nena

Does anyone own this Brother SE400 sewing machine? My sister wants to get it for me and I do not know anything about it. Walmart has it. It is 389.00
Thanks

Peckish

I have one. My husband bought a reconditioned one for me for Christmas several years ago, and I used it as my "daily driver" until last year. I finally upgraded to a 9" harp for the quilting space. I didn't use it much for embroidery, but it definitely got a LOT of use for piecing! My only complaint about it is the light bulbs have gone rather dim and are not replaceable. It's lightweight enough that it's my preferred machine when I go on retreats.

What else would you like to know?

nena

Peckish,
Thanks for the quick answer. I really only want it for embroidery. I have several machines, but my sister knows I would like to have an embroidery machine and that was in a low price range so she wanted to get it for me.
Do you think it would be good just for that?

bluteddi

I have an older SE 350 combo..... sewing/machine emb.
I LOVE it... the embroidery is easy to set up and works smoothly. My 350 only has up to a 4x4 hoop... I would love to have a minimum 5x7 hoop... that is my only complaint, towards the emb part. As for quilting, The harp is so small. It makes things difficult and I am only able to quilt lap size. I am visually impaired , so I have an added light.. but that might just be me.

My machine gets used daily.... emb several times a month. I've never had a problem or a malfunction that required a visit to the Machine dr.

good luck

Joeysnana

I have this same machine and also got it at WM. I only do embroidery on it and it is wonderful. I have another Brother embroidery machine, PE 770 but I don't use it much. This SE 400 does a much better job. Plus, getting it at WM, you can try it out for 90 days and decide if you like it. I am embroidering on the SE 400 right now, making embroidered placemats for my GDs. It is awesome!

CoriAmD

I have one... love it! My only regret is that is is only 4x4 hoop. I have seen some designs I really like that are for bigger hoops. But this machine is definately worth the money.
I use it for the quilting on my quilts. I also have made bookmarks using the free standing lace patterns.

Nanamoms

I have the SE270D which is the combo machine. I love it. I also have the PE700II which is embroidery only but has the 5x7 hoop size. I couldn't be happier with both of mine and I purchased refurbished ones from a dealer in AL. Super service although I live in MS!! I paid less than $400 for my SE270D and I think the 400 is just an update.

Edit: Not sure how the Walmart machines are covered under warranty. Just be sure to check to see where you would take it in for repair since they have a 25yr warranty. Just saying...

Joeysnana

Conerning warranties, I called a Brother dealer who is located an hour away from me (the closest dealer) and asked him (before I bought the machine) if he would service a machine bought online. He said, "no problem." I have read on here that some dealers are not so accommodating, so I would check if I were you. :)

lvaughan

I bought and returned a SE350-380 don't remember which one exactly, the one before the SE400. The reason I returned it is I didn't like the look of the stitches on straight stitch. I really like the embroidery, I thought it did a really good job at embroidery. It does only do a 4X4 design. I later bought a Janome 350 and think the Brother SE400 did a prettier embroidery stitchout. After using the Janome with 5X7 hoop I definitely wouldn't buy a machine that did less than the 5X7. So if I were buying again I would buy a Brother that did 5X7.

Peckish

I was pleased with the few pieces of embroidery I did on that machine. I've embroidered 15 - 20 pieces, so I may not be the best person to ask, as I'm sure others have embroidered a LOT more. The few times I was unhappy with the embroidery, I was able to adjust things like thread type, or stitch count, or the design, and it worked great. My husband has actually done all the digitizing, which amazes me.