I was in the craft store last month and happened to stop in front of a display of sewing and embroidery machines. I learned to sew on an ancient Singer sewing machine from the 60’s that was built into an end table our house, so that it could be hidden away when it wasn’t in use. Sewing and the craft of embroidery have gone a lot more high tech since my days with a bobbin and thread. Oh sure, sewing supplies and your typical sewing kit may not have changed much, still containing thread, needles, and scissors, but the sewing machines are quite geeky.

The Brother PR-600 (hey, don’t they make printers?) costs $6000+ and has 6 needles, automatic top and bottom thread trimmers, a large embroidery area, and sews at 1000 stitches per minute! The machine reads floppy disks and compact flash cards and can hook up to your PC via a USB cable. Other machines, particular those that embroider, read CD’s of designs and practically do the work for you!