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.

Buy the biggest hoop size you can afford. If you have dealers in your area, be sure to check out their trade ins. They have been checked over by the techs and you can get more bang for the buck.

Chk with the BBB on local dealers. I purchased a machine about 15 yrs ago from one local dealer and found out later they were horrible to deal with. that's a big part of what you're buying.
I have the Brother pe770, the only thing i don't like is the screen, you can't see what you're emb.
also, for designs not on the machine, you need a comp with a readable program and a usb thumb drive less than 4 gb. preferable 2 gb. hard to find now. and expensive. you can get them from the net. ck out alot of free designs too b4 you buy them. Alot of companies give out free designs monthly, weekly and daily and they are nice.

Here's a tip if you decide to look at the Bernette Deco machines or the Elna machines. The Deco machines are built by Brother or Janome, depending on the model and Elnas are built by Janome. You'll pay less money buying the comparable Brother or Janome machine.

Cari

Ditto for me

I don't know about these other machines mentioned, but I have a long-retired Janome Memory Craft 9000 and its smallest setting for embroidering names is larger than I want for a quilt label. However, it might be fine for your needs so definitely test-run whatever you're looking at to see if the sizes fit your wants.

~ Carla ~

I have 3 embroidery machines. My first, a Babylock Sophia 1 is just such a nice little machine. It has 2 hoops, which is limiting. I wanted a larger machine after a few years, but really didn't want to trade in the Sophia, so I bought a Janome 11000SE. It is a much bigger machine, came with 4 hoops and there is a mega hoop available if I wanted to buy it. A year or so ago my best friend died of cancer, and ultimately I bought her Babylock Elegante from her husband. Not sure which one I like best yet, but need to decide soon as I really need to sell at least one!! They are all really good machines!

My lessons (the expensive kind) 1. Buy the biggest hoop size right up front. If you get a 4x4 you will quickly want to upgrade. 2. Buy one that you can add the snap hoop to in the future (magnetic hooping is a dream!). 3. Make sure it has a USB port. Card readers are old technology and you shouldn't be paying for it in a new machine! 4. If you get a Janome or one that has restrictions on how you have to save the files to your USB drive (subfolders) make sure you understand it completely before you leave the store!

I've got the Brother PE770 (agree about the screen, but it's what I could afford at the time) the Baby Lock Unity which I absolutely love as a combo machine. and sew all the time with my sister who bought the Janome, and would love to trade for a baby lock.

I have the Viking/Husqvarna Topaz 20 and have been having a lot of fun with it. My biggest concern is, I can't do Disney with it. Someone once told me that I can buy them from the Brother website and then convert them over but so far have not tried it.

When I got my machine I was at the dealer to have a machine serviced, and he showed me the Viking. Told him I didn't think an embroidery machine was in my future but he made me a deal on the floor model I couldn't refuse. Plus he gave it the full warranty as if it came out of the box. It is a quilting and embroidery machine.

Figure out what it is you want to make and then talk to your dealer. I needed instruction so I highly recommend going thru a dealer.

wow, you embroidered those on a 4x4 hoop? Love it..hope to see it done!

I love, love, love my Viking Ruby! However, unless you really intend to do ALOT of embroidering, it would be more machine than what you would probably want. I do agree with the previous poster who advised you to stay away from anything that uses embroidery cards as they are definitely old technology. I did have an opportunity to *play* on a Brother recently...not sure of the model but it retails around $1200-1400. It was a nice little machine preloaded with Disney...small hoop size, though. Because it was being used as a demo machine, I could have purchased it for 750. I did consider it because my grand daughter loves Disney....and that would have been pretty much all I wanted it for so I decided to pass on it. I, too, am retired and I just think twice before I buy things now. Seriously, I would suggest you visit several different dealers and 'test-drive' lots of machines.

I just traded my Brother Quattro for the new Dream Machine. Its the top of the line. Many other people traded their machines in also. Go to a Brother dealer and look at used machine, there are plenty now (my local dealer had at least 35 machines traded in for the new one). I know my dealer cleans and services all machines before they are resold. You may be able to get more machine than you thought. Most designs need a 5 x 7 hoop so like everyone else said, get the biggest hoop you can afford.

Thank you all for your help. At least I have some machines to look at, already test driven by all of you...

I have the Brother Dreammaker XE. This is about the 4th Brother machine I have purchased, purely updating each time. They have an incredible amount of time saving thingies, loads of in-built designs, 4 sizes of hoops - comes with two, have purchased the 6x6 hoop - which I love using, tends to hold the fabric much firmer. I also find the Brother machine to be extremely user friendly. I like to combine quilting and machine embroidery, also love IN-the-HOOP designs.
Over time I have also used Singer, Janome - neither of which were embroidery machines - just straight sewers, these were also very reliable machines.
My suggestion would be to go to a dealer and have a demonstration of which every machine you might be considering, and any other that takes you fancy.
Good luck and enjoy once you have made your purchase.