by dmazzone 10 Aug 2017

I have a brothers SE 400 it came with the 4X4 hoop but after six months I'm really finding restricted. I'm looking on Amazon for larger hoops, does anyone know what the largest hoop size is that I can use and also, how do I tell the machine there is a bigger hoop on there so I can use the new larger space.

30

by fontmomma 11 Aug 2017

My theory is your stuck with a 4x4, I have 3 brothers and have the same problem, I like the larger ones too, but using the larger ones is not going to happen and buying one with a larger one will not happen either.

2085
by dragonflyer 11 Aug 2017

I see you have gotten your answer! Just wanted to chime in and say Big Welcome to Cute!

313214
by kustomkuddle 11 Aug 2017

Welcome to the group! I feel your frustration. There are all these wonderful designs out there to choose from that do not fit your hoop! I have a Husqvqrna instead of a Brother. My very first machine was a Rose and would only do 4x4. A few years later they came out with the movable hoop. Like the others said, I got very frustrated with it. The designs did not always line up right. I'm ashamed to say, I lost interest in embroidery for many years, until I got my designer Ruby. Now it is a passion. Good Luck. You have an advantage as the designs and technology are of much better quality than when some of us started. Again welcome - I guess you could say that I am still kind of a newbie also but am very thankful that I found this group. Everyone is so helpful. DebB

14619
by toogie 11 Aug 2017

Here is something LARGE I embroidered with my 270 (4x4) emb field. It took a lot of math figures and re-hooping multiple times, as I had to stitch one letter at a time, since each letter was 4 inches.Gospel Gold tablecloth
If you want to see what all I have embroidered click on my name toogie. A page will come up and by my name, it will have ALL -Community-Questions- Projects, then click on PROJECTS. Most of the older projects were all done on the 4x4 but all were emb on no bigger than 5x7 field. I only have done one split design, the black tee shirt, with the panther design. Not easy to take out of the hoop and re position, let me warn you.
Read this I copied from amazon forum about your machine:
You can get a multi-position hoop for the SE400. That allows you to do a larger split design - though you need digitizing software for that. The maximum width for embroidery is still going to be 4" - but the multiposition hoop allows up to 6" in length. The multiposition hoop is very useful for doing lots of small stuff without rehooping, i.e., covered buttons, small fsl ornaments, etc. and for repeat patterns for borders. Hope this helps.

Also:
In order to embroider more than a 4X4 area on this machine, you will need to "break" the embroidery design up into 4x4 sections. There is embroidery software available that will do this for you. If you buy the larger hoops that are compatible with the SE 400 you can embroider one 4x4 section and then move the hoop to do another section. If there is more of the design to embroider, you will have to take the material out of the hoop and realign it for the new section. Some of the software that breaks up the design will give you stitched guide lines for where to move the material.
re-hoop pretty much means what it sounds like: you have to hoop your fabric again i.e. take it out of the hoop and either reposition it or put in a different article/fabric/item. Some of us think hooping and re-hooping are a royal pain. Not time consuming if you do it right the first time but that's in a perfect world. There are things you can buy that help with hooping but it's a personal decision as to the cost effectiveness of such "gadgets."

Good luck and have fun embroidering! Welcome to Cute!-Toogie

108947
by dmazzone 11 Aug 2017

Wow thank you everyone for your quick answers I'm disappointed that I can't do bigger patterns I had no idea when I bought the machine however still love the machine so I will have to read up on this "split" design you all are telling me so I can do larger fonts etc If I was to embroider Jaylyn I am very limited to size because of the number of characters but maybe this "split" that you talk about might allow me to use the larger fonts

1 comment
toogie by toogie 11 Aug 2017

The larger font still could not be taller/wider than 4 inch. The machine you have is a good machine for the cost. It's a good machine to start out with, as it is inexpensive enough if you find embroidering is 'not your liking'. You are not out that much money and could resale to recover most of your cost. HOWEVER, not too many I know have not liked embroidering and after they get into it, want to upgrade to the lager hoop fields. When looking for an upgrade always check out the 'embroidery field'. That would be the largest size design you can embroider, no matter if you have a 8 x12 hoop for instance and your embroidery FIELD is 8x8, you can only stitch up to a 8x8 design. So look for the FIELD size when purchasing your next machine. I hope you understand what I mean. I believe you have what some say a good 'beginner' machine. I have been embroidering now 11 years and still have a beginner (lol) and the 750D. I want to show you a photo but I will have to make another comment above as I can't add the link or photo here. I have to find it first-lol- so give me a minute.

30
by awesome1 11 Aug 2017

You can use the 5x7 (they call it) hoop but it is repositional and you must use split designs (there are very few available - you might learn to split yourself). I have software, but have never been lucky with splitting. Anyway, the hook embroiders a portion of the design, you remove and emb more...can do three steps....just a portion at a time. My first machine was a PE 200 and it came with the hoop and one card of split designs. Never what you want, tho!

1 comment
toogie by toogie edited 11 Aug 2017

You are right about that, never what you want, as split designs are more challenging and often results disappointing .

10172
by pennifold 11 Aug 2017

The people below have got it right on. I've just been looking at pictures of the SE400 and you can see that it wouldn't support the next size hoop as it's not wide enough. You can see in the picture below, the Brother PE770 the embroidery arm extends further than the sewing machine and that is of course to support the longer hoop. Unfortunately you would have to upgrade to another machine to get a larger hoop.
Welcome to Cute, where you will find a lot of help. Have a look at all the headings and please check out the Q&A section as that tells you how this site works. Anyway the little hand symbol appears you can read anything associated with this site. Welcome once again from Chris, Newcastle, Australia.

234247
by katydid 11 Aug 2017

First of all, welcome to cute. We are family . You will get lots of help to answer your questions. I don't know Brother machines , but those who have them will help you. Kay

85867
by toogie 10 Aug 2017

The 4x4 Brother will only embroider as big as 4 x 4 design no matter what size the hoop. You CAN embroider more in one bigger hoop, but it will be two designs. In other words say you emb a flower size 4x4 in a larger hoop. Without re-hooping you could emb the name of the flower design you just stitched say if it was 1 inch tall x 4 inches wide. The machine WILL NOT emb a design LARGER than 4 inch because that is all it is programmed to emb. Your size design is limited to 4 inches either way. I had the Brother SE270 and I now have the Brother SE425 - each of these limited to emb up to 4 inch design at a time. I also have Brother PE-750D so I could emb 5x7 size- I like to make ITH zipper bags and such that I couldn't make with the Brother 425. We always feel restricted as you said and want to go to the next size embroidery field, although most of the time I have been happy with the 5x7 embroidery field.

108947
by crafter2243 Moderator 10 Aug 2017

I did the research and the largest you can purchase is a 6 3/4 by 4
Your machine would not recognize anything else or the hoop would not fit in the first place. I am giving you a link where you can see what optional hoops you can purchase or your machine.
Welcome to Cute. I hope you will like it here

1 comment
crafter2243 by crafter2243 10 Aug 2017

P.S. Thank you for posting it here. I have deleted your same question in Q&A

109748
by babash 10 Aug 2017

Type in Brother SE 400 into Google and you should get lots of sites with info for your machine.
Sorry I am a Janome machine owner so can't help with Brother but I find lots of help on this site from others.

29723