidery is just as fantastic. It offers a completely new and different way to approach the age-old craft of embroidery, and the fact that you can embroider an entire quilt in hours rather than days doesn’t hurt either. 

So whether you’re an experienced hand embroidery artist or sewist looking to spice up your craft, or you’re new to the fiber arts altogether, give machine embroidery a try—it’s easier (and more fun) than you think.