Pudgleycat

Hi Again!
I have been quilting for about 15 years now. I am interested in purchasing an embroidery machine. I am looking for input from anyone that has one. I would like one that is less than a year old, a demo machine would be perfect or one that is gently used. I would like to stay under $6000.00. Some of the new machines I have looked at retail in the $12,000. range. Too much for my budget! I would love to hear from anyone that owns an embroidery machine the following: What Brand and model you have, what you looked for, why you bought it, or what you don't like about it, and approx. what that one should cost. I will be using it mostly in my quilting so a combo embroidery/sewing machine is my preference. Thanks in advance from all who reply.

Sandra

Barb in Louisiana

I have a Brother Innovis D 4000 purchased at least 10 years ago. It was the top of the line at that time. I went with Brother because it was the only one that cut the jump stitches and had an automatic needle threader that was wonderful. Now, I think all of the time of the line machines have those two functions.

When I look now, I am looking for one that has a super huge hoop...at least 6x9 inch or bigger, large display screen, ease of operation, deep throat...at least 9 or 10 inches and I can buy from a shop near me so I can get lessons and repairs done. The important thing is you need to go look at machines and make sure you like the one you are buying. I really liked a Janome but I couldn't make the auto threader work. Neither could the sales person. Bernina had a great machine, but the price was way too much for my pocketbook. Many people love the Husvarna/Vikings and swear by them. There was no one selling them anywhere near me so I could try them out. Now, I think they have a space rented in my local Joan's. When I buy a new one, I will probably stay with Brother because I am familiar with the brand, but I will go to the biggest quilt show that is close to me to get a look at all the brands. For me, that is the IQF in Houston, TX. Then I will probably buy from my local Allbrands store. I'm not sure if they give the lessons, but at least they have sales people who know a lot about all the machines they sell.

Good luck with your quest.

quiltingcandy

One question I have for you is, what do you want to do with it? I have the Husqvarna/Viking Topaz 20 and I love it. It does exactly what I want it to do. I use mine to make quilt blocks, decorate towel (dish towels and bath towels), t-shirts, and even put a design on sweatshirts. I love making the free standing lace and have made a lot of bookmarks for my DD's students. If you want to embroider Disney items you will want to go with Brother. I have some Disney designs that I bought from Amazon but I cannot buy the ones from Brother and use them on my machine.

I like my hoop sizes and don't intend to do anything bigger than the 7 in. x 10 in. I would like to have what they call the continuous hoop for doing edges, but I have done it on my largest hoop, it just takes time and concentration when re-hooping.

My friend bought the Brother PE770 and really likes it. She said she wanted one like mine, but didn't want to spend the extra money. She wanted to be able to do the Disney designs, so that was the main reason she went with the Brother and then the PE 770 fulfilled all her needs. She loves that Brother has a package deal that had a large thread kit and a lot of other benefits when she bought hers. She bought her machine on the internet but the local dealer has been wonderful to her.

KwiltyKahy

Brother gets my vote. Going to the dealer and trying out different machines is ideal. I always say it is like cars, there are chevy people and there are ford people. Sometimes it is what you get used to. The one thing I really recommend is to get the biggest hoop you can afford. Especially if you are planning to use it to quilt, the bigger hoop is very helpful.

romanojg

Brother and Viking both have my vote. I have the diamond deluxe and love the large hoop sizes. Check with the dealers, you can get store models or ones from events at a great price and they still come with the warranty and some are so close to brand new and yet you did pay a 2nd hand price. Decide on what's the smallest hoop size you'll be willing to settle for. I could never go below a 5x7 and actually when I got my brother this past year I made sure it went larger than the 5x7, I rarely use a small hoop, sometimes I do two projects at once in one hooping. Check your different dealers, see what customer support/classes they offer and what features different machines have. Go to different ones. You will find so many different people like different machines and you need to find what works for you. Will you be quilting with it, or doing labels, make these decisions so that you'll have a better chance of getting the most for your money at the beginning and not wishing yours could do what it can't. Good luck. There is a lot out there to check out.

DonnaC

My first embroidery machine (which I still have) was the Brother SE270, which I purchased at Wal-Mart. It is a combo machine. Never had a bit of trouble with it; however, it has only a 4x4" hoop capacity.

