I have a Bernina Artista 180 and use the cardboard style for all my Embroidery projects. I found a great deal on a gross, the price was only 22.84 and 7.00 shipping. I have never tried the sideless or the plastic ones since I only got this machine about a month ago from my FIL it was my MIL's who passed away in Dec. She had already given me her old Bernina Deco 500 machine but this is so far above that one that I am having a ball embroidering everything in site! Here is a link that might be useful: Embsupplies

I just saw your post about PED Basic and you may have already purchased it by now. When I first got into machine embroidery, I bought PED Basic because I thought that was the only way to get the designs from my computer to my machine. I didn't realize that my machine had a USB port and I didn't need PED Basic because I can use a USB memory stick or connect my embroidery machine to my computer and transfer the designs directly. Anyway, I am embarrased to say that I used PED Basic for several months before I realized I didn't even need it. I had many problems with PED Basic --it's very limited and I wasn't happy with it. The only thing PED Basic is used for is a means to transfer the designs to your embroidery machine. You cannot do any embroidery editing with it. You will need machine embroidery editing software in order to merge designs, resize, change formats, etc. Basically you cannot use your machine to it's optimum without embroidery editing software. Embird is one of those. Another one is SewWhat-Pro. I tried the trial versions of both for 30 days before I decided which one to buy. I ended up buying SewWhat-Pro because I found it to be much more user friendly than Embird and also less expensive. I would recommend you try them both and see which one you prefer before making your decision to buy. You can get the free trial of SewWhat-Pro at www.sandscomputing.com.

Hi! I know this post is super old but I figured I'd try...so I think I need the embroidery arm too! I purchased the machine from a woman on Craigslist and it malfunctioned the FIRST time I used it at home. Worked fine when she demonstrated for me. Anyway I like embroidery and would really like to learn. I'm hoping one of you wonderful ladies (and possibly gentlemen) could be of assistance to me. All I want is to become a magnificent embroiderer... Thanks everyone!

First of all the two machines take different formats. You might want to consider purchasing Embird that will convert the two formats so that you can use the same design with each machine sans the Disney designs that are propietary to Brother and can't be used on any other machine. You are correct that you will need a reader writer box for the Brother machine because your machines are different formats. The PED basic sounds like a good plan (available on line at Walmart for around $139.). I have two different brand machines and also found that the hoops are not interchangeable either. The only things that may be interchageable are feet and needles. The bobbins may be different so you really have to watch which bobbin you have and don't get them mixed up. I would thoroughly read the Brother manual before purchasing anything further...they are pretty good about documetation and educating if you practice the manual page by painful page.