Embellishing unique and exceptional custom embroidery on your projects is a great way to add a personal touch to your projects. But hey! Are you doing it manually? No way you need a good embroidery machine for custom designs to automate the process and finish your 3 days of manual embroidery in only the next 45 minutes!

That is great but you may wonder how to find the best embroidery machine for custom designs that would embellish the exact design you hand it over. We are here to guide you today on how to hunt the best one for you.

Now you would think you can randomly pick a machine and start embroidery BUT you should know that a wrong pick can waste your money, time as well as projects. So be careful!

Now, what if you give this article roughly 15 minutes? I guarantee that these 15 minutes would prove themselves to be worth their weight in gold!

The best embroidery machine would embroider whatever custom designs you put on it and ultimately it would save your precious time. Moreover, the quality will be far better than the manual embroidery.

Then what are you waiting for? Let’s jump into the list but if you want my personal recommendation the Janome MC 400E is a cool choice. If you are a Brother lover then the Brother SE1900 is the go-to and tested workhorse to consider.

At a Glance

ImageProductPrice
1. The Brother SE190010

1. The Brother SE1900

  • Built-in Stitches &
  • Easy Handling
  • Fonts
  • Colorful Screen Display
  • USB Port
  • Large Area for Embroidery
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2. The Brother PE550D9.9

2. The Brother PE550D

  • Touchscreen Display
  • Disney Designs
  • USB Port
  • Affordable
  • Very User-Friendly
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3. The Brother PE8009.9

3. The Brother PE800

  • Import Custom Designs
  • Colorful LCD Touchscreen
  • Large Embroidery Hoop
  • 25 Year Warranty
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4. The Brother SE6009.9

4. The Brother SE600

  • Dual Purpose Machine
  • USB Port
  • Large Touchscreen
  • Easy Portable
  • Easy to Manage
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5. The Brother PE7709.8

5. The Brother PE770

  • High-Quality Stitching
  • Automatic Needle Threader
  • Built-in Memory
  • USB Drive Port
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6. The Singer Legacy SE3009.8

6. The Singer Legacy SE300

  • Useful Built-in Stitches
  • LCD Touchscreen
  • Smooth Operational
  • Extra Large Embroidery Area
  • All Quality Accessories
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7. The Janome Memory Craft 400E9.7

7. The Janome Memory Craft 400E

  • Quality Stitch Output
  • Designs Editing On Screen
  • Built-in Designs
  • Smooth Experience
  • Larger Embroidery Field
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1. The Brother SE1900 Sewing & Embroidery Machine

Brother SE1900

The Brother SE1900

  • Easy Handling
  • Built-in Stitches & Fonts
  • Colorful Screen Display
  • Large Area for Embroidery
  • USB Port

Starting with the best performer Brother SE1900 sewing and embroidery computerized machine that ensures artistic stitching with the custom designs you love. The wings it gives to your creativity are just imaginable.

Featuring 138 embroidery designs to work on, Brother wants to make you fall in love with them. In addition, 11 embroidery fonts are a plus to your monogramming projects. This gives a personalized touch to your work.

All the presets are very good looking but you can still import custom designs through the USB port into the machine’s memory. Once imported you can work on them directly.

To thread the needle quickly, the machine has an advanced needle threader. Just press the lever and it will push the thread through the needle’s eye in a couple of seconds. The machine has a drop-in top bobbin which ensures its convenient insertion and removal.

On the sewing side, Brother SE1900 has 240 built-in unique stitches that decorate and prettify your sewing work. There are 10 auto-size buttonholes in addition.

Making a selection amongst the sewing and embroidery stitches with the 3.2” touchscreen LCD is quick and easy. You can preview your design and edit them by rotating, cropping, mirroring, dragging and dropping, etc.

The machine has a hoop size of 5” x 7” for embroidery purposes so you would be able to tackle large projects easier than before.

What Could Be Improved

Learning this custom designs machine is a bit technical and I would prefer any video manual rather than the traditional User Manual.

Youtube is the best academy to learn and master this machine fully. You can watch videos like the below one. 

