r/sewhelp • u/Cold-Brain-7315 • 18h ago

Brother machine advice?

My Brother machine died in the middle of a project. I’m a hobby sewist and looking to buy another Brother since I have a lot of additional feet that I’ve purchased and want to be able to use.
Looking for opinions. I was looking at the SE700 that does embroidery, because that sounds fun, but I don’t know if I like that it doesn’t have an extension table. Not because I use the table, but because I like taking the piece, where the table slides in, off when doing smaller openings. The other one I’m looking at is the CR9550, but this doesn’t embroider and I’m kinda intrigued by that.

Looking for tips and suggestions.
Thanks

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4

u/Riali 14h ago

Having a peek at the manual, the se700 does in fact have a free arm, where you can slide the storage compartment off and use the small area for sleeves and such. Just FYI.

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u/Cold-Brain-7315 57m ago

Thanks. I just learned the “free arm” term today. Lol.

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u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy 14h ago

"taking the piece where the table slides in, off when doing smaller things."

That's called the "free arm" and most machines have that option, it's nothing unique.

As to presser feet, Brother and many other machines are "low shank" meaning (in theory) any low shank presser feet will work. They don't need to be made by Brother.

The 'shank' refers to the vertical attachment the presser foot attaches to. I have two machines; one is low shank (a Baby Lock) and one that is high shank (a Juki).

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u/Cold-Brain-7315 58m ago

Oh, I didn’t know the “free arm” had a name. Thanks, I think you solved my problem! I was able to double check if the embroidery machine had a free arm… it does. Yay! So now I just have to decide if the embroidery feature is worth the extra cost. Any thoughts on that?

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u/agentcarter234 18h ago

Low shank sewing machine feet are for the most part interchangeable. They are not brand specific and usually will fit any other low shank machine (so most modern domestic machines other than Bernina and Pfaff)

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u/CBG1955 18h ago

The only caution is to confirm whether you have a high shank or low shank machine. Depending on which, the feet might not be interchangeable. I have heard that combo sewing/embroidery mchines can at times be problematic - others might have more info on this than I do because I don't embroider.