Creativity, imagination, and hands and finger skills are the keys to unlocking the success of embroidery. This art form started during the early times as a means to put designs on bare pieces of fabric by sewing or weaving pieces of threads to come up with a certain design or pattern. Anyone has to go through the painstaking process of needlework to produce the desired work of art. It was first done by drawing figures or any desired pattern on the fabric which will serve as the guide as to what types of stitches or threads were to be used.

The same creativity and imagination the paved way to the invention of embroidery machines which can be traced back in 1800s through Joshua Heilman who laid the foundation of the embroidery machine industry. It was later on followed by more advanced embroidery machines that made use of the shuttle embroidery and chain stitch embroidery methods. Embroidery sewing machines are still operated manually using the hands and fingers through the aid of other types of fabrics and materials like plastic, wire, metallic strands, and leather.

Further advancement in technology brought corresponding improvements in the embroidery industry through computerized sewing embroidery machines that can automatically come up with a design from a built-in pattern program. Using computerized embroidery machines is much easier and less costly as compared to hand and manually operated sewing machines.

Aside from the ready-made designs, users can use their creativity and imagination to make their own designs and patterns. Ready-made patterns are transferred in the computerized embroidery machines in varied means and ways, although it may depend on the design file format of the machines. CDs, special cards with features similar to compact cards, floppy discs, or cables are just a few of the things that can be used.