Brother PE550D Embroidery Machine, 125 Built-in Designs Including 45 Disney Designs, 4" x 4" Hoop Area, Large 3.2" LCD Touchscreen, USB Port, 9 Font Styles

I have never embroidered before, but this machine is really user friendly and easy to navigate menu, the instruction manual is easy to follow. The built in fonts are great and the built in designs are fun, but the best is the USB to load your own designs (try Inkscape / inkstitch free software for designing and creating the files)

This is my first experience with machine embroidery, and the Brother PE550 is very user friendly and I found it incredibly easy to use. I have downloaded files I purchased online, changed colors on files, and made professional looking gifts and I have only had it for two months. I also used it to Applique. I LOVE the touchscreen. I’m still learning about stabilizers and adjusting for different fabric types, but the machine itself is working great right out of the box. My only warning is that once you start seeing how easy it is to use and how many cool things you can make, you will want to do bigger projects than the 4x4 can manage. I haven’t learned how to do multiple hoopings yet to make a bigger project, but I know that’s a possibility in the future. I highly recommend this machine for any newbie!

I wanted to embroider some quilt panel for a quilt I was making for my grandchildren. This was the perfect machine for my need. It is super easy to use. I love the build in designs and it is easy to import other designs.

The PE550D is an easy to use machine. The maximum hoop size is 4 x 4. I knew this when I bought it, but I'm not sorry. I had been looking at the PE800 with a 5 x 7 hoop, but the price skyrocketed beyond my budget. I bought this one because it had the Disney designs loaded and the cheerful Mickey and Minnie faces on the exterior. My advice for anyone starting/new to machine embroidery is to watch Youtube videos for beginners. There are many good tutorials out there, though not specifically for the PE550D. Then start trying out designs for yourself. My first design was the Minnie Mouse face. It was so cute. I turned it into a face mask for a 6 year old who was delighted with it. You will need to learn about stabilizers and threads. Buy the prewound bobbins here on Amazon, they are wonderful. I have downloaded designs from online sites and using the USB stick put them into the PE550D and embroidered them. Always make a practice piece first. You will see if it stitches out the way that you want. I did have some issues with bobbin thread pulling to the top of a preloaded design and adjusted the thread tension a bit and it worked well afterwards. Embroidery threads: Madeira thread, Gutermann thread, and Hobby Lobby thread all work well in the machine for me. I have tried Coats & Clarks Rayon that I had from a previous project and it also stitched up nicely. Remember that the largest design you can make will be slightly less than 4 x 4. Since I don't plan large projects, this works for me. Sweet Pea and Kreative Kiwi sites have nice 4 x 4 designs and in the hoop projects that will work on this machine. I've had lots of fun with mine, got it Jan 2021. BTW: Walmart also sells stabilizer and scissors that will work with this machine. Use coupons for Hobby Lobby and Jo Ann's and you will save money. Look for Hobby Lobby's Sewology Embroidery Thread at a half price sale. Some online embroidery design sites have free designs that are fun! Enjoy your adventure!

The media could not be loaded. I purchased this item to create business shirts for my business. This machine is great for small job such as this. The speed of this machine is good for small jobs.Here is something I didn't know at the time of purchase. You will not be able to use your own images unless they're already converted into a PES file for your machine. The digitizing SW is at minimum $1k. So this machine is good for embroidering names or the characters that have already been installed, Or you purchase files Etsy. But you can hang it up for wanting to create your own things.

I love my 550D. I chose it for the color display over a larger hoop selection. It’s not very loud, and stitches about 5-7 stitches per second. The more expensive machines go much faster, and tend to screw up more! The selected design is displayed in color, a list of needed colors is to the right of it, along with estimated time to sew that color in minutes, and on the left, the top box displays the current color’s journey. A black plus sign, outlined in green, is seen on the larger picture tracing the needle’s journey through the design. Fascinating! The largest design is 100 mm square. The auto thread cutter can be disengaged if you prefer to do your design in all one color. One note, the list of colors is displayed with the current color on top, then disappears when the next color is up! I didn’t realize it until I noticed my cat in a teacup was receiving gray ears, not pink. I used this machine right out of the box. Factory settings may be changed but I left them, and am very pleased. I neglected to check the needle, to make sure it was in securely, but it was fine anyway. Bobbin in the bobbin case was empty, so a new one replaced it. It was packed tightly (my mail lady *rolled* it out of her truck and I had to restrain myself from shouting “That’s my new sewing machine!” She did hear me.) All the instructions for threading are pictures, both in the book and on the machine so you can’t go wrong. I must learn to remember to lift and lower the presser foot. My previous machine did it for me. If you break a thread there is the needle jump button, for going back 1, 10, or 100 stitches. I’ve never used an automatic threader and see no reason to start now, but it is in the way a bit. No idea where to find the software. I settled for Data 7 to convert my old HUS designs to PES. I highly recommend this machine.