SEWING VS EMBROIDERY MACHINE 

A lot of young people try their luck with sewing or embroidery in order to utilize their creative energy. People also try embroidery or sewing in hopes of starting a small home-based business to earn with their creativity. When starting out it is a very tricky decision to make to whether invest in an embroidery machine or a sewing machine. In the beginning, it all sounds very confusing specially when you don’t know the differences between the both. The price difference between a basic sewing machine and an embroidery machine also needs to be considered. If all the above reasons are haunting your mind, then read below and find out the difference to make an informed decision.

SEWING MACHINE

Sewing is a type of constructive craft that involves joining two pieces of fabrics. The end result is a garment or accessory that can be considered fully functional item. Before sewing machines were invented, sewing was done by hand, however now sewing machines are there to speed up the process and create a base on which you would want to embroider to add aesthetics to the garment. Sewing machine uses stitches to hold two edges of material in order to make final product that is functional.

·      Price

You can get a sewing machine for as low as $100 and the more you add money the more durable and additional functions you will get in your sewing machine.

·      Capabilities

A sewing machine is capable of not just basic sewing but most of the machines can make buttonholes as well. Sewing machines also come with built-in decorative stitches that you can use to create different design with a limitation; you can make decorative stitches in a line. Basic sewing machines come with fewer decorative stitches while more expensive ones can have 100s of built-in decorative stitches. It mostly depends on the amount you spend on the sewing machine.

·     Similarities

Sewing machines can sew appliques as good as embroidery machines. There is no size limitation as there is no hoop involved. The only drawback of using a sewing machine for applique is the time consumption hence you will have to be very patient while doing applique on a sewing machine.

·     Accessories

You only need thread in order to run your sewing machine to create any kind of garment or decorative design.

EMBROIDERY MACHINE

If sewing is a functional craft, then embroidery is all about adding style and personalization. After you have stitched a garment, you can add further value to it by adding embroidery design on it. Since embroidery adds customization and makes your garment stand out, it enables you to market and sell your product at a higher value than before. Embroidery usually involves beautiful designs with much more details and perfect patterns to make them appealing. Embroidery uses different colors and types of stitches to create a beautiful design. Modern embroidery machines require you to digitize the design and once you do it, machine does all the work.

·     Price

As mentioned earlier, you can get a basic sewing machine for as low as $100 while you will struggle to buy an embroidery machine for $300. Embroidery machines are expensive in comparison to sewing machines. You can buy single head embroidery machines for small home-based business while there are also multi head embroidery machines suitable for industrial use. The higher the capability, the higher will be the price.

·     Capabilities

An embroidery machine can’t be used to sew functional garments as the embroidery machine does not sew two pieces of fabrics. You can create unlimited designs and there is no limitation of stitch direction when it comes to embroidery machines. Embroidery machines can create designs, monograms, appliques, stand-alone laces, 3D foam and cutwork embroidery which can’t be created on sewing machines. The possibilities are limitless with embroidery machine.

·     Similarities

Like sewing machines, embroidery machines can also applique designs but only difference is that the embroidery machine can do it faster and with more precision. Along with the advantage of speed comes a limitation of size of applique as embroidery machine involves hoop hence you can only appliqué equivalent to the size of the hoop.

·     Accessories

An embroidery machine involves a lot of supporting items like, hoop, threads, stabilizers, pins, binder clips, scissors, disappearing ink pens, etc. Read more on Top 12 Embroidery Accessories That Don’t Come with Your Embroidery Machine about essential accessories that will make your life easier while embroidering.

SEWING/EMBROIDERY MACHINE

If you are still confused about your buying decision then I have good news for you. There is a third category of machine that I am sure you must be unaware of. These machines are a combination of sewing and embroidery. These machines have snap module which can help you in switching to either of the modes. Obviously when you buy something that has a dual functionality then it is going to cost a little more than the usual machines. If you are confused about buying sewing or embroidery machine and budget is not a problem then I will suggest you to buy this dual functionality machine.

CONCLUSION 

I hope this article has helped you in making your decision, if you are still not sure which one to buy then go for sewing/embroidery machine to try your hand on both to find out which one interests you more. With the help of dual machine, you can also create your own garment and embroidery them to make a finished high value product for better profitability.  Read more on our blog on How To Set Up Shop And Start A Home Embroidery Business for profit.