Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you want to try your hand at a little bit of machine embroidery without investing tons of money in a machine, the PE500 is the one for you. (Amazon was offering it at 50% off, at $299 a tremendous incentive to buy.) This embroidery machine comes with a medium-sized embroidery hoop, 2 pre-wound bobbins, 3 spools of embroidery thread, 3 stabilizer sheets, a small scissors, plus the usual Brothers grab bag of essential sewing machine tools. There are only 70 designs pre-loaded on the machine, but you can do monogramming in your choice of 3 different alphabet styles and acquire more designs via embroidery cards or transfer them from your pc via the cable that is included in this package. Many more designs can be obtained from Brother's ibroidery website. Unlike a couple of other Brother sewing machines that I've used in the past, bobbins wind smoothly and evenly with a minimum of fuss. Having problems? With a push of a button, help screens are easily accessible - right on the machine itself! This machine is a delight to use, but if it doesn't stitch first check the upper threading. The tension at point #2 (diagrams for all threading are painted on the exterior of the machine) can be tricky. If you have the presser foot down, there is a good chance that your thread isn't on the right of the little metal bar. There actually is a take-up bar at point #4 that is recessed into the machine (Shades of those old Singers in Home Ec classes from eons ago!) and the thread must pass from right to left when it catches in there. Well, at least we don't have to actually push the thread through a little round hole anymore. If it still refuses to sew, gently remove the hoop from the embroidery unit and check the bobbin at the same time that you cut all the trailing threads underneath. The PE500 gets confused if there are too many tails under the material; it thinks that it's done sewing. Gently reattach the hoop and use the Adjust feature to pick stitching exactly where you left off. It's possible to invest another boatload of funds into embroidery machine thread. I found a set of 40 large spools in Brother-compatible colors for less than $40. (Substitute a 'close' color if an exact match was not in the set.) 40 Large Spools Embroidery Machine Thread for Brother With Thread Locking Spool The largest possible size of your design is 4" X 4" - quite small compared to professional embroidery machines, but the PE500 is a good machine for learning the basics of machine embroidery.