Brother SE-400 Computerized Sewing & Embroidery Machine

I just purchased this last night to embroider some quilt squares. I read the manual and watched the DVD. Still yet, each time I tried to embroider the thread knotted up underneath the needle above the bobbin. It was so bad that I had to cut the fabric out - that is what fabric hadn't been ripped and shredded being caught up in the mess. I was packing it back up in the box frustrated today that I had spent the ENTIRE day wasting time, and fabric, trying to make this thing work when I noticed the slider on the lower back of the machine. It's the slider that raises and lowers the grips that move the fabric along while sewing. Low and behold, the grips were in the RAISED position. Thinking this was surely the problem, that the grips were snagging the thread and fabric as the hoop moved along, I decided to give it one more shot. Thank goodness I did. I pushed the slider to the lowered position and VIOLA!! Problem solved!! Now, anything I've tried to embroider - with or without using stablizer - had been perfection. I tried several different fabrics including cotton, denim, terry cloth, and a poly/cotton blend. They all came out perfectly. I also tried using cheap non-brand thread and then embroidery thread. Absolutely no difference whatsoever. What DOES matter is making sure those grips are lowered!! I went online and downloaded a few designs and was pleasantly surprised at how simple it was. I thought I had surely skipped a few steps or that they hadn't saved because it was that simple. They were all there and have worked wonderfully this evening. So, back to the quilting squares I went. It works so seemlessly (of course now that the grips were lowered - which, by the way, the manual said NOTHING about) that I have stepped away from it all evening while it's running. I turn it on, get it started, and walk away to work on other things around the house. When it beeps letting me know it's ready for a thread color change (which is remarkably simply) or that it's finished I change it out and keep going. Now that I figured out what was causing my thread and fabric to snag up and/or tear, I'm thrilled with this machine. This was my first attempt at embroidering and I'm so glad it is this easy.

I love this machine. It worked well right out of the box. It tells you when the bobbin thread is getting low, and it lifts the presser foot and cuts the thread for you. It's insane. I connected it to my computer and copied a Superman design to the sewing machine. I then embroidered a hat with a really fun Superman emblem. I also made a couple Superman patches and have sewn them on a messenger bag. You can do so many thinks with this machine. It's light, takes up so little room. It's an affordable, fun, creative addition to my craft area.