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Explore craft referencesDigitEMB University · Reading room
Books that move your craft and business forward.
Explore a considered shelf of books for makers, digitizers and custom-product businesses. Every title is selected for a practical reason — so you can spend less time searching and more time making.
Curated for practical makers Links lead to the original source
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Use these reading paths to pick a book that supports the work already on your table.
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Recommended reading for the work you do.
Open any title for a concise editor's note, its original author or publisher details, and a direct route to the source.
6 selected books
BookBeginner
Cricut For Dummies
Kerri Adamczyk
A beginner's guide to Cricut die-cutting machines: choosing a model for the materials you plan to cut, setting it up, and using the Design Space app and design library.…
BookIntermediate
Embroidery Machine Essentials - Applique Adventures: Companion Project Series: Book 6
Mary Mulari
A short project book for machine appliqué that goes beyond the basic method. It shows how to work with altered fabrics, overlays, backgrounds and layering, across 13 pro…
BookBeginner
The Complete Machine Embroidery Manual
Elizabeth Keegan
Aimed at sewing-machine owners who stitch ready-made embroidery designs. It explains the types and file formats of designs, how to get a downloaded design onto your mach…
BookBeginner
Modern Machine Embroidery: 11 Projects from Pickle Pie Designs with 25 Must-Have Embroidery Motifs
Lisa Archer
Written for people just getting started with an embroidery machine. Step-by-step instructions cover stabilizer, thread, fabric and hooping, then move on to appliqué, cus…
BookBeginner
Embroidery Machine Essentials: How to Stabilize, Hoop and Stitch Decorative Designs
Jeanine Twigg
Covers the whole home-machine embroidery process in one place: choosing designs, thread, stabilizer and needles, then hooping, placing the design and stitching it out. M…
BookBeginner
Machine Embroidery With Confidence: A Beginner's Guide
Nancy Zieman
A plain-spoken beginner's course in machine embroidery. It walks through the tools you need, setting up the work area, machine types, choosing designs, positioning with…
Why this shelf exists
Practical recommendations, not an endless list.
A focused point of view. We choose books that can help a maker, digitizer or customization business solve a real next-step problem.
A clear reason to read. Each listing explains why it earned a place on the shelf before you leave the University.
Respect for original work. Covers, authors and purchase or publisher links stay connected to their original sources.