If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I like my embroidery software. But I recently made a switch…for many reasons.

I switched to Hatch Embroidery Software. It is made by Wilcom, the same folks who create Bernina Embroidery Software. So if you have used Bernina, the user interface will look familiar.

They offer 3 levels of functionality, and I decided to go with the one that is basically the least expensive. I certainly could upgrade at any point. But for now, I’m very, very pleased. I found that I was not doing a lot of digitizing from scratch. In fact, most of the time I just purchased a design, added copy (or words) and was done.

I wouldn’t discourage anyone from using any embroidery software, as long as you learn to use it and then USE IT. What I found is that I was not using 90% of the software I was paying (quite a lot) of money for.

So I switched to something that is easier in functionality, downloads in a flash, is not encumbered by any hefty programs, and still does what I want it to do.

Reasons I use embroidery software:

–I like to see the order of thread colors that my design will stitch out.

–I want to personalize it by adding words or names. I do all my quilt labels in embroidery.

–I always want to know stich count.

–I like to be able to re-size my designs, or combine them on a screen that is big enough for me to see.

–I want to easily use the software on both my desktop and laptop. I keep my laptop near the sewing machine so I can refer to it, while I’m stitching out. But I purchase designs on my desktop.

Reasons to switch:

–I want to easily use my software on both my desktop and laptop, without it getting bogged down launching or freezing.

–I’m really tired of dongles and USB sticks for loading.

–Honestly, I don’t want to pay quite so much to upgrade every time for features I rarely use.

This is a personal decision and everyone has different software needs. And our personal embroidery software wants and needs change over time. Believe me, no one pays me to promote their software, so I am free to make decisions based on my own preferences.

But, of course, I wanted to share those things with you. Once I discovered this software, I was really pleased that it was an option for me.

Hatch offers a 3-tiered purchasing offer. The one I use is Personalizer. But they have 2 more upgrades which have more functionality.

You can use all 3 versions for a month for free, so you can decide which best suits you and the things you want to create. And heaven knows, they always encourage you to upgrade/update.

I find that this works for me at the moment. I reserve the right to change my mind.

And next time, it won’t cost me quite as much to do so.