Best Embroidery Machines for Hats and T-shirts in 2023

Whether you are a beginner or an expert, embroidering hats, T-shirts, towels, hoodies, denim, or any similar project is always a great pleasure. It provides you a sense of achievement because embroidering them isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time and energy to bring your creativity to reality. Plus, all of these items have unique designs and textures, and embroidering them requires a sense of personal touch and great craftsmanship. 

Finding the best embroidery machine for hats and T-shirts is not easy because traditional machines won’t work on them. You need a machine that is especially dedicated to embroidering hats and T-shirts.

Whether you’re a newbie or a pro embroidery enthusiast, we have handpicked some of the best embroidery machines that are specially made for embroidering shirts and hats. Rest assured, all these machines are tried and tested and you’ll have no issues in terms of performance, functionality, and durability. 

10 Best Embroidery Machine for Hats and Shirts

Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine

Best Editor’s Choice Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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One of the most popular and top-rated embroidery machines in the embroidery world is this Brother PE800 embroidery machine. It is a go-to product for embroidery lovers. It’s a commercial-grade machine that has been made with the highest level of craftsmanship so that it can withstand heavy-duty use every single day. 

The Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine is packed with 138 built-in designs with 11 fonts, 10 different frame shapes, and 14 border styles. You can also rotate, mirror-image, increase or decrease the size of your design. 

The built-in memory allows you to download thousands of designs from the internet and save them on your machine for your next project. Moreover, the Brother PE800 has an automatic bobbin winding system so that you can get a perfectly even bobbin. The great thing is that whenever the thread is running low you’ll be notified as it is equipped with a thread sensor.

This Brother PE800 Machine is equipped with a highly responsive full-color 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen. You can preview, edit, add texts, and change the colors of your designs using the built-in color palette before embroidering them onto the hats and T-shirts.

The Brother PE800 has a perfect built-in LED lighting system covering the sewing area. Even if you are working in a dark room, where you have no access to light, the bright lighting system will ensure you can enjoy clear views of fabric. The machine has an excellent automatic needle threader, built-in thread trimmer, computer connectivity, and a USB port to make your embroidery tasks easy and convenient.

Initially, it may appear that the machine is not easy to use but it has a fairly simple interface. Plus, you’ll have an automatic needle threader, an intuitive touchscreen, clear button levers, and many other features to get you going.

The embroidery machine has a 5 x 7″ embroidery area which is more than enough to design a bigger embroidery project with ease. Moreover, the machine offers a fast stitching speed of about 650 stitches per minute which is more than adequate to finish your project quickly.

If you need a machine for your embroidery home-based business and need an exceptional machine that is easy to use and not heavy on your pockets then this is the one for you. This machine is considered to be an advanced, easy-to-use, well-managed, and versatile embroidery machine.

Brother PE770 Embroidery Machine

Best Versatile Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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If you’re looking for a standalone machine that gives you all the features for your next embroidery project, then the Brother PE770 embroidery machine is the right fit for you. It is a durable and high-quality machine that is equipped with high-level features. 

As mentioned the Brother PE770 has some high-level features such as an automatic needle threader, auto thread trimmer, quick-set bobbin system, and many other features that will help provide you with reliable and even stitch quality. All these functions are very easy and straightforward to operate. They will save you valuable time when working on multiple projects.

It is pre-programmed with 136 pre-designs – including delicate scrollwork, intricate florals, classic quilt patterns, and plenty more designs. It also comes with 6 lettering fonts, 10 frame shapes, and 12 border styles to embroider your hats and T-shirts. 

If you think that the inbuilt designs are a little boring or old-fashioned, you can go to the internet and import thousands of more designs. You can use a USB stick or import more designs by purchasing from iBroidery.com. 

Brother PE770 has a large 5″ x 7″ embroidery field that offers you ample larger space to comfortably work on a range of embroidery techniques for designs on hats, T-shirts, jacket backs, and tote bags. 

It has got a 1.4″ x 2.7″ backlit LCD touch screen LCD display for selecting designs and editing features. The screen is simple and easy to navigate. The machine is equipped with some really extensive editing options such as rotation, mirror image, resizing and even previewing your designs prior to stitching.

As for the stitching quality, the Brother PE770 offers high-quality and consistent stitching for your designs and creations. It has 184 decorative sewing stitches including scallop, smocking, shell tuck, heirloom, and drawn work. 

