best embroidery machine for hats and shirts in any budget!

Looking a quality embroidery machine for hats and shirts? For people who are new to embroidery, choosing a machine can be intimidating. That’s why we’ve put together this list to help you find the perfect machine to get started with machine embroidery.

But, first thing’s first. Have you actually thought about your needs for embroidery? Ask yourself these questions before you buy.

What to know before you buy an embroidery machine

What kind of hats do you want to embroider?

All budget-friendly machines are flat beds. This means that you can embroider on anything that you can smash flat enough to fit under the needle. This works just fine for dad hats, beanies, and bucket hats, but for structured hats… it’s a no go. You’ll need a machine with a dedicated cap driver to do structure hats or fancy embroidery that goes all the way around the hat, and those machines cost a lot more money.

Is this machine for business or personal use?

If you’re only going to making items for yourself, a single needle budget-machine is fine. But, if you’re planning to make a business out of it… a multi-needle machine makes for less work.

A multi needle embroidery machine allows you to use multiple thread colors at once without the need to re-thread every time. This obviously saves you a lot of time if you’re making bulk orders for customers, but again, these machines are much pricier.

Interested in an affordable multi needle machine? Check out this article which features the cheapest multi needle embroidery machines for starting a home business.

Will you want to embroider other stuff later?

It’s important to think about where you want to take your embroidery hobby in the future. That’s why I don’t really recommend purchasing a machine with a 4″ x 4″ embroidery area. While inexpensive embroidery machines do work just as well as pricier ones, that smaller embroidery size will be very limiting when you decide to move on to more ambitious projects!

It’s also important to note that flatbed machines struggle with many items besides just structured hats. Do you want to embroider on things like socks or sleeves, or maybe unusually shaped items like stuffed animals or duffel bags? A flat bed will make that near impossible.

While a free arm machine is pricier, it will allow you to tackle these more niche projects much, much easier. So keep that in mind.

Embroidery Machine For Hats and Shirts – Top 3

Editor’s Pick!

Brother PE800 – $849.99

The Brother PE800 is a great machine! It’s so great that we also chose it as the top pick for our “Best Embroidery Machine For Custom Designs” article too! Here’s why we love it.

For starters, it has a very generous 5″ x 7″ embroidery area, which is hard to get on a machine in this price range. This is a great size that will give you sizeable embroidery space for t shirts, hoodies, jackets, and more projects.

This machine will also work on hats, but you should keep in mind that this is a flat bed machine. That means that hats need to be flattened for embroidery – which means it won’t work on structured hats very well, but it will work great for dad hats, bucket hats, beanies, and other items that can be flattened for embroidery.

The Brother PE800 makes top 5 lists year after year, because it’s just that good. It’s a beginner friendly machine that’s super easy to learn on, and because of its popularity there are tons and tons of tutorials on YouTube. So, if you get stuck somewhere a long the way, somebody has definitely posted an online tutorial that can fix your issue in a jiffy.

The Brother PE800 has just enough features that it’s pleasant to use, but not so much that you’re wasting money on stuff you don’t need. This includes easy on screen editing, a USB port for uploading custom designs, a jam-resistant bobbin, and an automatic needle threader. All of which are great features for a machine in this price range.

So, what’s not to love about this machine? Well, it does not come with embroidery software (though most machines don’t), and it only stitches at 650 stitches per minute, which is a bit slow.

Click here to get the best price on the Brother PE800.

PS. Looking for a Brother sewing machine that embroiders too? The SE1900 is almost the same as the PE800, but it offers sewing stitches for $150 more! Click here to check it out.

Baby Lock Alliance – $4,999

Can Embroider Flex fit and Other Structured Hats!

While the Baby Lock Alliance is certainly an investment, it’s the best home embroidery machine for hats! That’s because, unlike other home machines, this one is NOT a flat bed!

The Alliance features an “open” arm, and that means you don’t need to smash items down flat to embroider. As you can see below, the hat hoop freely rotates, allowing you to embroider across the entire front of the hat without having to damage it.

However, this free arm is also really useful for stuff other than hats! Since you have so much space, anything is fair game: including bulky bags, jackets, stuffed toys, and other stuff which a home embroidery machine owner can usually only dream of.

This machine can embroider up to 8″ x 8“, which isn’t too far off from cheaper multi-needle machines. However, the Alliance is a lot cheaper than most multi-needle machines, and it’s more user friendly as well.

The on-screen editor is very easy to use, and includes the ability to adjust designs before stitching, swap out thread colors, check the stitch time, etc.

This machine also features a heavy-duty all steel rotary system, it works with metallic and textured threads, features a laser pin-point system for lining up designs, and it automatically snips ALL of your jump cuts for you – leaving you zero clean up to deal with.

In short, the Alliance is a FANTASTIC machine, and it would be our number 1 pick, except for the fact that its price puts it out of range for many home embroidery enthusiasts. However, it’s a GREAT pick if you want an embroidery machine for an at home-business.

Click here to get the best price on the Baby Lock Alliance.

Brother NQ1700E – $1,999

Looking for a bit more of a middle ground between the Alliance and the PE800? Upgrading to the Brother NQ1700E can get you a bit more bang for your buck, including an extended 6″ x10″ embroidery area.

This machine also comes with a bit of a speed upgrade – 850 SPM compared to the PE800’s 650 SPM. It also comes with some valuable quality of life features which you might want to have too.

The NQ1700E automatically cuts jump stitches for you (which the PE800 does not), and it automatically adjusts the thread tension, while the PE800 requires you to adjust it manually. Thread tension can be very frustrating for beginners – so this is a very valuable feature!

The 1700e also comes with Free BES embroidery software ($410 value) which includes 800+ additionally embroidery designs, almost 200 pre-digitized fonts, and tools to help you make appliques. It’s a great introduction to embroidery software.

However, if you’re mainly looking for a hat embroidery machine, you should know that this machine will have the same issue as the PE800. It’s STILL a flat bed machine and all flatbeds require you to smash hats flat for embroidery.

So, if you had your heart set on doing embroidery for flex fit style hats, or something similar, then you’ll need to save up for a free arm style machine like the Baby Lock Alliance.

Click here to get the best price on the Brother NQ1700E.

PS. If you are starting a business, then some places do offer financing on their machines to help you. Check out the product page at sewing machines plus and it will give you the link for financing.

Tanya Womack

Tanya, both a nurturing stay-at-home mom and a skilled crafter, is the creative force behind our blog. As the co-founder of Romney Ridge Farms & Crafts, she’s the editor and curator. She also runs the Romney Ridge Farms & Crafts social media accounts where we post new patterns for you to enjoy.