Looking for the best starter embroidery machine to get into machine embroidery? While it can be expensive to get started with machine embroidery, these machines offer great features for the price tag! Let’s dig in.
Best Starter Embroidery Machine – Top Picks
Below you’ll find my top picks for best home embroidery machine for beginners. I’ve tried to pick machines that will fit in every budget, but it’s important to remember that the cheaper the machine the smaller the embroidery space will be! While there’s nothing wrong with a 4×4 machine, you will be much more limited when it comes to projects, and that can put a damper on your creativity.
Brother PE 800 – $899
Best Value
The Brother PE800 is one of the most popular entry-level embroidery machines! That’s because not only is it reliable and easy to use, but it also offers a generous 5″x7″ embroidery area at a price tag most hobbyists can afford.
This is a fantastic machine for embroidering on t shirts, hoodies, flat hats, tote bags, and anything else that you can smash flat under the needle.
It includes 11 embroidery fonts (including 3 Japanese ones), a USB port for importing custom designs, a jam-resistant bobbin, and step-by-step tutorials are located directly on the machine’s LCD screen to help you.
Since this is one of the most popular embroidery machine models, you’ll also be able to find tons of tutorials on YouTube to help you learn how to use the machine, making it extra easy for beginners to get started with machine embroidery.
In short, this Brother embroidery machine can handle most embroidery projects you can throw at it, and it’s one of the best at home embroidery machines you can buy.
Click here to get the best price on the Brother PE800
Janome 400E – $1,349
Best Embroidery Space
Looking for a little more embroidery space? If so, the Janome 400E is a great choice! This fantastic Janome embroidery machine offers an upgraded 8″ x 8″ embroidery area for a bit more money.
This larger embroidery sizes is a fantastic upgrade if you’re looking to do larger machine embroidery for sweatshirts or hoodies, and it also has a large throat space between the needle and arm, making it easier to maneuver these bulkier items under the needle.
This machine works at a decent pace of 860 stitches per minute, but its variable speed function allows you to dial it down to as low as 400 SPM. This can be useful for working on more delicate projects, such as those with metallic threads.
You’ll also be able to upload your own custom designs with the USB port, use on-screen editing functions to resize designs or change thread colors, and it also has automatic jump thread trimming! That’s a rare but useful feature for a machine in this price range that can save you some time on design clean up.
In short, the 400E is a great machine to pick if you want to do larger sized embroidery designs for sweatshirts or hoodies and a 4×4 machine just won’t cut it!
Click here to get the best price on the Janome 400E
Brother PE550D – $439
Most Affordable
If the above machines are out of your budget, that’s okay! You can get started with machine embroidery for a lot less if you’re willing to make some sacrifices, and the Brother PE550D is the right machine for the job.
This cheap embroidery machine will embroider just as well as an expensive one. The only difference is that you won’t be able to make designs that are as large as you would on a more expensive machine.
The Brother PE550D has a maximum embroidery area of 4″ x 4″. This is a great size for embroidering on baseball caps, customizing chest logos on shirts or jackets, creating baby onesies, or making custom bathroom towels.
This is a Disney branded machine, and it comes with 45 Disney embroidery designs (145 total designs) included, 9 fonts (with 3 Japanese fonts), on-screen editing functions, USB port for uploading custom designs, and an automatic needle threader.
While your project capabilities will be more limited, the PE550D is still a solid machine, and it’s a great entry into the world of machine embroidery if you want to try it out without spending too much money.
Click here to get the best price on the Brother 550D
Eversewn Sparrow X2 – $949
Best Combo Machine
Looking for a combination machine that can do embroidery AND sewing and doesn’t cost a fortune? For a slight price upgrade over the Brother PE800, you can pick up the Eversewn Sparrow X2! This capable little machine offers you sewing functions, a 4.75″ x 7″ embroidery area, and it stitches out designs at 850 stitches per minute for sewing and 650 for embroidery.
In addition, you’ll also get their wireless design editing app, an automatic needle threader, one-touch convenience buttons for your most used sewing functions, 120 built-in sewing stitches, 134 built-in embroidery designs to use, and 2 embroidery hoops.
In short, the Eversewn Sparrow 2 is a great machine for the crafter who needs both sewing and embroidery functions at an affordable price but only wants to purchase one machine!
Click here to get the best price on the Eversewn Sparrow X2
Brother SE700 – $499
Most Affordable Combo Machine
Looking for an even more affordable sewing/embroidery combination machine? The Brother SE700 offers both sewing and embroidery for under $500! This machine is a steal.
BUT, like the PE550D, this machine has a maximum embroidery area of 4″ x 4″. This is an okay size for hats, pocket logos, some home decor items, etc. but you may quickly become frustrated with such a small embroidery area.
However, if you need something dirt cheap to get you started, this machine certainly fits the bill. It comes with 10 embroidery fonts, 135 built-in designs, alphabets, frames, 103 built-in sewing stitches, one-step button holes, and WiFi design transfer.
In short, the SE700 is the most affordable combo machine you’re going to find.
Click here to get the best price on the SE700
In closing, there are plenty of affordable starter embroidery machines out there, and knowing what you can live without is the key to finding one that fits in your budget!
Barb, our resident quilter and embroidery aficionado, weaves a thread of creativity through our collection. Serving as the curator of machine embroidery content, Barb infuses each design with a touch of her artistic expertise. The free embroidery patterns you discover on our site often bear the mark of Barb’s craftsmanship. Let’s get crafting!
