Do any of you have and use a small embroidery machine for horse stuff? Spacifically, I’d like something strong enough and sized sufficiently to put my monogram on polo wraps, shirt collars, and quilts. I’m looking for something easy and intuitive to use, and not crazy expensive. Any recommendations anyone?
I have a Brother PE770 which is able to embroider up to a 5"x7" design. That would be plenty for polos and shirt collars I would think. For quilting, it would depend what you had in mind.
I will say that there’s a steep learning curve to using them and getting good results. If you are looking to embrace a new hobby, then it can be fun. But if you are mostly interested in the end result then I think you would save money and headache by finding someone local to do it for you. In addition to the machine you will also need some type of software to create your monogram, and supplies like thread and stabilizers.
3 Likes
I have a Singer Studio. I believe it is one of the least expensive of the good embroidery machines, and will do exactly what you want done. I’ve used mine for embroidering my name in the lining of fur coats, in making name/address/phone patches for my horse blankets, for shirts, etc.
The machine is easy to use. The learning curve comes with developing an understanding of the software. But once you have that under your belt, the creative designing is fun.
[QUOTE=gothedistance;n10351568… making name/address/phone patches for my horse blankets, for shirts, etc.
[/QUOTE]
I recently bought a Janome lower-end model and enjoy it. But I was curious on how to make patches. I like to embroider on my saddle pads, but sometimes I think a patch would work better on certain items.
^^^ Very nice. Do you know of any tutorials for making a patch like that?
^ No, none in particular. I simply designed (in my head) what I wanted on the patch to identify the horse so that it would have the best chance of being returned home quickly and efficiently should it take a “walkabout” after getting loose. I used the software that came with the machine, and used the biggest embroidery hoop that came with the machine.
Name was critical as once one of my (then) 4 chestnut Welsh Section B ponies got loose and visited a farm down the road. Pony had no id on him. Fortunately, the farm staff knew I had purebred Welsh ponies, called me up and said they had a chestnut pony visitor and was one of mine missing. I had to check all four fields to see that yes, one had disappeared through an open gate. Bratty Pony was the one who’d made the escape. (He’s the one pictured in my avatar) The neighbor farm thought he was adorable for him being so mad about getting caught. (They tricked him into going into a field which they then closed. He thought that was a low trick indeed!) The finder being able to put a name with an escapee is really helpful.
Farm name (we have a sign out front) and street address were the next critical items. Because I assume that all escapes will be local, only the numbered street address was important, not the town/state. A finder could then just walk the escapee home, if said escapee was just a few properties down the road.
Phone number is final.
You can only put so much onto a patch before it just becomes a jumble of words, and hard to read. Put the bare basics, and make sure it is big enough to be legible even if covered in mud and dirt.
The edges of the patch were raw cut for the embroidery, and then measured equal and level once the embroidery was done to ensure everything was square and proportionate. The edges were then folded under and the parameter was stitched. A second row of stitching secured the patch to the turnout.
I have a Pfaff Creative Sensation Pro, which does not meeting your standard of “cheap.”
there’s a learning curve that involves more than software, it’s also stabilizers and positioning and color matching and digitizing. IME the smaller machines that require you to edit on the computer and not edit on the fly/no stitch memory for positioning are frustrating. It’s also a lot of embroidery to justify the cost of even a $500 machine plus materials. If I didn’t see on mine it would be completely not worth it.
