Embroidery Machines and Your Thoughts Please
 

I might be considering an embroidery machine in the future. I don't run a business so it would be just for my own personal use. Making labels, maybe using some of the more simple designs for quilting patterns. Don't want to spend a ton of money either. SO QUILTERS - what are some good brands, at not to horrible prices. I'm retired so I have to plan ahead for any large purchase I make. Thank you all.

I have a brother pe770 and love it. It is a sturdy machine and simple to learn and use and imo stitches great. My only complaint is its screen. It's black and white and the images are not great. It's largest hoop is 5x7. Although I def would recommend it, I am hoping to get a larger machine soon with more bells and whistles and larger hoops. Personally, I would not recommend any machine that can't support at least a 5x7 hoop.

I have a BROTHER embroidery machine and it does up to size 4 x 4 embroidery designs. I mostly use it on personal baby clothes for my grandchildren, aprons, hand towels and for quilt squares. It has fit my needs perfectly. After reading this book it convinced me that I wanted a machine...
http://www.nancysnotions.com/product...idence+book.do It is really a great informative book!!

I purchased my machine from www.allbrands.com which has free shipping and I got my machine in three days.

I also have the brother SE400 Only has a 4x4 hoop. It was only 300.00 so i thought I could learn on that. I still love it But would love to have a bigger hoop size . Just can not afford it right now. I am doing a quilt with it right now. Here is a pic. I have a lot more of it done now.

I have a Janome Horizon 12000 and I love the embroidery and quilting capabilities. Nevertheless, it all comes down to testing out various machines and see which one speaks to you.

I did quite a bit of research last year before I bought mine. If I was going to buy a Brother I'd buy the PE770 or the Designio 820, which is a dressed up 770 and comes with more hoops and stuff. my BFF bought the 820 and loves it. I ended up buying a Janome MC200e because it has a 5x5 hoop which I thought was big enough for me at the time. Not too long after I got a great deal on a used Janome MC350e. I love both my Janomes.

Cari

I love my Brother Dreamweaver!

Buy the largest hoop you can afford. I have a 5x7 and have thought that a 6x10 would be nice but I can make just as much stuff with my 5x7. Don't settle for a 4x4 machine only to turn around and buy a 5x7 - you'll be spending money twice. If you have a good sewing machine buy the Brother or Janome embroidery only machine.

What is your budget?

I really like the Bernina Bernette Deco embroidery machine, the 600 and 650. I currently own 2 600's and 1 650. The only difference is the bobbin mechanism and designs built into the machine. I bought them all used and put them in my classroom.

The 650 has a faulty bobbin mechanism in models produced during a certain time frame which is cost prohibitive (in my opinion) to fix. I don't think you can know which one you have until you have to get it fixed. The 650 I currently have does not have the faulty mechanism. The 650 has probably twice the number of designs built in as the 600.

I've never had a problem with my 600's, and the built in designs are really nice and very detailed.

I bought 3 of the machines on Ebay and 1 of the machines from my local dealer. I never pay more than $300 for the 600 model and $350 for the 650 model. And I have paid less.