Our Personal Thoughts

Putting everything in one single machine, the Brother Co has made it a real workhorse in terms of features. You can both sew and embroider with it smoothly and the stitch quality is incredible. If you are looking for an embroidery machine that would make awesome custom designs for you then look no further and grab the Brother SE1900 today.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use embroidery machine
  • Reliable Touchscreen
  • Wide area for hooping
  • Import custom designs
  • Built-in stitches & fonts

Cons

  • Complaints about needle threader

Also Read: Best Embroidery Machine For Small Business – Top 7 Beasts

2. The Brother PE550D Embroidery Machine

Brother PE550D
Brother PE550D

The Brother PE550D

  • Disney Designs
  • Touchscreen Display
  • USB Port
  • Very User-Friendly
  • Affordable

This great performing Brother PE550D embroidery machine comes with 125 built-in designs ensuring more creative and customized projects in the near future. It has around 45 Disney designs and presets to customize your projects. You can also use this workhorse as the best embroidery machine for custom designs.

Featuring 9 different fonts is another reason this machine will give a personal touch to your beautiful jackets and clothes. Making beautiful monograms is just embellishing the built-in presets onto your projects. It’s just that easy

Most importantly this machine has a built-in memory that allows you to conveniently upload your favorite design to the machine via the built-in USB port. This makes it the best embroidery machine for custom designs. 

You will be working on an embroidery field of 4” x 4” that accommodates most medium-sized projects. Besides this, there is an embroidery foot and several built-in alignment tools that assist you in embroidering conveniently without jamming the fabric with the needle.

All the presets are displayed on a fully colored 3.2” LCD. Besides previewing your embroidery design you can also drag and drop presets, customize the monograms, align text at an angle, place text on multiple lines, etc.

After all, this machine is backed up by a 25-year warranty so there is nothing to worry about if something goes wrong.

What needs to be improved

The only thing that would make this machine compete with the commercial machines is the “hoop”. The larger the hoop the larger projects you would be doing. 

Other than that there is no single reason to miss this machine if you want custom designs.

Why is it a good choice

This machine is one of the top-performing embroidery machines that allow you to fully personalize your projects with custom designs.

We recommend this machine to all those who want a great embroidery machine at an affordable price. It satisfies both beginners and the experts.

Pros

  • Lots of built-in designs
  • Disney designs
  • Colorful touchscreen display
  • User-friendly
  • USB port
  • Affordable one

Cons

  • It comes with just a single embroidery hoop

Also Read: Best Commercial Embroidery Machine – Top 7 Models

3. The Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine

Brother PE800

The Brother PE800

  • Large Embroidery Hoop
  • Custom Designs Workhorse
  • Colorful Touchscreen Display
  • 25 Year Warranty

This awesome embroidery-only machine has 138 built-in designs that will make your projects unique and attention-grabbing. With this variety of presets, you can embellish florals and add scrollwork to your Jackets front or back.

The Brother PE800 is going to nurture your creativity with the presets selection. Moreover, monogramming is fun with the 11 font styles featured with this machine. 7 are English, 3 are Japanese and the last one is a Cyrillic font style.

Interacting with the machine is a lot easier and more fun. A 3.2” LCD displays all the presets in full color giving you an after-embroidery experience before stitching it. You can just drag and drop your desired custom design.

Besides previewing the design, you have full control of editing options that allow you for cropping, rotate, mirroring, resize, and descaling the design. Moreover, the LCD also lets you go through a step-by-step guide on numerous stitching techniques.

If you are not impressed by the variety of pre-defined designs, you can work on your own custom designs. Simply import those into the machine’s built-in memory through the USB port. This is the best embroidery machine for custom designs as there are no limits to the editing.

You will be working on a large 5” x 7” hoop for embroidery that ensures working on large projects with ease.

What needs to be upgraded

One of the users complained that the thread would always break every now and then. I personally think it would be a tension issue for a novice embroiderer. 

It would be better to adjust the tension first. If still, the problem persists, you would need to get in touch with the Brother side support

Why is it a fair deal

Overall this is a nice embroidery machine with all the features packed in that an embroiderer like you would need. It is especially recommended to those who want to work on custom designs as it has got tons of editing options and a USB port for you.

Pros

  • 5 x 7 inches wide hoop
  • USB port for custom designs
  • Touchscreen display
  • 25 years of the limited warranty

Cons

  • Not that easy to use for newbie users

Also Read: Best Embroidery Machines For Hats – Top 9 Beasts

4. The Brother SE600 Embroidery Machine

Brother SE600

The Brother SE600

  • USB Port
  • Large Touchscreen
  • Easy to Manage
  • Easy Portable
  • Dual Purpose Machine

The next one is the Brother SE600 as our pick of the best embroidery machine for custom designs which is well known for its embroidery quality. It is a fully computerized combo machine that can do both sewing and embroidery. 

All the 80 built-in designs are good-looking and quite eye-catchy but it always gives you an edge if you don’t like the built-in designs. 

