Buying a machine....

I mean... who knew how hard it would be to buy a machine. Geeze... it is getting to the point that I'd almost rather have a root canal performed WHILE in labor. You'd think that in this economy, people would be jumping up and down to take my money... right? RIGHT? !?!?!?

So far, it seems like everyone wants to talk the good talk, but when it comes to pony up to the table they stand there looking at their shoes. Of course sometimes I wonder if they are wondering if they removed the sock lint from between their toes recently or not... ...

But I currently am in the market for a commercial embroidery machine. At first, I want to buy a really REALLY good used one, just so that I don't invest 20K into something that I am not sure that I am going to like. I had a line on a Barudan, but it wouldn't do all it was advertised to do, maybe from lack of maintenance or age... I don't know. The let down started with that machine, because I know that Barudan's are supposed to be really great machines. Of course there may be an age limit on the technology and if it is still a good machine or not. I suppose almost 2 decades old is a little... well... old.

I was thinking along the lines of the Brother PR620 or the Babylock equivalent. My husband wasn't so excited about those for a couple of reasons, hoop size and the ability to stand up over time. I suppose he thinks that I'm going to have like a million clients within 30 seconds of opening or something... LOL But the PR620 and Babylocks just didn't have the hoop size that I was really after, so basically I am left with going a full blown commercial. You'd think that they'd be licking their lips to sell me something... right? Geeze, talk about your used car salesman, but I guess they don't realize that I'm not the sucker that was born today. But, right now the selection is looking like a Brother BE 901. With any luck, I will have the machine set up and stitching by this weekend. I feel like I will have a learning curve ahead of me and will need plenty of time to practice. Husband has scouted a couple of machines, and I believe that the ultimate decision is mine. I will be going on a quick road trip early Saturday morning to test the machine out. Hopefully my new toy will come home with me.

I was discussing a digitizing design with a client the other night, and a couple of different people overheard the conversation. Before you know it, my husband is basically taking orders for items that they want. YIKES!!! Guess it is getting very close to being official. Am I scared yet???