The Brother PE770 is one of the best embroidery machines for hats and t-shirts. Rest assured, spending on the machine will be worth every penny.

Brother’s SE1900 Embroidery Machine

Best Overall Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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Relatively simple and easy to use, this multipurpose sewing machine is perfect for anyone who wishes to fulfill their embroidery needs without much of a hassle. Brother’s SE1900 embroidery machine is a great-to-have machine for those who like to sew as well as embroider. 

Brother’s SE1900 has a 5 x 7-inch work area which is excellent for any type of embroidery project. This is an ample amount of space to work on curvy projects like hats and caps. Plus, you’ll be equipped with backlit working space so that you can see intricate and delicate cuts and curves with ease. You can also avail the option of horizontal and side stitching for your ease.

Brother’s SE1900 also features a quick-set bobbin system. The bobbin system is fitted with jam-resistant technology. You just have to drop in your bobbin and pull the thread through the slot to get started. You will also be equipped with a wide range of features like a custom stitch, automated threader, automatic reinforcement/reverse stitches, and many others to make your work easy.

When it comes to inbuilt designs, Brother’s SE1900 has an extraordinary number of 240 built-in sewing stitches and 138 built-in embroidery designs with 11 fonts that contain 7 English, 3 Japanese, and 1 Cyrillic font. These are some incredible numbers with which you can play to maximize your work to perfection. Moreover, the machine offers 11 accessory feet to customize your designs.

Brother’s SE1900 has a 3.2-inch LCD color touchscreen which lets you do almost everything. The screen lets you change the design, alter the size, preview your work, and many more by just moving your fingers on the screen. 

Brother SE 1900 is full of exciting and innovative features to enhance your overall sewing experience. It is definitely a great machine that offers endless options to take your embroidery work to a new level.

Brother PE535 Embroidery Machine

Best Lightweight Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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Brother PE535 is a simple, easy-to-use, and intuitive embroidery machine with loads of basic and advanced level features. It is the perfect piece for beginners who want to make a name in the embroidery field. This machine is used in big embroidery shops, industries, factories, and fashion houses as well as in homes to fulfill the beginner’s needs. 

Brother PE535 is an embroidery-only machine which means you’ll have to buy a separate machine if you want to sew. This machine comes with a 4 x 4-inch embroidery area that provides a decent amount of space for newbies to work on their designs. Space might not be enough for bigger projects but it is enough for crafting beautiful designs on hats and T-shirts. However, if the fabric has a flat surface, you might need a bigger embroidery area.

This simple embroidery machine has enough built-in embroidery designs to get you started. It comes with 80 built-in embroidery designs, 10 frame patterns, and 9 beautiful font styles.

Plus, the Brother PE535 has a large inbuilt memory that can be used for saving and importing embroidery designs. You can also choose the stitching pattern for your next embroidery project. Moreover, its large color touch screen provides you the perfect space for previewing, editing, and changing the design the way you want to. 

The Brother PE535 comes with an array of features like an automatic needle threader, a jam-resistant quick-set drop-in top bobbin, a USB port, an intuitive touchscreen, and clear button levers to save your time and energy. 

If you want to further personalize the project, you can use its panel to alter the color of your design, font style, and create mirror images. You can also change the size of the patterns for further customization.

As for the stitch capacity, this machine is somewhat limited with 400 plus stitch capacity. However, considering that it is an entry-level machine, the stitch capacity is more than enough. Moreover, you will receive a 25-year limited warranty so you don’t have to worry about repairing it from time to time.

If you are looking for an entry-level machine that fulfills the beginners’ needs then this Brother PE535 embroidery machine can be a great option. It is one of the most popular machines among newbies as this machine completes its task quickly and neatly.

The Brother LB6800PRW Computerized Embroidery and Sewing Machine

Best LCD Touch-Screen Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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The Brother LB6800PRW Computerized Embroidery and Sewing Machine is regarded as one of the most comfortable machines by the users. You can control everything on this machine with relative ease. It certainly is one of the great machines that offer the best of both worlds to sewers and embroiderers due to its ease of use and well-managed system.

The machine might not offer a lot of advanced features but it certainly got all the basic features covered so that you can easily complete all your projects. It comes with a total number of 67 pre-programmed stitches with stitch types like Utility, Quilting, Heirloom, and Decorative to fulfill your needs. These might need to be a lot of preprogrammed built-in stitches but they are enough to get you going.

