Howdy , new to all this .. And loving it! I am trying to decide on which software to purchase to do my own desgns..and also how many colors of thread do I really need to buy?lol

I see you have some answers so I will just say welcome to cute! Hugs Sally

it seams like just when you think you don't need a certain color, & poof then you find that you really did!

Lots of colors in various fibers (cotton, rayon, polyester and an all purpose(cotton over poly!)

Welcome to cuties
Brenda from U S of A

Welcome to you

I have not learn to digitizeI would need a lot of time, and I find on onternet, free or not, many good designs.
About colours of thread, for me, it is very important. I need many differenf shade to choose for each design the exact colours that I want.I have purchase packs of 50 or more when they were on sale and I am very happy to have many colours

Welcome! I have just started using Embird to make my own designs, but I watched other peoples designs stitchout for two years so that I could learn how it should (and shouldn't) be done. As Mops said, don't jump in at the deep end - learn to swim first!

Important...ALWAYS do a sample stitch out of the design before you put it on anything good. Lots of good, and lots of not so good designs out there. I have paid good money for some that do not stitch out well, and I've gotten lots of free ones that stitch out very nice. It doesn't matter if they are free or you buy them, always test your designs.

Mary Ann

2 comments

by mnladyus 17 Feb 2012

I should have said..I have Embird and I'm loving it. I'm learning a little as I go, and the Price is Right!

by hightechgrammy 17 Feb 2012

Great Advice, Mary Ann! Always do a sample, and don't trust your sewing machine to tell you the correct color!

Just swooping in to say Welcome to Cute Dominique. :)

Welcome to Cute, Dominique! I had a talented digitizer recommend Embird Studio for digitizing, although I have never decided to try my hand at it. I do have Embird basic and its Iconizer plug-in; love the features of those! Metro threads are in vibrant colors, very reasonably priced, and work well in my machines.
Angel

Hi, Welcome to Cute.
I have P-E Design digitzing program because I have a Brother Innovis 1500 Embroidery machine and my Dealer sells that program.
I would like to suggest that you find a few embroidery designs that you would like to stitch, see which colours are needed for them, and then buy those colours to begin with.
Some colours that I first chose randomly,I have never used yet. Also I messed up some designs by using the totally wrong colours.These were some lovely shaded roses and needed the darker or lighter shade,to be stitched in the proper order.
Happy Stitching
From Bev

Well HELLO and welcome to cuties.

Hi Dominique, I can't help with the software - it's over my head. But I have Brother machines and I find the Brother basic set of 61 colours is enough for me. xx

If you are just beginning with machine embroidery, don't jump in at the deep end! Start by buying a basic customizing programme that lets you combine designs and lettering - and yes, Embird would be a nice and relatively cheap choice. That will be very useful and get you acquainted with using software.
Watch your designs stitch out, see the logic behind it: what is stitched first, how is the pathing, connections or jump stitches, and so on. If you think you are willing and able to spend (a lot of) time learning to digitise go ahead and buy a digitizing programme - Embird Studio would be great, economical, not too difficult to learn the basics and a lot of experienced digitizing Cuties to help when you get stuck, plus several free and not too expensive tutorials on the web.

Welcome Dominique - you are going to love it here! To answer your question I agree with Alma, a lot of digitisers on here recommend Embird. I am not a digitiser, but we have many on here.

The second part of your question - BUY EVERY COLOUR YOU CAN IMAGINE! I HAVE HUNDREDS!!! And everytime I see a new thread, I've just got to have it! LOL!

By the way, where are you from and what type of machine do you own?

Love and blessings Chris, Newcastle, Australia

2 images:[1]
[2]

Another Big Aussie Welcome to you.

The digitisers will be advising you very soon and it's my guess that Embird will be at the top of the list or near it. There are so many features to consider when purchasing digitising software. If you've never digitised before it's a good step up that learning curve. I have 3D Professional which was upgraded to 4D and subsequently upgraded to 5D - and I believe that the next upgrade is on the drawing board. It's expensive and I'm having trouble retaining the information in the instruction book, but that's me.
There's a lot of fun to be had in the digitising arena.

Now threads..... well, that's a different kettle of fish. There are three primary colours - would that be enough? There are seven colours in the spectrum - would that be enough? Then there are all those merging colours in between - would they be enough?
It's a good feeling to be able to choose the red you want from the several you might have and the green you have will probably not be right for the design you want to stitch.
OK, people..... would it be fair to say you'd need at least a bright and a pastel in each colour to begin with???
I pick up threads whenever I see them on sale and some of my most valuable and most used threads have been the cheapest 'being discontinued' colours. Oh, yes, and I have a regiment of golds. I love gold in embroidery. Oh, and I forgot the purple line - another regiment.

Metro put out a bargain, maybe 18 months ago, and I bought it, had it sent to my daughter in Arizona and collected it when I visited in 2010/11 ..........
a set of the '61 basic colours' ........ and with shipping it cost around 70c a spool. Even to Australia at that time with currency exchange the set would have cost me around 85c a spool. How lucky was that!!!!

I don't think there's an answer to how many threads you need. 'Need' doesn't come into the equation. The hook on the end of the threads line is very, very long and strong.

Have fun with this brilliant hobby. You're going to love it.

AlmaG.

1 comment

by hightechgrammy 17 Feb 2012

Wow, Alma, that was so well written I think you deserve a PRIZE! hugs, Jan

Welcome to Cute. I started off with very basic colours and soon realised that it was not nearly enough. I myself do not digitize but realise that it takes months of learning. Good luck.

1 images:[1]

Welcome to Cute. I cannot advise you on software but my daughter tells me you cannot have toooooooooo many colours, and she is right. LOL. Marg

Welcome to this site. Hope you have a lot of spare time as you will be here for ages.

Hey! Welcome Dominique! I get to be the very first to welcome you to Cuties! What kind of designs do you like? Have you been doing machine embroidery very long? How did you find Cute Embroidery? So many questions! I'm Jan, I'm from Colorado, I love cats, and I'm glad you found us! I have about 300 colors, and Metro thread rocks, it's inexpensive and works great in my Brother.

1 images:[1]