An embroidery machine is either a typical sewing machine, which needs to be guided by hand, or a computer guided sewing machine, which can embroider patterns without human aid. The development of embroidery machines began gradually, after many failed attempts.http://www.moah.org/exhibits/virtual/sewing.html Finally, in 1830 the first successful sewing machine was invented by Barthelemy Thimonnier of France. This led to a riot of tailors who thought the machine would put them out of business. Elias Howe received the first American patent for a sewing machine in 1846, for a process that became known as the lockstitch. However, he had trouble defending his patent and was soon beset by imitators, some of whom were making innovations of their own. Isaac Singer, for example, developed a sewing machine much like the modern one, where the needle goes up and down and was powered by a foot treadle, but which used Elias Howe’s lockstitch mechanism, resulting in a legal battle that Howe won.

In 1889, sewing machines became electrical and by 1905, they were a common household item. The design went relatively unchanged from that point until the advent of computers. Now, the latest embroidery machines have computers in them that can sew patterns automatically.

You can buy embroidery machines at most department stores. They are also available at specialty stores that deal with sewing and other textile crafts.. Alternatively, there are places you can buy them online, such as Amazon.com.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_2?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=embroidery+machine&sprefix=em&ih=1_0_1_0_0_0_0_0_0_1.684_152&fsc=1 Also, you can compare prices on embroidery machines at NexTag.com.http://www.nextag.com/embroidery-sewing-machine/products-html