Getting into this discussion late, as with the 2 week Costume-Con hiatus, I'm still catching up on this list (lots of good stuff to read!). Anyway, my 2 cents:
Pierre has a Husquvarna Designer 1 and loves it. He has all the newest toys that have come out for it - the XL hoop, the "endless" hoop, etc., and the newest software. He is the digitizer in the family - since all of the things we do are originals (originals as in not pre-digitized, sometimes, and sometimes drawn by us as well), and he's the one who can draw. I pick the colors, though. He wouldn't have any other machine. While I don't know about the newer machines like the SE or the new one, be aware that the Viking software requires that a "dongle" be installed on the computer for the software to work. If I can get him to chime in this weekend, he can give more details on digitizing. I do know that you can do a large object in several pieces, as we did one - a large dragon for the front of a costume. I have the Janome 11000 and I love it also - we're very machine specific - He doesn't like my Janome and I don't like his Viking - just small differences in the way things are done (both sewing and embroidery) and how the machine "feels" cause this. They're both excellent machines. The cool thing was that when we got my Janome, we didn't have to get different software - the Husqvarna/Viking software will output in the Janome format. It might output in others as well. The Janome will use either a standard flash drive or a machine-specific card, and can be connected to the computer as well - 3 ways of entering designs. One thing I like about the Janome is it is very well lit - I can work in a room with lesser lighting than I would normally like, because the lights are both bright enough, and they are full-spectrum. I think it has 3 or 4 lights. It comes with a bunch of feet, 2 hoops, etc. What I really like about the Janome line is that a few years ago, they came out with an attachment that mimics a stand-alone machine called the "Omnistitcher". What it does is allow you to apply cording, yarn, thin trim, etc. with a free-motion movement rather than running it thru a cording foot. I have used this for several things to apply passementerie (or the fantasy version thereof) to costumes. It is very quick and easy to do intricate scroll patterns with this - you can even do cursive writing! As a side note, we both really like the Robison-Anton line of embroidery thread. We have a lot fewer problems stitching out embroideries with this than with Sulky. HTH, Sandy "Those Who Fail To Learn History Are Doomed to Repeat It; Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly -- Why They Are Simply Doomed. Achemdro'hm "The Illusion of Historical Fact" -- C.Y. 4971 Andromeda _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume