Brother SE600 Combination Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine

I gave this machine to my mom for Christmas last year to replace her ancient Singer. We did a lot of shopping around and eventually landed on this SE600 because it was the best of both worlds - advanced sewing (100+ stitches) and intro embroidery (80 built-in designs). Mom is a totally competent sewer, but since this machine she's been able to try some trickier techniques and fabrics. Even if her old machine was able to do it, she seems to be more confident with this one. Also, the ease of use is pretty astonishing. Since it's largely digital, there's definitely a learning curve, but Mom has been able to follow along with the step-by-step manual and eventually know the core processes by heart. Embroidery is totally new to us, and of course our imaginations ran away with us we considered a Bernina for .05 seconds. The price point on this Brother is a ridiculous value for what you're able to create. I bought a cheap multi-pack of embroidery thread and have had so much fun. As a first try, I embroidered my dad's name on a couple cheap handkerchiefs and they came out so great that I gave them to him as a gift! And while the 80 included designs are kind of amazing, I was ecstatic to learn that I could load other designs into the machine. There are amazing libraries of designs online that have thousands of designs (loads are free but some are ~$2 which I think is no big deal since you own the design forever). The photos attached are from two designs I bought and embroidered on my nephew's t-shirts. So fun! I've done them in other colors for adult bandannas and they're always hits. We've used this machine for all sorts of things - teaching myself sewing basics, watching mom sew a tulle owl Halloween costume, embroidering napkins for the Christmas table, and simply replacing buttons on shirts, sweaters, and pants. Such a huge fan! When I was first shopping I almost talked myself into a more expensive machine, but I am so pleased with this and honestly I can't see us outgrowing it anytime soon. Highly recommend!!

What a great machine! So far I've really only used it as a sewing machine, as there are several things I am altering. I find it to be very smooth, relatively quiet, and it hasn't jammed on me once (I had not done any sewing in decades, and my memories from any sewing I did back then include a lot of clearing away thread jams in my old machine!). There is lots to learn with this puppy, but there are tons of tutorials on YouTube (everything from opening the box onwards) if you're not keen on labouring through the written manual, but honestly a lot of it is pretty intuitive if you play around with it. Also, all of the basics (like threading the bobbin and needle, changing the needle or foot, etc.) are right there on the machine, with helpful picture screens you can scroll through, so you can get up and running pretty quickly. I can also tell that the embroidery function is going to be lots of fun (I did one quick test monogram, and it worked like a charm). I was so happy Walmart got this SE600 back in stock (at least long enough for me to snag one!), since it's been sold out everywhere during the pandemic, as have most affordable sewing machines. Also, Walmart's price is BY FAR the best for this sewing machine, it retails for a minimum of $100 more everywhere else. Thank-you, Walmart!