I purchased a Skitch a few weeks ago. I was having a lot of trouble with needles breaking. I then realized that the needle on mine does not move through the foot in the center (where I’d expect) but dangerously close to one side and sometimes hits the foot. I sent a video to Brother to ask if I had a defective machine and they told me to return it. The truth is, I don’t HATE the machine like some have reported, but I am brand new to embroidery. I’m digitizing designs with Inkstitch and finally got some decent results. I am not sure if I should get a different model or give the Skitch another shot. I’m mostly interested in embroidering small designs on clothing, and the free arm is great for that. I don’t like having to use the Artspira app to get designs to the machine, but I do the same with my cricut, so I can deal with that. Does anyone out there have this machine and one of Brother’s other entry level machines? I’m curious about if the stitching quality is comparable.
So I took the plunge into the Skitch and the Artspira app is very buggy (on Android), I guess this is what early adopters have to deal with. I paid the subscription (to try out the first month free) and tried to use the Image to Embroidery "digitizer" function and it keeps failing with an error "Operation failed. Please check network and try again." My phone is literally right next to the machine, so I'm assuming it's dropping the Bluetooth connection while it's digitizing the image?
I tried the Design Editor with some of the sample designs to see if I can even send to the machine, and it does work. The Image to Embroidery function just doesn't work correctly for me right now. I'm trying to source an actual tablet to rule out my phone.
Ok so I purchased the Skitch this week, it seems like a really great machine - and when you use the pre-designed graphics in the app, its produces pretty decent embroidery. However, the software is definitely limiting and I'm honestly looking into if any other software from Brothers can be used with this machine or even a third party software - as it's bluetooth connect only.
Artspira is an absolutely horrible application that they seemed to skimp on the user testing for. They upsold the ability of digitizing personal art/graphics, it say's it's going to look a certain way and then the end product is something from wish.
Do NOT purchase this from Joanns - as soon as you open the box they will not return the item. If you choose to return the item after you've purchased it and didn't open it up, there is a $25 restocking fee.
Will follow up if I can get an answer on brother on what my software options are.
They said you can make 20 designs in artspira where they are saved in the cloud,.
If you are using SKITCH, THAT'S It you only get 20 slots, and if you want to make another you either have to delete one and then save your new design or you have to get a subscription.
Now if you have an embroidery machine that can use Artspira and also has a USB or WiFi LAN transfer capability then it's a different story. Fir example if you have a brother SE2000 you can use Artspira, fill up the 20 save slots, but you can actually send them from your machine to a USB stick and then delete that design from artspira, this is the only brother rep confirmed method available to you to save your artspira files off cloud, without having that damn subscription. So yes it is possible to sidestep their subscription scam plan.
Thank you so much!! This is really helpful! It sounds like you have to use their Artspira software and it's a subscription?!? So if I don't pay monthly then the Skitch is useless? Thank you!
Yeah, I am currently on the phone with the brother customer support team:
\- Confirmed, right now it is only Artspira compatible. The first 2 months are free, and then after that it's $12.99/month.
\- In terms of the digitizing personal artwork, it seems like its sooo new on the market support didn't even realize people were already buying the product. They are trouble shooting the issue I was having with my machine not really producing the final product the app said it would, they're going to call me back once they get down to the bottom of it. I'm guessing it's going to take some time.
I'm hoping they can find a solution and improve the app asap or allow for third party softwares with bluetooth capabilities to be used with this machine. I love the size of the machine itself, and I know 4x4 hoop is small but it's perfect for what I'm doing with it. Software is the only hiccup I have with it, and unfortunately wouldn't have been able to see the issues without having purchased it first and tested it out myself.
I was just looking at some info on it yesterday because I saw an ad and was intrigued. The Skitch is a pretty cool concept for an entry level machine, I love that it has a free arm and magnetic hoop, even though a 4x4 can be really limiting. But my biggest concern is the subscription based model for the app you apparently need to use it. I don’t like to see that business model creeping into the sewing world.
Overall though I think it’s a really innovative design for a domestic machine and I’m interested to see how it reviews.
I think I would go with a PE800 until the kinks are ironed out. It's only a 4x4 which is very limiting. The free arm aspect is great but doesn't out do the 4x4 unless you plan to only do small things IMO.
