New to embroidery

jopick147

Hi everyone!

I have always loved embroidery, and I have done some hand embroidery -- but no machine embroidery. Now I am trying to set up a business where I embroider (by machine) designs on handbags, totes, table runners etc. I have no intention of doing any production work involving hundreds of the same product. Instead, I'm going to focus on high end custom work.

At the moment I am trying to decide on a single head bridge machine that can handle tubular materials and large hoops. I've narrowed it down to Tajima, Barudan, and ZSK. Which brand do you prefer and why?

Also if possible, I would prefer to use a Macintosh with software native to the Mac (i.e., without Bootcamp or Parallels). Have any of you used Embroidery I2 with Adobe Illustrator? Will TruEmbroidery work on industrial machines? How do those programs compare with Wilcom software?

Thanks very much for all your help!!

MMMEMB

hey buy barudan no to ZSK or Tajima if you need help call me 714-550-9200
zsk service is worse.

Lee's Custom Tees

Look into SWF machines. They have great sewing quality and speed for single heads. Look for one 12 needles or more.

Tajimas are nice from my use of them also. Never used a ZSK, but I haven't heard good things.

If you have heard anything about Illustrator in terms of the Embroidery I2 let me know. I am looking to go that route also as I use Illustrator for vector.