Where to Find Designs for Your Embroidery Machine
Once you have chosen a home embroidery machine, you are probably anxious to get started creating beautiful designs. Before you can get started, you have to know where to get designs for your embroidery machine. There are thousands of designs to download on the internet, some for free and others at various costs. Before you download any design to your computer, you need to determine the type of design your computer uses. Just check your user manual to see what file type to look for. Most designs are available in multiple file types.
Another thing to consider is the method of transfer used to get the design from your computer to your sewing machine. Your machine may work by direct cable connection or with a USB memory stick. Some machines use a card but these are pretty much limited to older models.
Once you know which kind of designs to purchase, you are ready to start shopping! A simple search for embroidery machine designs will take you to many, many websites. Some carry a vast number of all types of designs while others are private owned stores where people who love machine embroidery just like you have turned their passion and skills into an online business where they digitize unique embroidery designs.
Below is a list of popular websites where you can get embroidery designs from established businesses that have large followings.
Anita Goodesign is one of the top embroidery design companies in the world. With more than 50 full-time employees, they manufacture all of their products in Charlotte, NC, from conception to completion! They offer club memberships, which include access to webinars, pdf and video tutorials, and Embroidery Parties!
StitchX Embroidery offers many hand-digitized machine embroidery designs on compact disc. Most of their CDs include many designs in the most popular formats. From seasonal design, to animals and nature, you can find almost any motif at StitchX.
ThreaDelight offers embroidery supplies such as a wide assortment of polyester, rayon and metallic threads, netting and prewound bobbins. They also offer project oriented embroidery designs on CD, in a variety of popular formats, for varying hoop sizes.
Kimberbell Designs specializes in quilt and home decor patterns, including many creative machine embroidery designs. Kimberbell is the creation of Kim Christopherson, who is also the co-host of "The DIY Dish" show featuring sewing, quilting, and craft projects.
AmazingDesigns.com – True to their name, Amazing Designs has been providing high quality embroidery designs that stand out since 1996. All of their single designs and collections are offered as instant downloads and they add new designs regularly. They also offer free projects and free embroidery designs.
Amazon.com – Amazon is a great place to find embroidery designs! Collections like the one linked here are ideal for anyone who wants a lot of versatility in their embroidery or who is planning on starting a home based machine embroidery business and needs a large stock to choose from. Offerings change regularly so that there is always something new to choose from.
DesignsBySick.com – Designs by Sick has been offering embroidery designs online since 2002 and they offer a lot more. Join in their chat and forums to socialize with other embroiderers to see what they have to say. They offer a “This Hour’s Free Design” a “Today’s Free Design”, and “Today’s Free Facebook Design” in addition to their current selection of more than 31,000 unique designs and more than 2,000 designs sets or packs.
Urban Threads – Urban Threads is a small company that operates as a part of a larger team at Embroidery Library. They go in a different direction with their designs and post at least one cool new design every weekday to inspire embroiders with their artistic talents.
EmbroideryLibrary.com – This is the parent company to Urban Threads and home to embroidery designs in nearly any category that you can imagine. They have more than 100,000 designs and design packs. If you have something in mind, you will probably find it here and each design is instantly downloadable. Prices are low, from $1 to as little as $7.99.
RustyNeedleDesigns – There are many embroidery design stores on Etsy, and Rusty Needle Designs is a good one if you are looking for designs that are a little less mainstream. Check out Esty.com for even more places to get unique designs.
SwakEmbroidery.com – This company has a lot of choices in alphabet designs for monograms and other types of personalization and signage. They have designs in a wide range of categories including embossed designs and mega hoop designs.
Brother-USA.com – Or sign up with the company that made your embroidery machine. Brother offers free tips and tricks, free designs and projects, and special offers on the purchases you make.
EmbroideryDesigns.com – This company offers a lot of choices including top selling designs and packages, themed design packs, and custom packs so you include only what you want. They also offer custom digitizing so you can turn your artwork into a unique embroidery design. You can choose three of their free embroidery designs per week at no charge but you must make a specified purchased each week to receive more.
EmbroideryOnline.com – Oklahoma Embroidery Supply & Design (OESD) has more than 25 years of experience providing in-house, high-quality digitized embroidery designs. Their designs include transfer methods for PC cards, USBs, and CDs. They also offer designs that have been created by licensed artists to ensure each design is of the highest quality and will produce the best embroidery.
Ebay.com – Like Amazon, Ebay has listings for thousands of embroidery designs, both from Ebay stores and individual sellers. One advantage is that you have a wide variety of styles and unusual designs to choose from. But be careful about purchasing designs from individuals who don’t have a selling history or who don’t have a nearly perfect rating.
This is just a sampling of the online websites where you can find embroidery designs for your machine but they represent a diversity of styles and options. Most require you to sign up for an account to begin trading with them but the bonus is in getting tips and tricks offered to members and having the chance to chat with other sewers who may have had some of the same challenges as you and have overcome them.
Once you have tried your hand at creating a few designs, you will probably begin to get an idea of the styles you prefer and where to find them. If you aren’t happy with these choices, you can always find more with an advanced search for the specific type of designs you have in mind!
