Brother PE-700II Embroidery Machine / B0013J8F9U
In this video review of the Brother Embroidery Machine PE-700II, I want to show you just a few of the basic things you can do with this machine, right out of the box. This is my first embroidery machine, though I've been sewing for a few years now on a Brother XL2600I, and the fact that I'm able to showcase the basics of this machine when I only received it in the mail yesterday is a testament to how easy this machine is to use. In this video review, I'm going to briefly show how to load a bobbin, how to load the material, how to transfer a pattern from a computer to the embroidery machine, and how to load and change the color spool. I'll also show some projects I finished yesterday, and talk about some potential pitfalls to avoid. (I'd like to show more, but the video time limit is fairly short!)
The Brother PE-700II is a single-use embroidery machine, NOT a dual-use embroidery/sewing machine. The reason I bought a single-use embroidery machine is because it makes sense to me to invest in a separate machine just for sewing, and that way your expensive embroidery machine sustains less wear and tear and lives longer. I've posted a picture of the PE-700II and all the included paperwork and accessories out of the box. The paperwork includes a detailed manual in English, the same manual in Spanish, a "pictures-only" manual for quick reference, and a manual for the USB functionality of the machine. The manuals are very detailed and extremely helpful if you'd like to see them for yourself, I think they are currently available on the Brother website. The standard accessories are included white thread, empty bobbins, seam ripper, scissors, maintenance parts, a 5x7 inch embroidery hoop and guide, and a nifty plastic machine cover.
For the video, I've selected a quick and simple two-color pattern that I downloaded for free online so that I could show off the USB functionality of this machine. The machine itself comes with quite a few pre-programmed patterns, including the English alphabet in 6 different fonts, but if you're anything like me, you're far more interested in the ability to download millions of free patterns online. Indeed, the selling point for the PE-700II for me was the standardized USB connectivity. I was wary of machines that require special card readers and special programs in order to work I don't like buying peripherals (what if they break? what if I can't buy a replacement?) and I hate learning new software. The PE-700II, on the other hand, has a standard USB interface which means that you treat the machine as a removable device, as though it were a really big USB thumb drive. The drag-and-drop ability means that I don't have to learn a new software in order to use my machine and, best of all, the USB connectivity is operating system independent meaning that the PE-700II talks equally well to my Windows XP desktop and my Windows Vista laptop. You can save the patterns from the computer to the machine's internal memory, or you can just hook up a laptop next to the machine, use the pattern, and then delete it from the machine memory right then and there. I cannot rave enough about this feature I've already downloaded and tested dozens of online free patterns and everything has worked perfectly. The one thing to be aware of, as I note in the video, is that the machine isn't terribly good at sensing which colors are meant to be loaded. You just have to ignore the color prompting and watch the pattern about to be embroidered and feed in that color directly or follow the numbered instructions that come with the online patterns. You can reprogram the pattern, once it's stored in machine memory, to have the correct colors, but I never felt it was worth the trouble. (UPDATE: I've since loaded these free patterns into a separate program in order to print 'actual sized' templates of the patterns, and the same "wrong" colors are loaded into the program, leading me to believe that this isn't a flaw in this embroidery machine, but rather in the source program. Interestingly, the "non-free" patterns tend to have correct color charts, so I suspect that the free ones just weren't polished fully before release. Again, just pay attention to the pattern on the LCD screen and you should be just fine.) A quick mention of formats this machine accepts .pes and .dst formats, which I've already found an abundance of. (UPDATE: And there are several free conversion programs out there that I've found that will convert patterns to .pes and .dst format.)
Loading the Bobbin: If you've used a Brother machine before, this is easy as pie, but even if not, it's a quick learning curve. For embroidery, I just use the white thread on the bobbin for everything. I didn't have video time to show how to wind the bobbin, but it's pretty easy to follow the user manual for this, and there's also cheap bobbin winding machines like this one SideWinder Portable Bobbin Winder if you want to be really spoiled rotten. Be certain to wind the bobbin carefully as in sewing, a tangled bobbin will cause your pattern to muck up and will bring the bobbin color on top of the pattern by accident.
Loading the Material: The machine comes with a 5x7 hoop, but it also accommodates the other Brother embroidery hoop sizes. Ideally, you want to use the smallest hoop that will work with your pattern, so as to avoid wasting material and stabilizer, but in the video I use the included hoop. The machine doesn't come with any stabilizer, so be sure to have some on hand so that you can get started as soon as your package arrives. You can buy stabilizer anywhere you buy fabric, and it's usually about half as expensive as the cheaper fabrics. The stabilizer does what it sounds it provides stability for the fabric whilst your machine is rapidly punching hundreds of holes into it. In the video, I'm using a medium weight stabilizer.
Loading the Hoop: I can't rave enough about how easy it is to use the embroidery hoop. I've been cross stitching for years, and opening and loading the hoop feels like second nature. Just unscrew until loose, drop the fabric into place, pop the inner hoop in, tug the fabric taut, and screw to tighten. The 'snap in place' feature for inserting the hoop into place on the machine guide deserves a quick mention although the hoop DOES snap-in-place, the snap action is subtle, so don't go crazy trying to force a loud crack from the machine because you won't get one. Basically, the "snap" is a half-feeling, half-sound that you half-sense. And while that may sound confusing and intimidating, I can assure you that I was completely comfortable with the process after my first three or four loads.
Loading the Spool: Loading the spool is so incredibly easy with the automatic threading feature. If you've ever loaded a sewing machine before, you will have no trouble with this; if you haven't, I'm guessing you'll have it down perfectly in less than five minutes. I'm going to miss the auto-threading when I go back to regular sewing on my other Brother machine.
Pausing the Pattern: Once the pattern starts, you can pause the process at any time for any reason. Need to trim the thread tail because it's sticking up out of the pattern instead of sticking out the back? Press the Start/Stop button to pause the program and trim away. Need to check the bobbin because you think it's getting low? Pause the program, lift the foot lever, cut the current thread, pull out the hoop, and check the bobbin level. You can replace the bobbin, if necessary, then pop the hoop back into place, lower the foot, and continue and the machine won't miss a single beat.
I cannot rave enough about this machine. It's easy to learn, easy to use, it practically does everything except wipe my nose for me, it has cheerfully used every downloaded pattern and every type of thread I've fed into it, and the LCD screen is actually surprisingly easy to navigate, considering the natural limitations of a computer stuffed into an embroidery machine. The ONLY issues I have had with it so far was one time when the white bobbin thread leaked through the pattern onto the top (I had wound the bobbin too sloppily and the bobbin thread was tangled) and another time when I ran out of bobbin thread and wasn't paying attention in time to switch out the bobbin and the resulting pattern was incomplete and you'll notice that both of those "problems" were human error on my part. I hope my video and pictures will be useful to others and I had a very fun time putting them together.
UPDATE (08/23/09): Still as happy as can be with my embroidery machine. I've gone back through the user manual more thoroughly this time and found that not only can it automatically stop when the bobbin or spool is running low, it's also very easy to go to a specific portion of a pattern you can even move the pattern stitch-by-stitch until you get to *exactly* where you want to start, or re-start as the case may be.
Another neat thing I've learned is that the little boxes in the upper left hand corner of the machine represent the three Brother hoop sizes most commonly used with this machine and when a box is "grayed out", that indicates the pattern is too big for that hoop size. Very neat! I definitely recommend picking up the other, smaller hoop size (Brother SA443 Medium Embroidery Hoop 100mm x 100mm) for embroidery monograms and names on clothing and sheets the smaller hoop is much more manageable, in my opinion.
~ Ana Mardoll
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