What is your opinion of the Brother PE800 embroidery machine?

We get asked this a lot! Here's the deal: Brother doesn't make the PE800 anymore. They replaced it with the PE900. But don't worry, you can still find it brand new or certified refurbished from third-party dealers and resellers. A lot of our customers have this machine, and so do we. Honestly, it's amazing. Here's why:

  1. It has a 5" x 7" embroidery area. This is a big one. That means it can stitch any design that fits in a 5x7 hoop. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a machine that only has a 4x4 embroidery area. That's tiny, and you'll outgrow it in a week. Don't waste your money on anything smaller than 5x7 hoop.
  2. The price is good. It used to sell for under $1,000 new. Now you can find a used one for around $500 to $700. For what you get, that's a great deal, especially if you're just starting out.
  3. It has a 3.2" color touchscreen. You load your design right into the machine and see it before it stitches out. No embroidery software needed! And it's a nice big screen for a machine at this price. The screen also tells you which thread color to use for each part of the design. No guessing! You can see how long your design will take and watch it on the screen as it stitches.
  4. You can edit right on the screen. This is huge. You can rotate, resize, put designs together, and add lettering, all before you stitch. For a machine at this price, that's an absolute gem.
  5. It reads PES files. That's one of the most popular embroidery formats in the world, so you'll never run out of designs.
  6. It has a built-in USB port. You don't have to hook your computer up to the machine. Just copy your designs onto a USB drive, plug it into the machine, and there they are on the screen.
  7. It comes with 138 designs and 11 fonts. You can start stitching right out of the box without buying a single pattern. But be careful here: only 7 of the 11 fonts are in English.
  8. The LED lighting is bright. You can actually see what you're embroidering.
  9. Threading is so easy. There's a diagram right on the machine that shows you what to do, step by step.
  10. It threads the needle for you. You know how frustrating it is to poke thread through the eye of a needle? This machine does it for you. It takes a little practice, but once you get it, you'll love it.
  11. There are tons of YouTube videos. If you get stuck, we promise there's a video that will help.
  12. It has built-in tutorials. The machine itself shows you how to do things, step by step.
  13. You'll be stitching fast. Most of our customers tell us they stitched their first design within a day or two.
  14. You get Brother support and a 25-year limited warranty. Are you hearing this? 25 years!

One more thing: you can't just upload a photo. We get asked this all the time! You can't take a JPEG or PNG off your phone and stitch it out. The machine only reads embroidery files, and it can't make designs on its own. Somebody has to turn the picture into an embroidery design first. That's called digitizing. The good news? That's what we do. Every one of our designs is ready to stitch. You just download it, put it on your USB drive, and go.

And yes, all of our designs work on the Brother PE800.

Tips from our community

These tips come from our community. That's over 200,000 customers, 10,000 Facebook fans, and a private Facebook group of 2,000 members. Many of them have been embroidering for more than 30 years.

Before you buy

  • It only does embroidery. It looks like a sewing machine, but it doesn't sew! If you want to hem pants or make a quilt, you'll need a regular sewing machine too.
  • Don't pay too much for a used one. Since Brother stopped making it, prices are all over the place. If someone wants close to $1,000 for a used PE800, keep looking.
  • Don't worry that they stopped making it. We hear this a lot. The machine works the same as it always did. Just keep it clean and get it serviced once a year, and it will last you a long time.
  • A bigger hoop won't give you bigger designs. You'll see 5x12 hoops for sale, but the machine still only stitches 5x7 at a time. So when you shop for designs, stick with 5x7 or smaller.
  • You might outgrow it someday. This is a wonderful machine to start with. But if you end up wanting designs bigger than 5x7, or you're stitching big orders for a business, you'll want a bigger machine down the road.

Getting started

  • Read the manual first. We know, we know, nobody wants to. But sit down with it for 30 minutes before you start, and you'll save yourself hours of headaches.
  • Always use stabilizer. It's the backing that goes behind your fabric and keeps it from bunching up while you stitch. Skip it, and your design will pucker. Trust us on this one!
  • Practice on cheap fabric that doesn't stretch. Before you stitch on that nice shirt, practice on something like plain cotton, felt, or an old pillowcase. Stay away from stretchy fabric like t-shirts until you get the hang of it. It moves around and your design will pucker. If you mess up, who cares? It's scrap fabric.
  • Get a smaller hoop too. The machine only comes with the 5x7 hoop. For small designs, a smaller hoop is easier to work with and saves stabilizer.
  • Keep only a few designs on your USB drive. The pictures on the screen are small and hard to tell apart, so load just the designs you're working on.
  • Give yourself a couple of weeks. You'll be stitching in a day or two, but it takes a little longer to feel really comfortable. The first few days can be frustrating. Don't give up and send it back! Once it clicks, you'll love it.

Fixing thread problems

  • Use the right bobbin thread. Your bobbin needs 90 weight bobbin thread, not regular sewing thread. This one little thing causes so many messy stitch-outs!
  • Don't buy cheap thread. Cheap embroidery thread breaks all the time and will drive you crazy. Buy good thread and you can actually walk away while the machine does its thing.
  • Thread keeps breaking? Try a spool net and a felt pad. Here's a little secret. Put a felt pad under your thread spool and slip a spool net over it. The felt pad slows the spool down so it doesn't spin too fast and tangle. The net keeps the thread from jumping off. Both cost almost nothing, and they fix most thread breaking problems!
  • Change your needle often. A dull needle skips stitches and breaks thread. Use 75/11 embroidery needles and put in a fresh one regularly. Needles are cheap. Ruined projects aren't!
  • Don't use metal bobbins. Stick with the plastic bobbins made for this machine. Metal ones cause nothing but trouble.

Source of information: With over 200,000 customers and a private Facebook group with more than 2,000 members, we have heard just about every embroidery question and troubleshooting problem you can imagine. This question has come to us directly from customers by email, through our Facebook page, and in our private Facebook group.

Have another question? See all the answers in our machine embroidery designs FAQ.