Automatic Cross Stitch

There have been times when my friends and I complain about the toil of cross stitching. Although this craft does not require the acumen of tailoring clothes it is nonetheless time consuming.

At first look, most embroidery machines do the typical longstitch embroidery and most of the auto software really just digitize your image into cross stitch patterns. However, if you dig deeper into newer add-ons, you will find something that does automatic cross stitch. To set the budget right for yourself, it is the cost of the machine plus all the optional addons. That's right, you have to be prepared to get the works, including that laptop to load the software onto. Prices range from $2,000 to $8,000 depending on model and brand. Also be prepared to commit about 10 hours of learning on how to use all the applications and tools. I found this great deal on sewingmachinesplus.com (USA only delivery).

Alternatively, there is this Chinese manufactured industrial cross stitch machine retailing for $67,500. So if you have that lovely pattern but do not want to work on it, bring it to a friend with this machine. I am sure she needs to recoup her cost as well. Apparently, this machine can produce a 10 million count cross stitch in 3 days as opposed to a year by an experienced sewer. It also works on at least 10 needles so you don't have to change the coloured floss as often as the 1 needle domestic machine.