My second was a Brother PE770 II. That upgraded me to a 5x7" hoop, which allows more flexibility in designs. I could still use all of my Brother embroidery cards with this machine. The one drawback (which I didn't think would be a big deal, but ended up being pretty significant) is that you cannot transfer designs to this machine without a computer. There is a special cord that goes from the machine to the computer to download the design to the machine. There is no ability to use a USB stick to hold designs for the machine. The next step up is the Brother PE 770 which does have the USB capability. I wish I had spent the extra hundred bucks to get that machine instead of the one I bought. Again, I never had any tension or other problems with that machine.

(Actually, right before Christmas my machine suffered an unfortunate accident, and the LCD screen was broken, so it's not currently working. Not sure what I'm going to do about that, since fixing it is not in the budget right now. But, I digress.)

I also have a very old Viking Designer I which was gifted to me by a wonderful friend. The machine is so old is still uses 3.5" floppy disks for designs! However, it works like a charm. Does beautiful embroidery and sewing (it's a combo machine).

I think if money was no object (and you certainly have a robust enough budget!) I would go with Viking. I think their machines are very solidly built and have a lot of features you don't see otherwise. I also have no need of Disney designs so that wouldn't influence me to turn more toward Brother.

Hope you're able to make a decision that makes you happy!!

juliea9967

I have the Pfaff Creative Sensation and absolutely love it. I have had Pfaff's for about 10 years now and at this point in life will probably never sew on anything else. My daughter visited once and sewed on my Creative Sensation. She decided that a Pfaff was in her future, but no way was she going to spend the money to get a Creative Sensation. She settled on a Pfaff Creative 4.0 for about half the price I paid for my Sensation. It doesn't have a lot of the features that my CS has, but it has all of the important Pfaff features that makes it a great Pfaff sewing and embroidery machine. I bought the CS because I worked for a quilting shop/Pfaff dealer and got a great deal. I no longer work there and if something ever happens to my CS I will definitely buy the Creative 4.0. It is an awesome machine and my daughter absolutely loves it.

Wrylymax

I have a Babylock Unity, a combo sewing/embroidery machine, and love it. Started with a BL Journey and loved it too but upgraded to the Unity for the laser and a few other features. For many years I had Vikings but shopped around and decided to switch. The LQS "encouraged" me to get the BL Designer but, although a sweet machine, I didn't feel the need for the WOW features that drove the price.

Most of the embroidery I do is edge-to-edge quilting, although I also work with motifs in some quilting blocks and use the embroidery function for quilt labels. I probably do not use it anywhere near it's capacity but am learning new things regularly so my use will expand as I go. I just finished a 4-part class on a Hoopsisters quilt and was so thankful to have a machine that could handle it.

Price - the Unity is over your $6K limit but if you wait for a good sale and have a trade-in or if you buy used, you could probably get very close to the price. The Journey is below $6K.

Please keep in mind that the machine itself is just the beginning of your embroidery expenses. There's stabilizer, the designs (although many free online sources), threads, maybe classes, and so forth.

I've been sewing and quilting for over 40 years and just got my first embroidery machine a few years ago. You'll love it!

TexasTillie

I have a Babylock Ellisimo. Babylock and Brother are made by the same company. Both are very user friendly. I have heard that feature for feature, the Brother is a little less expensive. But I am not positive about that. Personally, I think the dealer is very important. So I chose the dealer that was close to me and offered great customer service. The Ellisimo, which used to be Babylock's top of the line machine is no longer being made, although my dealer told me they would continue to service them for 25 years. You should be able to get the machine of your choice within or close to your budget. Even though the MSRP is 12K, they discount them, in many cases, dramatically.
I agree with everyone else who encouraged you to get the biggest hoop possible. The biggest one for the Ellisimo is 8 x 12. But I think that the biggest hoop that Babylock and Brother have now is 9.5 x 14. Seems to me that the Phaff might have one even larger than that.

All I can tell you is that you will love whatever machine you get. And yes, the machine cost is just the beginning of the expense. But I do love my embroidery machine ! And my dealer !

onemoe

I have the Janome MC11000SE.The hooping on it is the easiest I have seen. I traded up so there are bound to be trade-ins. Find a good dealer