Best T Shirt Embroidery Machine [ALL BUDGETS!]

If you’re in the market for a t shirt embroidery machine – you’re in luck! Embroidering shirts is easy to do on any embroidery machine, though it does take a bit of skill and knowledge to get it done properly! Try one of these fantastic machines for t shirt embroidery.

Janome Memory Craft 400E – $1,399

The Janome Memory Craft 400E is an excellent single needle embroidery for nearly any type of clothing, including t-shirts! I’ve recommended this as a great embroidery machine for sweatshirts and hoodies before, because of its generous 8″ x 8″ embroidery area.

However, this machine is also great if you want to make large t-shirt designs without spending a ton of money, and it comes with excellent features for the price.

With this machine you’ll be able to stitch designs at 860 stitches per minute, but it also has variable speed which you can dial down as low as 400 for designs that require more care.

You can upload your own custom designs via the USB port, take advantage of the on-screen editing functions to re-size, rotate, change thread colors, and edit designs, and it even has automatic jump thread trimming – a rare feature for machines at entry level prices.

In short, this is a fantastic and affordable machine that will serve you for most tasks. If you’re toying with starting a home embroidery business it’s a great pick too!

Click here to get the best price on the Janome 400e

Brother PE800 – $899

This Brother embroidery machine is one of the most popular entry-level machines on the market, and for good reason! This budget-friendly machine offers a large 5″ x 7″ embroidery area, which will allow you to embroider large designs on t-shirts, hoodies, and more.

Not only is it super easy to use, but since it’s so popular there are tons of tutorials online for it. That makes it an extra great pick for beginners, because every question you could have about this machine has already been answered on YouTube.

As you can see above, this machine stitches out beautiful designs. It also offers 7 different embroidery fonts, a USB port for uploading your custom designs, a jam-resistant bobbing, an automatic needle threader – AND it has step-by-step tutorials you can access right on the LCD!

In short, the Brother PE800 is a fantastic low cost embroidery machine for caps and t shirts if you need something to get you started customizing t shirts, sweatshirts, bucket hats, beanies, and more. It’s a fantastic starter embroidery machine.

Click here to get the best price on the Brother PE800

Brother PE550D – $439

Looking for the cheapest embroidery machine for t shirts you can get? The Brother PE550D is a 4×4 machine that can get the job done – with a few caveats!

The fact is, a cheap embroidery machine will embroider just as well as an expensive one. What you’re actually paying for with a more expensive machine is mostly the increased embroidery area, and sometimes some quality of life features.

So, if you only need a machine to do something like make pocket logos on polo tees or for making small designs on baseball caps. There’s honestly no reason to purchase a more expensive machine, but it will limit you in the future if you want to do bigger designs later.

However, this Disney embroidery machine comes with 45 built-in Disney designs (145 designs total), 9 fonts (including 3 Japanese ones if you’re an anime fan!), an automatic needle threader, on-screen editing functions, and a USB port for uploading your own designs.

Click here to get the best price on the Brother 550D

Janome 500E – $2,399

Need a bigger embroidery area to work with? The Janome 500E offers an expanded 7.9″ x 11″ embroidery area when compared to the 400E if you can spend a bit more money.

The machine features a large LCD touchscreen with on-screen editing options, comes with all the hoops you need to get started, and it works very well on heavy duty fabrics, like faux leather materials.

Its embroidery area is large enough to make beautiful sweatshirt designs too, like this lovely racoon stitched out by a Reddit user.

settled raccoon on a sweatshirt and went as a gift)
byu/Manavi05 inMachineEmbroidery

In short, this is a great machine at a fair price point for the size of the embroidery area, and it’s an even better deal when you compare the 500E vs 550E. It’s also large enough that you won’t have to worry about outgrowing the machine and needing to resell it later.

Click here to get the best price on the Janome 500E

Bernette 70 DECO – $1699

If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you can upgrade to the Bernette 70 DECO. This excellent machine has an expanded 10.2″ x 6.2″ embroidery area, which is huge for this price point.

This computerized embroidery machine also has some very nice features, which include upper and lower thread sensors, and the Bernina tool box embroidery software for lettering is included for free. (Be aware this is NOT a full digitization software).

It’s also very easy to use, making it a great pick for beginners. The only con for this machine is that it’s a bit slower at 800SPM, but you probably won’t even notice. The needle threader also has a slight learning curve but nothing deal breaking.

In short, if you’re looking for a machine to embroider on shirts that has the largest possible hoop size for the least amount of money – this one is a serious contender!

Click here to get the best price on the Bernette 70 Deco

Husqvarna Jade 35 – $1,399

Interested in a machine that can embroider AND sew? I don’t recommend a lot of combination machines, because I think it’s better to have a machine that just does one job well, but the if you want a machine that does both – The Husqvarna Jade is an excellent choice!

For just a few dollars more than what you’d pay for the Janome 400E, you can pick up this sewing and embroidery combo machine which also features a large 9.5″ x 6″ embroidery area! Yes, an affordable sewing machine that does embroidery!

In addition to the large embroidery area and sewing capabilities, you’ll also get Husqvarna’s “Sewing Advisor”, which selects the stitch, stitch width, stitch length, and sewing tension automatically for your project, a welcoming feature for a beginner.

This machine also comes with a Quick Font Wizard which allows you to create new embroidery fonts, but it’s not a full on digitizing software. However, it does have basic editing capabilities for combining designs, resizing, and adjusting stitch density.

Additional features include: stitch programming, upper thread sensor, automatic thread tension, automatic thread cutter, included embroidery design editing software and font creation software, free motion capabilities, and more – all at an affordable price.

This is, of course, not a fancy computerized sewing and embroidery machine, and that means it doesn’t have fancy on-screen editing functions. But, if you’re happy to do your editing on your computer and transfer the designs over – you can save a lot of money!

Click here to get the best price on the Husqvarna Jade 35

Janome MB4 – $5,499

Looking to start up a clothing brand and need a machine that can create a lot of shirts fast? The Janome MB4 is one of the cheapest multi-needle machines around and it’s a great pick if you need a small business embroidery machine but can’t afford a pricier commercial machine.

This is a 4 needle machine, which means you can load up 4 thread colors and the machine will stitch your embroidery patterns without the need to stop. This saves a ton of time over a standard machine, where it will stop for each color change and you’ll need to re-thread it.

It also has a generous 9.4″ x 7.9″ embroidery area, for creating large custom shirt designs, and it’s variable speed setting will hum along at a respectable 600-800 stitches per minute.

It handles jump stitches for you, comes with all the free hoops you’ll need, and you can use it to customize a lot of products if your brand moves beyond t-shirts later.

However, this is still a flat bed machine. That means it’s not great for things like sleeves, or flex-fit hats that can’t be smashed flat. Though, some people do work around this, as seen in the video above, and if you’re fine with that – it’s a great machine

Click here to get the best price on the Janome MB4

In closing, while t shirt machine embroidery can technically be done on any machine, it’s important to consider your current and future needs before making a purchase.

Will you need to make large designs, or will pocket tee designs suffice? Will you be making these shirts for just your own personal use, or do you plan to sell them in bulk? Do you plan to embroider anything else like flex fit hats or sleeves that will require a specialized machine?

Knowing what you need before making a purchase helps to avoid buyer’s remorse.