Brother PE 500
 

Walmart has this machine for $200 on Black Friday. Is it worth the battle? Does anyone have this machine? I'm looking for an entry level embroidery machine, mostly to label my Mom's stuff at the nursing home and to make quilt labels. Would this one do it? I'm anxiously awaiting your opinions!

As an entry level machine this one isn't bad. Good price. It only has a 4x4 hoop though, so doing quilt labels in a space that small might not be so easy. The built in fonts aren't going to be all that small. Remember too that you'll have to buy stabilizers and thread at the very least. Machine embroidery can quickly become a money pit if you let it, so don't invest in more than basic supplies until you decide whether to stick with it.

Cari

I agree with everything Cari-in-Oly said. I have this machine and love it. The Brother customer service support phone line is wonderful. I have made labels. But, 2 downsides - phone line closed weekends, and I with I had a bigger hoop.

Thanks for this post. My girlfriend is looking @ this embroidery machine too.

I would be careful about buying a machine at Walmart. A few years ago, a friend of mine purchased a Brother at Walmart. She had to take it in for servicing, and the service guy told her he wouldn't work on it. He said Brother makes a lower quality machine specifically for Walmart, and it is not the same quality Brother that is sold elsewhere.

I bought mine thru Amazon and its a great beginner machine. Wish it did more than 4 in designs but its fine for 6 in blocks. Im not interested in doing anything but quilting but it would be nice to have a high end machine to quilt finished blocks but they cost as much as a long arm.

I am thinking of getting one myself. I don't know the first thing about machine embroidery so this will be a good lesson for $200. I don't see why fabric can't be re hooped to embroider as big a block as you like, the embroidery won't be any bigger but will fill in the block. I want to experiment without worry of ruining a high dollar machine.

I see in the ad it will be on sale Thursday at 6 pm and all day Friday until supplies run out.

I'm glad I found this post. My friend has this machine, bought at Walmart several years ago, and is very pleased with it. I have used her machine several times to put names on items. She had a problem with it and the Brother dealer fixed it, no problem. No put down where she bought it. The dealer said she was glad Walmart had these beginner machines because most users wanted more advanced machines after using the beginner machines for awhile. She sells a lot of machines thanks to Walmart.

I have a Brother SE350 and Love it. Yes the hoop is only 4x4 but does what I want and is not fussy about thread. I can use surger thread or coats and clark and it just purrs along.That is a great price

I have the PE500. i bought it from one of the sewing machine websites online for about $225. I am happy with the hoop size-I only use it for quilt labels. I use EQstitch to make the label first.