quiltnmom

I am thinking about getting an inexpensive second machine but I want this one to do embroidery. I just bought a Bernina this summer so I can't put a lot into one. Maybe $400-$500. The machine I have does small alphabets. One of the reasons I am looking at an embroidery machine is that my husband and I work at a hospital and occaisionally wear polo shirts to work with that have the hospital logo/name and our department monogrammed on them. We order them from the hospital for like $40 a piece. I would like to have a machine I could load the logo onto the computer and transfer it to the machine. I don't think there would be a problem as far as the hospital was concerned with this. So no issues there.

I was thinking about the Brother 400SE. Does anyone have this and know if this will do what I am aiming for? I would also use it for quilt labels and such but if I just do a few shirts for each of us it would almost pay for itself.

If anyone has other suggestions I'm open. I have never done any embroidery so this would be new to me. But of course I want the most bang for my buck. I've been looking on ebay and researching websites until I have confused myself and my eyes are permenantly crossed I think.

karen65ae

Sorry no help as I am also deciding whether to purchase an embroidery machine , I have a Janome 6600P but I am not very happy with the alphabet on the machine so will watch this space for answers.

Ramona Byrd

30 dollars EACH? That seems excessive. Really too much for an embroidered Patch to sew on a shirt, or does it include the shirt too? That sounds more on the line of what a rock concert tee would cost, or am I behind the times? I'm thinking of the 1970s ones my son went to then.

I'll bet that the ones on this forum who make quilt labels could help you a lot with the different machines. Ones they like and dislike.

Maggiesmom

To be quite honest, I don't think you will find an embroidery machine under $500 that would be of good quality unless you could find a used one that had been serviced regularly and well taken care of.

KonaLinda

My daughter has the Babylock Emore which has been discontinued but some new models have been introduced by Babylock. Hers does only embroidery and she is very happy with it.

amma

you can find Brother's and Singer's, but even they are going to be a bit more than that. Some of the lower end machines only have a 4" x 4" embroidery area, others 5" X 7". I haven't seen any new ones for under $600 but then again I haven't looked in a while.

I have a Singer Futura CE200 and other than wishing for a larger hoop, it is a nice little machine. The newer model is a CE250. My machine 3 yrs ago was $600.

quilterella

I honestly don't think you will find a good embroidery machine for that price. What about a second-hand one? Maybe a LQS has one as a trade in. Or check Craiglist. Good Luck in your search!

Yarn or Fabric

IF you are looking for only a 4x4 field for doing monograms only - and small ones at that - not for bags and purses - you can get away with a cheap Brother you can pick up at Walmart. I will be honest when I tell you that you probably will not be happy with it. I bout suggest getting the Brother 780. It's about $800 or so and it has a 5x7 field.

See if you can find a dealership that will also throw in something like monogramming software or something ;)

cheryl222

I bought a used Janome 350E and am very happy with it. I think I paid either $550 or $6oo. I bought it online, site unseen and have been very happy. This is the 2nd used sewing machine I have bought used online and had very good luck. the other was a Babylock Imagine Serger. The serger was from ebay and the Janome was from the Yahoo group Sew Its For Sale. For those that are not members of that group, it does have some good deals. I have bought and sold many things there and have had only good luck.

quiltnmom

I found a Janome 200E on ebay for 499.00 giving that some consideration too.