to assume that "embroidery feature"

[biddysmama]

means that the sewing machine will do embroidery, or not? im new to this, i want to have a go at it but dont want to spend a fortune in case im rubbish does anyone know?

[AgentZigzag]

I don't know much about sewing machines (the one I use is from 1971 ) but you'd think an 'embroidery feature' would do a bit of embroidery, but not as much as 'extensive embroidery settings' would do?

[redexpat]

If you're buying from a shop they should let you have a test drive so you could try it out a bit. Or just ask to see the instruction manuals and have a quick peak at the diagrams.

[biddysmama]

i just want to do little pictures and personalise things, mostly for my own children and make things for them (nappies,clothes etc) but "embroidery feature" is all the information it gives on the description

[AgentZigzag]

Can you google a review of the model?

[biddysmama]

im looking online, i dont know of a shop that sells them anywhere near me :(

[izzywhizzyletsgetbusy]

What's the make of the machine you're thinking of buying?

[biddysmama]

im not sure yet, just looking through a few, like i said dont want to spend too much but the cheaper ones say "embroidery feature" and im not sure what it means :(

[rockinhippy]

agree with gogore (great analogy by BTW) -

though some machines will do something slightly less bolded zig zag, but they wont really do the sort of thing you seem to be talking about - for that you with need one of those computerised embroidery machines & the are expensive - I've been lusting after one for years, but even for me they aren't really worth the money as the embroidered area they cover is pretty small.

you might want to google free style machine embroidery though, you can do a lot with a very basic old zig zag/straight stitch machine & you will be able to pick a recon one of those up very cheaply

[queenmaeve]

I think you can buy a wee plate for free style embroidery for a basic machine. What sort of embroidery do you want to do

[Taffybird]

I've got a Brother machine that has an Embroidery feature but all it can really do is slightly fancier zig-zags, a sort of scalloped effect and a kind of cross-stitch. It munches up thread like nobody's business and doesn't look as nice as hand-embroidery.

Some years ago I had a go on one that could be programmed to embroider names, initials etc, but I wasn't impressed. It sort of dragged the thread across the fabric from one letter to the next in a very visible and unsightly manner. They may have improved since then but on the whole my experience of machine embroidery has been disappointing.