Brother SE400 Sewing Machine Review

The home sewing machine has come a long way since the late 1700s when the first sewing machine is said to have been invented. The first machines were simple devices designed to make sewing leather for bridles and other leather goods easier. Over the next 150 years, the modern sewing machine developed through a series of patents issues to several inventors. Rather than coming together fully formed by one inventor, the sewing machine as we know, it was the result of lots of engineers and creative individuals designing different aspects, borrowing from each other’s designs, and keeping what worked best. All modern sewing machines, including the Brother SE400, are descendants of these early machines.

Comparison Table

What Is a Brother SE400 Sewing Machine?

The Brother SE400 Sewing and Embroidery Machine is one of the best combination machines on the market. It is inexpensive for an embroidery machine, but it comes with tons of features. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced craftsperson, you will love this machine. It can tackle complex projects and also sew basic stitches with consistency and ease. This powerhouse will meet most of your sewing needs in one well-designed machine.

Product Specs  

The Brother SE400 is one of the brand’s best-selling machines. Brother is a trusted brand in sewing machines, offering a wide range of products for the beginner to the advanced craftsperson. The SE400 is a combination sewing and embroidery machine featuring computerized sewing and a 4×4 embroidery machine. It has 67 built-in stitches and 70 built-in designs.

This machine has five lettering fonts, a back-lit LCD, an automatic thread cutter, and an automatic needle threader. It sports free arm design, 7-point feed dogs, and the ability to import patterns from iBroidery.com. This machine is packed with features and promises to meet all of your sewing needs, from basic straight stitching to complex, custom embroidery.

Its list of features is nearly as long as the much more expensive model, making the Brother model a much more economical choice. It’s great for beginners, but it gives you a lot of room to grow.

Workspace Design

Unlike other sewing machine combos, this machine has a large workspace. This allows you to complete complicated projects without feeling cramped. The space is well-lit, and at 4 inches by 4 inches, there’s room to make complex designs. This machine was designed for both fun and function. Some embroidery machines offer larger workspaces, but the SE400 should meet most of your needs.

iBroidery Integration

The Brother SE400 takes home embroidery to a new level. It comes with a set of designs pre-loaded into the machine for fast, easy completion of projects. This saves you from having to find patterns and then hand embroider them, which is time-consuming. In addition to the designs saved on the machine, you can purchase thousands of other patterns from iBroidery.com and download them onto your machine.

These designs are affordable and are offered on a pay-per-design system. They have a huge selection including Disney and specialty designs. With this feature, you can create adorable, licensed products legally and without having to find patterns and do them manually. With the Brother SE400, you’ll be up and embroidering within a few minutes of owning the machine.

LCD Display

This machine has an LCD touchscreen rather than knobs and dials for selecting your stitches, patterns, etc. It has 67 built-in stitches and 70 unique pattern designs. Also included are five different monogramming fonts for personalizing gifts.

There are so many features that scrolling and tapping can become tedious. To help with this, there is a stylus included to browse the menus. Basic settings such as stitch width, length, and tension can be controlled through the LCD as well. Finally, it has a built-in tutorial to help you navigate all the functions.

Accessories

The Brother SE400 comes with lots of accessories, including:

  • Embroidery arm
  • 4×4 embroidery hoop
  • Free arm/accessory compartment
  • Embroidery bobbin thread
  • USB cable
  • Seam ripper
  • Needle set
  • Cleaning brush
  • Two screwdrivers
  • Touch pen
  • Spool caps
  • Scissors
  • Bobbins

​Accessory Feet

  • Buttonhole
  • Overcasting
  • Zipper
  • Zigzag
  • Button fitting
  • Monogramming
  • Blind stitch
  • Embroidery

Pricing  

The Brother SE400 can be found online at Amazon.com for approximately $350. Occasionally, you will find this item on sale for about $330.

How It Compares

We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare.

  • EverSewn Hero Sewing Machine
  • Brother CS6000i Sewing Machine
  • Janome Memory Craft 400E Professional Embroidery Machine

Brother SE400 Sewing Machine

Ease of Use

With its long list of features, this machine is easy to use for both the beginner and the advanced craftsperson.

Performance

For the most part, this machine lives up to its high standards. It works quickly and efficiently with only minor issues. Some users have reported a learning curve with threading the needle, broken needles, puckering when using the embroidery hoop, and displeasure with the quality of some of the embroidery designs.

Design Quality

This machine has an overall excellent design. Users have mentioned minor issues such not being able to change the embroidery hoop size, but otherwise, the machine is well designed.

Warranty

This product comes with a 25-year limited warranty.

PROS

  • LCD screen makes things fast and easy
  • Lots of stitch choices
  • Self-threading
  • Pre-loaded fonts
  • On-board tutorial
  • Eight presser foot options

CONS

  • Lots of “pages” in the menu is tedious
  • Bobbin case needs to be cleaned a lot
  • Only 4×4 embroidery hoop 
  • The instruction manual is not always clear

EverSewn Hero Sewing Machine

The EverSewn Hero is also a combination sewing and embroidery machine. This one is great for traveling or working in small spaces due to its lightweight, compact design. It features an automatic needle threader, 7mm stitch width, adjustable foot pressure, 800spm speed, and an LCD screen. The following are the included features for the EverSewn Hero:

  • 400+ utility, decorative and alphabet pattern stitches
  • 40 built-in embroidery designs
  • Embroidery design sizing up to 110mm x 170mm
  • 7mm stitch width
  • 6.5-inch workspace
  • Automatic needle threader
  • Upper needle and bobbin thread level monitoring
  • Eight different presser feet
  • USB port

Ease of Use

This machine is simple to set up and provides a lot of automated features that make it very user-friendly.

