BrotherSA434 4-Inch-by-6 3/4-Inch Large Machine Embroidery Hoop

Okay, this will take some explaining, so bear with me.If you own a brother SE400 sewing machine-you can NOT embroider a graphic larger than 4"x4". So why would you buy this frame?Because if you are doing lettering and the words are longer than 4" but smaller than 6.75" you can do it without having to re-hoop. I'm not just being lazy, every time I re-hoop there is a chance that the lettering won't line up exactly perfectly with the last ones.There are some tricks though using the example "Happy Birthday":1. When you plan out your lettering divide it into halves. To help make sure it will fit in 6.75" (unless you want to re-hoop and make it larger)- do this by selecting as many letters as will fit ex. "Happy Bi" and on the layout screen it might say 2.2cm high and 7cm long (I'm totally making this up for example's sake-do not use these measurements). Note: It MUST be less than HALF the length of the hoop ie. 7.4cm/3.37" (NOT 6.75" You'll see why later.) Then cancel that and see how long "rthday" is, making sure the height is the same so that the scale matches and no letters are bigger or smaller ex. 2.2cm high and 7cm long for the second half too. If they are both the same length, then your lettering will be centered on the hoop.2.Place your hoop and fabric on the machine using the TOP two pins only in the slots on the embroidery carriage.3.Select your first half of the lettering "Happy Bi" and then in the layout screen ROTATE it 90degrees to the right. Then, with this example, it fills the entire height almost. But you could adjust it up/down left/right if you wanted to. I might adjust it down as far as it will go because I would want the second half of the letters to match up close to them later, but with pictures you may want a larger space. Embroider away!4.Take the hoop out of the carriage and replace it using the BOTTOM two pins in the carriage slots.5.Select your second half of the lettering (ex."rthday") and rotate it 90degrees to the right also.6.Now adjust it up/down or left/right until it matches up with the first lettering. It helps if you select the needle to start in the lower left corner position instead of the middle so you can see exactly where the lettering will start in comparison to the "Happy Bi". I also do a "test run" by selecting the Trial Key to see that it will still fit AND line up. Embroider away!Now your letters will be perfectly lined up and you didn't have to take the extra step of re-hooping:)

I recently bought a Brother SE400 embroidery machine and this hoop saves the time and energy of having to keep rehooping your project. Even though my machine's sewing field is only 4" by 4" (about the same size as the hoop supplied with the machine), you can work in one half of this hoop and then adjust the clips to work in the other half of the hoop. This is good for any repetitive work such as a project I'm working on that requires dozens of embroidered butterflies (sheers for my windows). I can fit a few more butterflies in this hoop before I have to place the hoop on another part of the fabric. I also found it worked well when I was monogramming names onto beach towels. It was easier for me to align the letters if I didn't have to change the hoop halfway through a name. It really was worth the purchase price to me.UPDATE - LOVE this even more. I was about to shop for a machine with a bigger sewing field but took more time to play with this larger hoop. By playing with the clips and arrow repositioning buttons I was able to place two floral border designs designed for a 4 X 4" field in exact alignment side by side without rehooping. Here's how for those who haven't had a chance to really spend time learning the machine's features.Hoop your fabric or garment.First design - angle design 90 degrees in direction you want it to face. Place hoop on machine using two pins nearest you so you are working in the bottom half of the hoop then press adjust button and use layout mode DOWN arrow till carriage won't move anymore. On screen the design will be touching the bottom border. Use the trial key that outlines the design on the hoop to make sure it doesn't cross into the upper half of the hoop then embroider.Second design - angle design 90 degrees again if needed and place hoop on machine using two pins furthest from you. Use up arrow key in layout mode till carriage doesn't move anymore and on screen you can see design touching the top border. Use the trial outline key to make sure the embroidery will not overlap previous work in the lower half then embroider.You might have to resize your designs in the size mode so they are smaller and 2 of them fit without overlapping. The floral border I did was designed for a 4 X 4" field but the actual size was 1.18" height by 3.25" width. The width measurement is the one that is a struggle to fit so play around using an old pillowcase or scrap fabric to see what you can come up with. I'm going to play with lettering as well using this technique so there is no obvious misalignment. Hope this helps. If it does, give me a vote! Thanks.

I bought this to have more flexibility in adding text to my designs. It is nice to be able to embroider a design, change the position of the hoop by moving the side clips down, thus giving you lots of room to add text or other designs at the bottom without rehooping.My beef is with the instructions. There was a small, clear, concise page of instructions---in Spanish. Not what I expect from "Brother USA." The English instructions were jumbled with alternating lines of French, German and Spanish text on a large sheet. I felt like I was muddling through clutter to find the information I was seeking.Finally, I read an insert about the carriage cover---the piece your hoop attaches to with the side clips. The insert said not to use the hoop if your carriage cover did not have the word "Brother" on it. Mine does not, so I was afraid to use it. I read through the comments on this item twice, and the second time, read one about this very issue that I had overlooked the first time. The other customer had had the same apprehension I had, but actually contacted the company and learned there was no problem in using this hoop on an SE-400 machine. I breathed a sign of relief, tried the hoop and it worked fine.The Amazon experience was fine, as always. I am deducting the one star for the crummy paperwork that came with the hoop.

Excellent quality, fits perfectly, and very fast delivery.

The real deal, proper HQ nylon frame, no warping, and good metal hardware. Easily worth the price if you need one. The other options at half the cost are made from a different material and use lesser quality hardware (the thumbscrew can and will strip easier). Up to you!

A little Off what expected. Plastic seems a little thinner. But fits and works.

It is great having 2

Great Item! Excactly what I was looking for!