Embroidery machine help
 

Yeah, so excited, I'm actually getting a tax refund this year. I would like to buy an embroidery machine to make my quilt labels with. I need some suggestions on an inexpensive machine from those of you in the know. I have been looking at the Brother 500, which only has 4 x 4 area, or the 770 which is a little bigger. Any other suggestions? Not really interested in any thing besides labels and maybe monograms. Thank you for any help.

Even though you may think that you aren't going to do anything except monograms and labels, when you start looking at the designs out there, you will want a larger field than 4X4.
Look for one that has a USB port so you can easily move designs.

I have the Brother SE 400 which does have the 4x4 field. I love the machine! I admit I haven't used the embroidery part that much, but the machine is great. It does have a USB port that you can download patterns, but your computer has to be connected. That's not a big deal to me.

Congratulations. its so addicting. I want you to know that the two least used of my 6 different sized hoops are my 4x4 never used and my 5x7 only about 2 times in 2 yrs. I personally think you should get the biggest you can afford. You might want to check on a used one from a dealer. You normally will still get the classes and a warranty. I have a couple of Vikings and love them but they are at the higher end. I know that Brother has some good ones out there but where ever you get them make sure there is good customer service and also classes because you'll use it even more. I would stay away from the ones from Walmarts, etc because you won't get the customer service like you will from a dealer. I know around here the sew n vac places sell and give classes on Brothers but some LQS that have classes will let anyone with any machine join in. Enjoy.

I have two embroidery machines and I can honestly say that my 4"hoop is used seldom on either machine. I use my 5x7 all the time and my biggest one, 7x12 next.
You just want to do labels, until you find out how much fun embroidery is and you want to do more and more! Many of my labels need the 5x7 hoop.
I'd get the one with the biggest hoop size in your price range.....you won't be sorry.

embroidery is fun. I also thought I was going to just do labels and such, but luckily i got a larger combo because i wasn't sure if i would want to trade up after a smaller one. I can honestly tell you I made the right decision because i love my machine and have used almost all my hoop sizes even my 7x12 and I like to know I am not limited. Some quilt patterns/designs require a minimum of 10 inches so keep that in mind. look at purple daisies and sharon schamber has some gorgeous embroidery design heres one to kind of give you an idea of what you can do
http://www.sewingconnection.com.au/i...&productId=804

4x4 is far too small--you will regret it--i manage quite well with 5x7--but would like bigger

I agree with all these comments. Get the biggest one you can afford. Brother has several models that are very nice. If you can get to a dealer be sure to check out the ones that have been traded in or used in classes. You can get a bigger bang for your buck.

I have to agree with the rest of the posts. My 4 x 4 hardley ever gets used. You may not need or want all the bells and whistles of the fancier machines but don't short yourself either or you will have buyers remorse!

Thanks for the help. Will look at 5 x 7 and larger and see what I can find.

I have a brother SE350 with a 4 inch hoop it usese PES files.

i agree it is addictive you will want a large than 4 x 4 field

Go try some out at a sewing machine shop and try them out, as well as takings some lessons.

I have a Baby lock Ellisomo, I truly love doing embroidery on this machine. It is very EZ to use.

Go try some out at a sewing machine shop and have them show you how it does embroidery.most shop are very helpful, you also can take lessons. You can also buy nice used ones from them.

Also in most cases you wouldn't use the smaller hoops. I use my 8 x 8. And also my 8 by 11 1/2 all the time. The small hoops to me are a waste of stabilizer.

I'm a newbie to embroidery world just got a BROTHER PE 500 -bought some design cd's on e-bay but cannot get them to show in my machine! can anybody let me know what I'm doing wrong<

I finally settled on the bro pe770. it works for me and the price was great $779

I also got the brother PE 770, with the hopes of finding a simple, inexpensive software just for adding names, monograms and quilt labels. Can anyone help?

I see from the Brother website that your machine hooks directly to a computer to download designs from the iBroidery.com site. Does the manual say you can use designs from a cd?
Here is there troubleshooting page:
http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...od=hf_pe500eus

Page 71 of your manual shows how to retrieve designs off your computer.

I hope this helps.

Chase