Brother experience centre - ever owned one?

What do you/did you have?

Got any good links? Yahoo groups? Manufacturers websites etc?

I have a Brother pc 8500 and I have also owned a 1034 d serger and the coverstitcher.

My first embroidery machine was the Brother PC8500. It is a combo machine, both embroidery and sewing. I loved it! Up to 5x7 embroidery field, lots of nice built in decorative stitches. Uses cards, so you'll want to pick up an Ultimate Box and Card to use with this embroidery machine.

I have since upgraded to the Brother Innovis 4000D. Also a very nice machine, combination sewing and embroidery. Disney designs built in, though I very rarely use them. Field is up to 6x10. Can accept designs on cards, as well as by USB, so you can either load up a thumb drive, or connect directly to your PC.

Two things I don't like about the Innovis 4000D. First off, I don't like the automatic tie off stitches at the beginning. Makes for a sloppy back on the embroidery. There's no way to turn this feature off as of yet, but there have been some online upgrades so that may come. The second thing is that I miss a lot of the decorative stitches from my 8500. The built in deco stitches on this machine lean heavily to floral, heirloom, faux smocking, cross stitch. Not the cute, kid friendly ones from the 8500 (miss that rocket and stars, LOL).

Some plusses for the 4000D are the automatic threader, faster embroidery speed, being able to do regular sewing with the embroidery arm still attached.

I have the 1034d serger, it has been a champ. I have used and abused it and it is still going.

I have the brother pe180D embroidery machine and for a low end machine it works great. I would really like a larger embroidery field but otherwise the machine has served me well.

I also have an XL-5600. It's a very basic low end machine. But it works well. It's rather loud and when I get to a certain speed it shakes (so does my car...hmm maybe I drive to fast lol) I also don't care for it's "satin stitch" it doesn't really have one, I just adjust the zigzag to be as close together as possible, but it doesn't like to keep good tension with the stitches that close together so some of the stitches look real loose.

I have the 1034d serger -- I am VERY happy with it!

I also bought the gathering foot which I really like. I bought it on close out at Walmart for 139., and had to purchase that foot seperately.

I love it! If I was sewing for a dedicated business, I might want to upgrade but for now I'm really happy.

I have the gathering foot for mine too Meg and I agree, it is worth its weight in gold.

I have a Brother 1034D serger as well... I haven't used it in a while (used it for a year & not for 2yrs) & lately had to bring it back out into service; & it works great!! I've been very pleased with it & it's been ignored a lota lota lota lot & still able to perform!

I currenly have the Brother NX400 and love it. It is the equivalent to the Babylock Decorator's Choice and has lots of decorative stitches as well as several types of buttons holes and other functional stitched. It has 3 alphabets aslo. TH biggest issue I have with it is the thread "nests" I get at the beginning of a seam. That is easy to fix by holding the bobbin thread taut as you begin to sew. I seem to forget to do that half of the time. My auto thread cutter has also went caput on me but it's not a big enough problem to take it in to be fixe until my next maintanence trip. It's also pretty picky abuot lint in the bobbin compartment so keep that clean.

I own the 180D embroidery machine also. It seems to be a good basic machine but I rarely use it.

I use to own and love the 139D serger. It was a great work horse and I only got rid of it because my XH broke sevaral peices of it and it would have cost to much to repair.

I also own the 180-D and would love to have a larger embroidery field. I absolutely love it use it much more than I thought I would. I bought it thinking that it would be good to have for the occasional times when I "may" want to embroider something and because my husband encouraged me to get it. But I think that embroidering on items is just addictive. I have covered holes in my girls clothing and embroidered towels for wedding gifts, Christmas, etc. I think that what I mostly like about having it is that it's its own separate machine and I don't have to switch from embroidery to regular sewing when I can do both at the same time.

Dawn

I have the Brother NX 600 (pacesetter) and so far am really liking it. It does nice stitches and is easy to use. It is very similar to the designers choice.



Also have a Brother 180D embriodery and I'm not all that fond of it... but I think that is more of an issue with not liking embroidery in general.

I have the Brother 1034D serger too and really like it. I think that I got it for $60 new makes me love it even more! LOL I need to get that gathering foot from the sounds of it. :)

I have a CS-100T sewing/quilting machine and love it.
bought new at costco in sept05

I also have a brand new Brother 1034D serger bought from amazon in Aug06

I have a brother CS 8150 from Walmart. I bought it in Feb. 2004 and have used it a lot. It was just under $300 I believe. It was a good deal for a computerized machine. It has lots of different stitches and I've used many of them. It has an automatic buttonhole feature but it doesn't work well on heavier fabrics like jeans/cord. It also has an auto needle threader that doesn't work anymore.

I wish it had an adjustable presser foot pressure. I wish it had prettier stitches. It is an ok machine though and I'm glad I have it.

I also have the 1034D serger and it's wonderful.
I have had it since May 2005 and have used it a lot and am very happy with it. I got it for $179 from ebay seller easyterms.

I have Brother ULT2001 Sewing/Embroidery machine. I love it. I bought it used and had problems at first with threads shredding but once I got it repaired it's been perfect. It has a large embroidery field and takes floppy disks.

I have owned the Brother Innovis 400nxQ and really liked it. It sewed wonderfully and was a great upgrade from my mechanical machine. I upgraded it recently to the Brother Innovis 1500D. It does both embroidery and regular sewing. The machine has disney designs built in. I am also very happy with this machine. The feature i am especially happy with is that it connects to my computer via USB.
I have found no cons with either machine. :)

edit: Since making this post I have added two more Brother Machines to my sewing room, the PC-210 and the Innovis 1200.
The PC-210 is at the lower end of their metal geared machines, and I am very pleased with it. It sews quietly, has an auto threader, winds bobbins quick, and just generally does a good job. It is my back up sewing only machine, I use it while both of my other machines are embroidering. :)
I am not as pleased with the Innovis 1200 as I am with my 1500D, but there is a huge gap between the two machines so it is understandable. I am so use to having everything clearly layed out for me on the screen that the 1200's LCD with minimal information gets on my nerves. :lol:
The hoops take a bit getting use to, but all in all it sews well and the embroidery it does is fabulous.

I am very happy with my Brother machines. I would not buy low end Brother (IE: nylon geared machines), but will buy their high end machines over and over. :heart:

I have a brother inovv-is 1000 and I love it!

Hi, I'm new to sewing, but am jonesing for an embroidery machine. I'm looking on Ebay for a possible good deal. Can anyone tell me what's the difference, or which is better--a Brother SE270D or the 150PE or 180PE? There is a Inovv-is 1000 that is "nearly new" starting at $750. Is that a good deal?

Also, PE stands for Personal Embroidery. Anyone know what does SE stand for?

I have a brother PC 6000, I've owned it for 5 years and it's no longer in their production line. It's was replaced by the NX series so it's very similar to those machines. I absolutely love this machine and even when I got my combo embroidery/sewing machine I kept it. It's easy to use, lots of stitches available, sews beautifully and has been trouble free.

i have the Innovis 2500D and love it!