You can import custom designs through the USB port or from the iBroidery. The machine has 6 embroidery fonts that are quite cool and best for monogramming and lettering. It makes your projects more personalized.

Saving your time is getting rid of the manual threading process. This machine has an automatic needle threader that lets the thread go through the needle’s eye in the blink of your eye. The machine has a drop-in top bobbin for jamless thread supply.

Featuring 103 built-in sewing stitches is awesome. You get all the unique stitches to adorn your jackets and cushions with your stitching skills. The Brother SE600 sews with a maximum speed of 710 stitches per minute.

In case you want to preview your embroidery design and get an after-work experience before working on it, you should use the 3.2” LCD

Moreover, you can drag and drop your favorite designs on the LCD screen and edit them a bit. You can change the individual thread color and place lettering in an arc etc. 

What may disappoint you

There is no such problem with this great machine except for the hoop that is small and can accommodate projects that don’t require much space like hats and handkerchiefs.

Personal Suggestion

Overall this is a good performing embroidery machine, especially for custom designs. You should consider it as it is tested by thousands of other satisfied customers. 

You can do monogramming and other basic embroideries. It might satisfy you as well if you don’t like those extra bells and whistles.

Pros

  • Easy to manage
  • Easy portable
  • USB port
  • Large touchscreen display
  • Custom designs embroidery machine

Cons

  • It may be costly for some people

Also Read: Best Embroidery Machine For Beginners – Top 7 Picks

5. Brother PE770 Embroidery Machine for Custom Designs

The Brother PE770

  • High-Quality Stitch
  • Automatic Needle Threader
  • USB Drive Port
  • Built-in Memory
  • Stitch Custom Designs

Not to mention Brother has a lot of amazing sewing and embroidery machines but some of them are job-specific like the Brother PE770 which is an embroidery-only machine that is also known as the best embroidery machine for custom designs. The embroidery-only machines are proven to work better than the combos. 

If you work mostly on embroidery projects then you should look for an embroidery-only machine like this one. Featuring 138 built-in embroidery designs that are awesome and eye-catching, would adorn your projects gorgeously. 

You can embellish beautiful floral designs and some classic quilt patterns on your fabrics or sofa cushions. However, if you don’t like the presets, you can import your desired embroidery design into the machine’s built-in memory via the built-in USB port.  

Monogramming makes your projects a lot more personalized. With the 6 built-in English fonts, your T-shirts and jackets would look extra cool. If you are into a business, it would be another source of income for you.

You should have a look at your designs on the LCD touchscreen before working on them. A colored preview is a nice way to do so. The 1.4” x 2.7” LCD does the job perfectly.

The Brother PE770 has featured a 5” x 7” hoop for embroidery so you would be able to deal with both small and large designs easily. After all, if you have any kind of problem or confusion, you can ping the Brother side support quickly.

What can make it better

It is likely that you may see the thread breaking every now and then if you don’t set the tension properly. I would suggest you watch videos like the below one and get your tension set up before you say a word about this machine.

Is it best for you?

If you are seeking an embroidery machine for custom designs then this is the best embroidery machine for custom designs in terms of quality output & performance. It is better than the Brother SE600 with respect to hoop size.

Pros

  • Easy to understand workhorse
  • Automatic needle threading
  • USB drive connectivity
  • Built-in memory for storing designs
  • High-quality embroidery

Cons

  • Requires manual thread tension adjustment

Also Read: Best Embroidery Machines for Home Business – Top 10 Beasts

6. The Singer Legacy SE300 Embroidery Machine

Singer Legacy SE300

The Singer Legacy SE300

  • LCD Touchscreen
  • Useful Built-in Stitches
  • Extra Large Embroidery Area
  • Smooth Operational
  • All Quality Accessories

SINGER has introduced numerous combos but we have come up with the top machines today to keep you away from fussy machines that are a pain in the neck. SINGER Legacy SE300 has a lot of awesome features and the best is you can work on custom designs.

Featuring 200 built-in embroidery designs that are breathtaking and attractive, make your projects look cooler than ever. You can also import your favorite designs through the USB port into the machine’s built-in memory.

If you want to work on monogramming projects, you can do those easily with the 6 built-in alphabet options. The more monograms the more personalized your projects would look.

The machine has two snap-on embroidery hoops: one for small projects and the other for larger ones. The smaller one is of 4” x 4” inches size while the large one is a 10 ¹∕₄” x 6” inches hoop. This is why we say it is the best embroidery machine for custom designs. You can embroider on everything ranging from small hats to jackets, pillow covers, etc.

