Embroidery Fit Guide
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Buyer's guide · not run by a maker or shop

Find the embroidery machine that fits what you make

Names on towels, quilt blocks, a gift for someone who sews: the right machine depends on your largest design, whether you sew too, your budget and your table. We check 15 machines against their makers' own figures, and tell you when one doesn't fit.

Start the fit tool Or browse by need

Every figure is sourced and every price dated; we haven't used these machines and we say so. How we pick · How we make money

Free fit tool · 6 questions

  • Projects
  • Design size
  • Sew too?
  • Budget
  • Space
  • Experience

Answers in your browser, no e-mail, no cookies. You get a machine class, the best match and why others are outside your limits.

Open the fit tool
Rows of embroidery thread spools in every color on a wooden rack Photo: Markus Schertenleib · CC BY-SA 3.0 · modified

Start from your need

Four kinds of buyer, four honest pages

Each page has one pick, a fit check, the shop's terms, the costs after you buy, and who should skip it.

Line drawing of a single-needle embroidery machine with its hoop

A first embroidery machine

Embroidery only: names, monograms and small gifts, with nothing else to learn.

Our pick: Brother PE545, USD 499.99 seen Nov 10

Read the page →
Line drawing of a sewing and embroidery machine with a detachable embroidery unit

One machine that sews and embroiders

For sewers who want to add names and motifs without a second machine.

Our pick: Brother LB5500M Marvel, USD 599.99 seen Nov 10

Read the page →
Line drawing of a multi-needle embroidery machine with a row of needles and thread cones

Machines by hoop size

From 4 × 4 in to multi-needle, drawn to scale, with each machine's limits.

Our pick: Brother PE900, USD 1,179.99 seen Nov 10

Read the page →
Line drawing of a single-needle embroidery machine with its hoop

Giving one as a gift

Who it suits, who it doesn't, returns and shipping in the shop's own words.

Our pick: Janome Memory Craft 100E, USD 1,099 seen Nov 10

Read the page →

The first number to check

Hoop size decides what you can stitch

The maximum embroidery area is the largest design a machine stitches in one go. Here are the common sizes at real proportions over a letter sheet. Inches are rounded; check the millimetres.

Hoop sizes explained

letter sheet 3 4 2 1
  1. 1. 4 × 4 in: the lowest-priced machines (100 × 100 mm)
  2. 2. 5 × 7 in: the common step up (130 × 180 mm)
  3. 3. 6 × 10 in: long designs (160 × 260 mm)
  4. 4. 8 × 8 in: large squares (200 × 200 mm)
Our diagram, 1 unit = 1 mm. Sizes as Brother, Baby Lock and Janome state them.

Guides

The questions behind the purchase

Hoop sizes, drawn to scale

4 × 4, 5 × 7, 6 × 10 and larger, in inches and millimetres, plus caps and magnetic frames.

Read the guide →

File formats & software

PES, DST, JEF and VP3; USB, Wi-Fi or app; software from free to about USD 2,000.

Read the guide →

Starter supplies, with prices

Stabilizer, thread, needles and more: about USD 82–145 for the first month.

Read the guide →

How we work

Honest about limits, open about money

  • Makers' figures, sourced. Areas, speeds and formats from the makers' manuals and spec pages, with a link next to every number.
  • Prices with a date. Plain text, as the shop showed them on Nov 10, 2026. No countdowns.
  • "Skip it if" on every pick. And no button for a machine outside your limits, sold out or without a price.
  • Paid links are marked. They go to Sewing Machines Plus; we plan to apply to its affiliate program.

We haven't used these machines

We don't run a test lab and we don't pretend to. What we do: read the makers' manuals, the shop's listings and terms, and put the numbers that matter side by side.

How we pick