Campbell34

I am enjoying my machine very much, I just finished 2 shopping bags , simple sewing and added a few crystals to spiff them up and put an embroidered rose on a piece to make a bag out of , Putting 20 panels together this afternoon to make a maple leaf appliqued quilt for a family reunion( hand appliqued and blanket stitched, it will be machine quilted and some simple decorative stitches in the sashing

craftiladi

Question? I have a white 4400 and want to use it for a trade in on a better machine...it has been used maybe 20 hrs...am I thinking reasonable or not?
thanks so much.
dee

sewjoyce

Just don't expect a "new" price on the trade in....some places will give you a "blue book" value over the phone. I'd try to find out how much it's worth before I went shopping. :D :D

Campbell34

Probably depends on the dealer and the price of the new machine, my dealer gave me back full price on my 440, I used it very little and was less than a year old, the new 830 cost $9,000.00 because of the special price at the quilt show,usually about $11,000.00, Because of our economy right now who knows, Talk to the dealer :-P

craftiladi

Thanks for the feed back, very much appreciated, all great advise.

Campbell34

You mean a Vette for a new sewing machine ????, Oh my, I just got my 2004 Vette on my mothers birthday March 24, 2009, She has been gone a long time but I haven't forgotten her birthday, My husband had just received the last of his inheritance , and I had just received my yearly allotment so we took my PT Cruiser and the money and bought our Vette, I love it, But I love my new machine too,I love being able to put something on a stick and using it on the sewing machine, When I had the 440 I had to have it hooked up to a computer beside the machine if I wanted to use other patterns not programmed into the machine, the lights on this machine are wonderful, at my age I need all the light I can get, getting ready to quilt my first quilt on it , there are many built in quilting patterns , so may try some of them, I used to live in Woodscross about 10 years ago.

craftiladi

Lol.....actually I was teasing trading the Vett for a sewing machine...seriously though I really dislike the 4400 machine..oh well live n learn huh?

middysmom

is that the brother pe designs i have been looking at them have no idea on how to use it all i know it is a pe design digitizer software and that is all i can't find the designs on the internet and at the store they are very expensive does anyone have any advice thanks dorothy from tenn

cutebuns

The designs can be found for the pedesign all over the place. There are some free designs on the brother site. And then inexpensive ones can be found at www.emblibrary.com. They have sales all the time as well.

Of course there are other sites that offer free and inexpensive.

Nanamoms

How exciting!! As to stabilizers, many of the companies will send you a sample pack to try. Yes, it is important to use the right stablizer for the right fabric. And it's called trial and error based on how your machine reacts. You have some good sources for help already posted so I won't go back thru them. Trial and error is the rule on the embroidery thread, too. Be sure to use bobbin thread (60wt or 90wt) in the bobbin and embroidery thread (usually 40wt) on top. I keep samples of my stitchouts (another important thing to do...test stitch) and marked them as to stabilizer used, thread used, etc. I keep them in a binder in those plastic sheet protectors.

The most important thing to remember is take your time. That way you won't get frustrated (maybe) when you have bad test stitchouts (and you will, it's a given)!!

Just relax and have fun with it.

Oh, also there are great Yahoo embroidery groups you can join where you get wonderful help wth most any problem.