Performance

Most users found this machine simple and yet effective for their sewing needs. However, some reported that the instructions were not as clear as they should be, especially for troubleshooting.

Design Quality

Overall, the design quality is good, but this is a compact machine. It does not have some of the bells and whistles of a larger machine, like an automatic thread cutter.

Warranty

For warranty information, please contact the product manufacturer.

PROS

  • Super lightweight
  • Large embroidery space
  • Lots of stitches

CONS

  • No automatic thread cutter
  • Poor customer service
  • Poor instruction manual

Brother CS6000i Sewing Machine

The Brother CS6000i is a combination sewing and quilting machine. It has a stitch selector, allowing you to view and choose from a list of stitches. It comes with an automatic needle threader, adjustable sewing speed, a detachable wide table for large projects, and a built-in free arm. There are 60 built-in stitches, including decorative, and seven buttonhole styles. This machine has nine presser feet, including:

  • Buttonhole
  • Overcasting
  • Monogramming
  • Zipper
  • Zigzag
  • Blindstitch
  • Button fitting
  • Walking
  • Spring action quilting

The CS6000i also has a back-lit LCD, easy threading diagrams, and a brightly lit sewing area. It comes with a Quick Start guide and complete instructions in 2 languages. There is also an instructional DVD, free phone support, and online technical support.

Ease of Use

This machine includes easy setup lots of automatic functions, making it very simple to use. If you need help, it comes with several methods to seek help from the manufacturer.

Performance

This machine is designed for basic sewing for the occasional user. If you are looking for a heavy-duty machine to put a lot of hours on, this isn’t it. However, if you sew for fun, this is a great little machine for you.

Design Quality

Customers are overall satisfied with the design. This machine is made for light sewing, and it delivers. It comes with enough features to sew a variety of different projects. It packs a lot of punch into a smaller machine. It’s easy to move,  as well as change out and use the different feet and stitches.

Warranty

This product comes with a 1-year warranty for all the parts and a 2-year warranty on the electronics.

PROS

  • Lots of stitches
  • Several presser feet
  • Excellent support

CONS

  • Smaller and basic
  • Needle gets jammed
  • Not for heavier fabrics

Janome Memory Craft 400E Professional Embroidery Machine

The Janome Memory Craft 400E is a truly top of the line embroidery machine. It has a 7.9” x 7.9” embroidery field and tons of features. This embroidery-only machine has 160 built-in designs, six fonts for monogramming, and a USB connection so you can import more designs. It also comes with an extra wide table, and there are four additional hoop sizes available.

The 400E boasts a sewing speed of 400-860 SPM. It allows for on-screen editing functions such as enlarge, reduce, rotate, flip, drag and drop, arc, combine, copy and paste, grouping, corner layout, single color sewing, and zoom. It offers adjustable speed, flexible stitch traveling, direct jump to desired stitch point, auto-return post thread break, adjustable hoop positioning, built-in advanced needle threader, automatic thread cutter, an easy set bobbin, bobbin winding plate with a cutter, bobbin thread sensor, and a full-color LCD touchscreen.

Ease of Use

This machine has a lot of features, but they are designed to be easy to use. You should be able to unpack your machine and get going without a lot of hassle or confusion. It is a more advanced model, so there may be a learning curve for beginners, but it can be overcome.

Performance

This is a high-end machine, desired to get the job done. It outperforms a lot of smaller embroidery machines and is more durable.

Design Quality

This machine is well thought out in its design. The screen is big and easy to read, and the stitches are high-quality. The programs are easy to use and adding new designs is easy to do. Overall, it was designed with the customer in mind.

Warranty

For warranty information, please contact the product manufacturer.

PROS

  • Large workspace
  • A huge screen that’s easy to read
  • Lots of ways to edit designs

CONS

  • Smaller hoops are hard to find
  • Expensive
  • Maybe hard for beginners to use

Conclusion

After reviewing several comparable machines, the Brother SE400 is an outstanding choice if you are in the market for a combination sewing and embroidery machine. It has a long list of features, is easy to learn and use, and the company provides solid support. It receives a solid 5 Stars.

The Brother model outperforms a similar machine by Eversewn due to their lack of customer support and provided instructions. The Janome machine is a more professional level embroidery machine and offers more sizes and options, but if you are sewing from home for pleasure or occasional profit, the Brother model should meet your needs.

Plus, it has the added benefit of being a combination machine, whereas the Janome machine is only for embroidery. The Brother SE400 is lightweight, and yet strong, combining the portability of a cheaper machine with the higher-quality of a professional system.

The bottom line is, you will not be disappointed in the Brother SE400 combo machine. It’s a combination of low price, and lots of features earn the highest recommendation.

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