How to Choose a Home Embroidery Machine

Start with the embroidery field

The embroidery field is the largest area a machine can stitch in one hooping. Brother’s PE545 manual is blunt about it: designs that do not fit the selected frame are shaded on the screen and cannot be selected.¹ bernette adds that the best result comes from the smallest hoop that holds the design.¹²

Drawn to scale. Each square is 1 inch (25.4 mm).

4 × 4 in100 × 100 mmBrother PE545

5 × 7 in130 × 180 mmBrother SE2000

6 × 10 in160 × 260 mmBrother NQ1700E, bernette 79

The inch names are rounded. Brother sells the SE2000 as a 5 × 7 in machine; its manual gives 180 × 130 mm, which is 7-3/32 × 5-1/8 in.² bernette gives its large field as 260 × 160 mm, or 10.2 × 6.3 in.⁸ When you compare a design file with a hoop, use the millimetres. The Units button at the top of the page switches every size here.

Example machines by field size

Machine	Largest field	Sews too?	Hoops included
Brother PE545	4 × 4 in100 × 100 mm	No	One, 100 × 100 mm4
Brother SE2000	5 × 7 in130 × 180 mm	Yes, 241 stitches5	One, 13 × 18 cm5
Brother NQ1700E	6 × 10 in160 × 260 mm	No	Two, 16 × 26 cm and 13 × 18 cm13
bernette 79	6.3 × 10.2 in160 × 260 mm	Yes, 500 stitches8	Three, 160 × 260, 120 × 180 and 50 × 70 mm11

Embroidery-only, or sewing and embroidery?

A combo machine sews and embroiders; an embroidery-only machine does only embroidery. Here, the SE2000 and the bernette 79 are combos, and the PE545 and the NQ1700E are embroidery-only.^1,3,5,8

• You already own a sewing machine you like: an embroidery-only machine can stitch a design while your sewing machine stays set up for something else.
• You will sew as much as you embroider: a combo keeps one machine on the table. On the bernette 79, the sewing side also offers 230 mm (9 in) of space to the right of the needle.⁸

Check the file formats before you buy designs

Embroidery machines only read certain design file formats, and a design must be in one of them before the machine can stitch it.⁷ This matters as soon as you buy designs online: download the file in a format on your machine’s list.

Design file formats each machine reads

Machine	Formats listed by the maker
Brother PE545, SE2000, NQ1700E	.pes, .phc, .dst, .pen1,2,3
bernette 79	VP3, VIP, PEC, HUS, DST, EXP, JEF, PES9

Two practical points:

• A .dst file carries no thread colors. Brother machines show it in their default color order, so check the preview and set the colors yourself.¹
• A design that is not in your machine’s list can be converted with embroidery software, which handles common formats such as EXP and DST.¹⁰

Getting designs onto the machine

All four machines read designs from a USB flash drive. The three Brother machines also connect over wireless LAN, with Brother’s Artspira app or its Design Database Transfer software; bernette lists a USB port for the 79, and no wireless connection.^2,4,5,6,8

What else you need for the first design

The machine is not the only purchase. The manuals list what every project uses:

• Stabilizer. “For best results in your embroidery projects, always use stabilizer material for embroidery,” says Brother, which also recommends water-soluble stabilizer for thin fabrics such as organdy and for napped fabrics such as terry cloth.¹
• Bobbin thread made for embroidery. The weight depends on the model: the PE545 manual asks for 90 weight, the SE2000 manual for 60 weight.^1,2 Check your own manual before you buy a spool.
• Embroidery thread on top. Brother asks for embroidery thread intended for its machines; bernette recommends 40 weight rayon or polyester.^1,11
• Needles. Brother recommends a 75/11 needle, and a 90/14 if the machine is not stitching well on heavy weight fabric.¹

Buying in Canada

brother.ca lists the SE2000 and also the NS2850D, a 5 × 7 in sewing and embroidery machine; the SE2000 manual covers both model numbers.^2,14,15

When we checked brother.ca on 2026-11-09, the PE545 could not be ordered from its page, and the SE2000, NQ1700E and NS2850D pages sent buyers to a store or a dealer rather than to an online cart.^14,15,16,17 bernette’s Canadian page for the 79 links to BERNINA Canada’s online shop and to a store locator.¹⁸ Stock changes often, so check the page before you plan around one model.

