Late today, thousands of us will spend the night online, trading patterns — sewing and embroidery patterns for the new high-tech sewing machines that thread themselves and connect to wi-fi networks.
The next step in sewing machines is wi-fi networking, computer screens, dual USB ports, automatic threading and LED lighting.

"This is a good example, because, you can see, it has different layers, it has different stitch lengths,“ Betsy Phillips says as she proudly presents her creations to us.

They start with a photo or original drawing, "…and save it into their computer,“ explains June Mellinger of Brother International. “They can put it on a memory card, a scan, a flash card, a USB stick, however they want to hold it and send it, and then they bring it into the sewing machine, and they can embroider it out in a matter of minutes."For companies like Brother, wi-fi sewing is a huge business. It's not bad for artists like Betsy, either. She creates her designs in her home near Sonoma, California’s wine country. She calls her pastime Wine Country Designs.

Some of those machines cost as much as $5,000. But, then, they
have Disney and Pixar characters built in for embroidery.

Anyone in the world can download her designs direct to a sewing machine. But it’s more than a cottage industry to her; it’s personal. And sometimes emotional.
"Most of us, when we started in this field, we put a teddy bear on a tee shirt, and we'd be very happy. But now we've learned it's quite a bit more advanced than that. I have loved sewing. I've sewn all my life. I've always loved making things. And (!) I learned to love the computer."
Computer support is why this online sewing community was formed originally. But it has grown, too. Today, members trade personal stories, comfort others who have lost loved ones in war, for example. They share advice on raising kids. Now that’s a whole new kind of support desk.
As Betsy says, "As ye sew, so shall ye rip!"

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