As it is a combo machine, it offers a wide sewing stitches variety as well. Having 250 built-in sewing stitches, SINGER Legacy SE300 offers some basic, decorative, and stretch stitches to work on. 

Having this much variety you would be able to easily tackle fashion and home decor projects. It has an automatic needle threader to accurately push the thread through the needle’s eye while you rest behind. No more worries about eye strain and fatigue.

This machine sews with a maximum sewing speed of 800 stitches per minute and 700 embroidery stitches per minute to help you finish up your 2-day projects in the next several hours.

What to know before buying.

Unlike other SINGER machines, this one has a black and white LCD which may be a problem for you if you are changing the thread and don’t know which color to load. The ultimate solution is to keep a color printout of the design you are going to work on.

How is it special

After analyzing the machine thoroughly we say that this is the best deal for you if you want a combo that can embroider custom designs amazingly. It is better than the Brother SE600 in terms of the hoop size and embroidery designs, so you should go for it without going any further.

Pros

  • LCD touchscreen
  • Extra larger embroidery area
  • Useful built-in stitches
  • Smooth performance
  • Quality accessories

Cons

  • Built-in designs are not that impressive

7. The Janome Memory Craft 400E Embroidery Machine

Janome Memory Craft 400E

  • Built-in Designs
  • Designs Editing On Screen
  • Larger Embroidery Field
  • Smooth Experience
  • Quality Stitch Output

Last but not least is the Janome Memory Craft 400E embroidery-only machine. Janome machines are just incredible and unmatchable in the sewing industry. They are well known for their performance and stitch quality.

This machine has a wide embroidery preset variety to work on. Having 160 unique designs, this machine guarantees that all the designs are of very high quality. 

A very useful thing in it is the speed adjustment that any embroiderer can set according to his/her expertise level. Most expensive machines don’t have this feature. It means beginners can use this machine as well.

Embellishing your logo on your T-shirt or other daily use stuff would look crazily unique to your fellows. This monogramming would make you look a lot more unique than your competitors if you are in a business.

It has 6 fonts for monogramming attractively on your projects so that you can give it a personalized touch. You can do a 2 and 3-letter monogramming if you want to do it for a wedding including the bride’s and groom’s name initials. 

If you don’t love the built-in designs, don’t worry you can import your favorite custom designs into the machine’s built-in memory using the USB port. This makes it the best embroidery machine for custom designs.

Lastly, this machine has a very large hoop of 7.9” x 7.9” so you can tackle embroidery projects of almost any size without rehooping and any tough times. 

What we don’t like about it

 The Janome MC 400E has everything except an instructional DVD that would guide beginners with proper videos. To tackle this issue you have to use YouTube and watch videos like the below one to learn fully about this machine. 

Why we love it

This is overall the best embroidery machine for custom designs. I personally love this machine as it is tested by thousands of others and its sleek design is really amazing.

Secondly, it would never let you down as it does zero compromises on quality. Other than that I recommend this machine and analyze this one as the top pick for today’s list and I am pretty sure you would love it as well.

Pros

  • Larger embroidery space
  • Built-in designs
  • Designs editing functionality
  • Smooth
  • Quality output

Cons

  • Not that many beginners friendly
FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

For embroidering custom designs, you will need to go through the following steps:
1. First of all, a best embroidery machine for custom designs
2. Make a design or download your loved one
3. Then cut around your design
4. Pin the paper to the cloth
5. Thread the needle
6. Start stitching
7. Here you will need again to knot the thread end
8. Rip away the paper from the design

Yes, you'll need Brother embroidery digitizing software to convert pictures into a Brother embroidery machine format (.PES) in order to make your own embroidery designs.

Yes, you can make your own designs with ease. You'll just need an efficient embroidery digitizing software and a decent embroidery machine to execute all processes efficiently.

You can easily turn a picture into an embroidery design using the PhotoPad embroidery software. For learning the whole procedure, we recommend watching a YouTube video to understand everything practically.

Yes, using the USB port, you can import or upload your own designs to the machine's built-in memory. You can directly connect your computer to the machine or upload the designs by plugging a USB drive.

Final Verdict

Choosing the best embroidery machine for custom designs from a range of alternatives is a difficult job. As a result, we did all of the research and reviewed all of the best machines in our review to help you get a more suitable and best embroidery machine for custom designs. Following are our top recommendations for creating unique designs:

If you have any more queries about the best embroidery machine for custom designs, you can use the comment section below, and we will try our best to help you with your questions.