The four example machines

Example: 100 × 100 mm field, embroidery only

Brother PE545

Largest field

100 × 100 mm (4 × 4 in)

Sewing

No

Formats

.pes .phc .dst .pen

Transfer

USB, wireless LAN

Built-in designs

135

Embroidery speed

up to 400 stitches/min

Strengths

• Embroidery only, with USB and wireless LAN
• Reads .pes and .dst files
• Listed by Brother in the US and in Canada

Drawbacks

• Smallest field on this page
• No sewing
• Embroiders at up to 400 stitches per minute, against 650 for the SE2000

Good fit: you want to add names, monograms and small motifs, up to 100 × 100 mm, to things you already own.
Skip it if: you want larger designs, or one machine that also sews.

Example: 130 × 180 mm field, sews and embroiders

Brother SE2000

Largest field

180 × 130 mm (sold as 5 × 7 in)

Sewing

241 stitches

Formats

.pes .phc .dst .pen

Transfer

USB, wireless LAN

Built-in designs

193

Embroidery speed

up to 650 stitches/min

Strengths

• Sews and embroiders, with a 130 × 180 mm field
• Wireless LAN and USB
• 650 stitches per minute when embroidering

Drawbacks

• Only the 13 × 18 cm hoop is included; smaller and magnetic frames are sold separately
• Its field is smaller than the 160 × 260 mm of the NQ1700E and the bernette 79 on this page
• In Canada, brother.ca sends SE2000 and NS2850D buyers to stores and dealers

Good fit: you sew, and want embroidery up to 130 × 180 mm on the same machine.
Skip it if: you need a 160 × 260 mm field, or you will embroider for hours while also needing to sew.

Example: 160 × 260 mm field, embroidery only

Brother NQ1700E

Largest field

260 × 160 mm (sold as 6 × 10 in)

Sewing

No

Formats

.pes .phc .dst .pen

Transfer

USB, wireless LAN

Built-in designs

258

Hoops included

26 × 16 cm and 18 × 13 cm

Strengths

• Largest Brother field on this page, with two hoops included
• Wireless LAN and USB
• Listed by Brother in the US and Canada

Drawbacks

• Embroidery only
• The box holds the 26 × 16 cm and 18 × 13 cm frames only
• In Canada, the page sends buyers to stores and dealers

Good fit: you want designs up to 160 × 260 mm in one hooping, and you already sew on another machine.
Skip it if: you only want small monograms, or one machine that also sews.

Example: 160 × 260 mm field, sews and embroiders

bernette 79

Largest field

260 × 160 mm (10.2 × 6.3 in)

Sewing

500 stitches

Formats

VP3 VIP PEC HUS DST EXP JEF PES

Transfer

USB

Built-in designs

208

Hoops included

160 × 260, 120 × 180, 50 × 70 mm

Strengths

• Sews and embroiders, with a 160 × 260 mm field and three hoops
• Reads the widest list of formats on this page
• 230 mm (9 in) to the right of the needle for sewing

Drawbacks

• USB only, no wireless connection listed
• In the US, bernette sends buyers to dealers
• bernette's own pages describe the stitch count in different ways

Good fit: you want one machine for sewing and for large designs, and you buy designs in many formats.
Skip it if: you want to send designs over Wi-Fi.

How we chose these examples

We picked one machine for each field size, from makers whose manuals and specification sheets we could read in full on 2026-11-09. That is why Brother makes three of the four. We will add other makers as we check their documents, and each machine on this page links to its maker’s page, not to a seller.