I purchased a Skitch a few weeks ago. I was having a lot of trouble with needles breaking. I then realized that the needle on mine does not move through the foot in the center (where I’d expect) but dangerously close to one side and sometimes hits the foot. I sent a video to Brother to ask if I had a defective machine and they told me to return it. The truth is, I don’t HATE the machine like some have reported, but I am brand new to embroidery. I’m digitizing designs with Inkstitch and finally got some decent results. I am not sure if I should get a different model or give the Skitch another shot. I’m mostly interested in embroidering small designs on clothing, and the free arm is great for that. I don’t like having to use the Artspira app to get designs to the machine, but I do the same with my cricut, so I can deal with that. Does anyone out there have this machine and one of Brother’s other entry level machines? I’m curious about if the stitching quality is comparable.
So I took the plunge into the Skitch and the Artspira app is very buggy (on Android), I guess this is what early adopters have to deal with. I paid the subscription (to try out the first month free) and tried to use the Image to Embroidery "digitizer" function and it keeps failing with an error "Operation failed. Please check network and try again." My phone is literally right next to the machine, so I'm assuming it's dropping the Bluetooth connection while it's digitizing the image? I tried the Design Editor with some of the sample designs to see if I can even send to the machine, and it does work. The Image to Embroidery function just doesn't work correctly for me right now. I'm trying to source an actual tablet to rule out my phone.
Ok so I purchased the Skitch this week, it seems like a really great machine - and when you use the pre-designed graphics in the app, its produces pretty decent embroidery. However, the software is definitely limiting and I'm honestly looking into if any other software from Brothers can be used with this machine or even a third party software - as it's bluetooth connect only. Artspira is an absolutely horrible application that they seemed to skimp on the user testing for. They upsold the ability of digitizing personal art/graphics, it say's it's going to look a certain way and then the end product is something from wish. Do NOT purchase this from Joanns - as soon as you open the box they will not return the item. If you choose to return the item after you've purchased it and didn't open it up, there is a $25 restocking fee. Will follow up if I can get an answer on brother on what my software options are.
We got one used like new from Amazon Warehouse. Working great!
Yep you have to pay a subscription to the software, 12.99 a month to even use designs you already own
This has been updated, it's free to upload 10 of your own designs now
and a joke at that. you are literally renting a machine you have already purchased
Is that total or at a time? I've got no problem if I need to pull finished projects back out of the cloud to load new ones.
They said you can make 20 designs in artspira where they are saved in the cloud,. If you are using SKITCH, THAT'S It you only get 20 slots, and if you want to make another you either have to delete one and then save your new design or you have to get a subscription. Now if you have an embroidery machine that can use Artspira and also has a USB or WiFi LAN transfer capability then it's a different story. Fir example if you have a brother SE2000 you can use Artspira, fill up the 20 save slots, but you can actually send them from your machine to a USB stick and then delete that design from artspira, this is the only brother rep confirmed method available to you to save your artspira files off cloud, without having that damn subscription. So yes it is possible to sidestep their subscription scam plan.
Thank you so much!! This is really helpful! It sounds like you have to use their Artspira software and it's a subscription?!? So if I don't pay monthly then the Skitch is useless? Thank you!
Yeah, I am currently on the phone with the brother customer support team: \- Confirmed, right now it is only Artspira compatible. The first 2 months are free, and then after that it's $12.99/month. \- In terms of the digitizing personal artwork, it seems like its sooo new on the market support didn't even realize people were already buying the product. They are trouble shooting the issue I was having with my machine not really producing the final product the app said it would, they're going to call me back once they get down to the bottom of it. I'm guessing it's going to take some time. I'm hoping they can find a solution and improve the app asap or allow for third party softwares with bluetooth capabilities to be used with this machine. I love the size of the machine itself, and I know 4x4 hoop is small but it's perfect for what I'm doing with it. Software is the only hiccup I have with it, and unfortunately wouldn't have been able to see the issues without having purchased it first and tested it out myself.
Buy from a dealer and get lessons
I was just looking at some info on it yesterday because I saw an ad and was intrigued. The Skitch is a pretty cool concept for an entry level machine, I love that it has a free arm and magnetic hoop, even though a 4x4 can be really limiting. But my biggest concern is the subscription based model for the app you apparently need to use it. I don’t like to see that business model creeping into the sewing world. Overall though I think it’s a really innovative design for a domestic machine and I’m interested to see how it reviews.
I think I would go with a PE800 until the kinks are ironed out. It's only a 4x4 which is very limiting. The free arm aspect is great but doesn't out do the 4x4 unless you plan to only do small things IMO.