Moreover, there are also 70 in-built embroidery designs, 120 frame patterns, and 5 built-in fonts so that you can embroider the hats and T-shirts without thinking too much. However, if you don’t like the designs, you can certainly download new designs via USB connectivity.

The LB6800PRW offers a full LCD touchscreen that is highly sensitive and responsive. The interface is quite easy to understand. You don’t need to be an expert to use it, you just have to know the basics of embroidery machines. 

The LB6800PRW has a 4″ by 4″ embroidery area which is not large but good enough to handle small projects. However, if you want to work on larger projects, you will have to divide the project into smaller ones. As far as the stitch quality goes, when we tested this machine it offered superb stitch quality. Plus, you can also control sewing speed with three paces available on the machine.

The LB6800PRW is a simple machine that is cheap and easy to use. Although a bit limited, it still exceeded our expectations in terms of quality, sewing speed, and ease of use when we tested this machine.

Brother PE525 Embroidery Machine

Best Budget Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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The Brother PE525 is one of the best embroidery machines that allows its users to create projects which reflect their personal sense of style. It is jam-packed with high-class features to ensure that you take your embroidery creativity to the highest of levels.

When you unbox it and lay your eyes on the Brother PE525 for the first time, it may look a bit limited. However, don’t get deceived by its looks as it’s full of computer-aided features and high-class functions and no way close to a limited machine. 

Brother PE525 offers a 4 by 4 inches embroidery area which is adequate enough for creating lovely designs on hats and T-shirts. However, if you are a pro and you are working on large projects, you can divide your large project into small ones. 

As for the ease of use, the machine is quite simple. You don’t need any complex mathematics to understand its features. If you don’t know the basics of embroidery machines, you can play its tutorials on the LCD touch screen or read the manuals.

This elegant embroidery machine has 70 built-in embroidery designs and 120 frame patterns so that you can choose and edit different designs with a wide range of options. Plus, it has beautiful font styles that can further improve the designs. Moreover, Brother PE 525 has large in-built memory that can be used to import, save and reuse embroidery designs for the next projects.

The Brother PE525 also has a large color touch screen to preview, edit and change the design. The screen allows you to change the color of your design, font style, create mirror images, and much more. It also comes with an automatic needle threader, a jam-resistant quick-set drop-in top bobbin, and an automatic thread trimmer among many other features to make things easy for you.

The Brother PE525 Embroidery Machine is an ideal choice for those who are tight on their budget. It is a solid machine for hats and T-shirts. Rest assured, it will fulfill all your needs especially if you are a beginner.

Janome 500E Memory Craft Embroidery Machine

Best User Friendly Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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The Janome 500E Memory Craft Embroidery Machine is a powerhouse that will let you create the most beautiful and mesmerizing embroidery projects with ease. With this machine, you will find it easier to individualize, embellish, monogram, and customize hats, T-shirts, home decor items, garments, and other accessories. 

The great thing about this Janome 500E machine is that it has a fairly large embroidery area of 7.9 x 11 inches which means that you don’t have to worry about larger designs. Plus, there would be no need for rehooping so that you can enjoy a highly comfortable embroidering experience. Moreover, the machine also features LED lights to illuminate the workspace.

This Janome 500E has a quick-set bobbin system. In order to make the bobbin wind, you just have to follow the instructions written on top of the machine, and push the bobbin winding spindle to the right. You can also adjust the speed of winding by utilizing + or – buttons on the LCD screen. It also has a start/stop button to stop and start the working of the bobbin. Plus, the machine has an extra spool pin, so that you don’t have to unthread the machine while winding the bobbin.

The Janome 500E offers a full-colored LCD touch screen that allows you to combine, create, copy-paste, resize, and convert various designs so that you can fully expand your creativity.

There are 160 embroidery designs installed in this machine to work on fabrics like denim, leather, suede, knits, cotton, and many others. However, the machine is not suitable for thick fabrics. 

You can also perform monogramming on this machine as it allows you to overlap two or more letters to be used as symbols or logos. You can change the size of the letters if you are not happy with the default size. 

So whether you are thinking of a machine for hats and t-shirts or looking for a machine to start your own embroidery business, the Janome 500E can be your go-to partner for years to come as it is sturdy, durable, and powerful.

Brother SE400 Combination Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine

Best Portable Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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The Brother SE400 Combination Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine is a modern, computerized, and advanced machine with a host of accessories to facilitate you. It might be a bit of a limited machine, it nevertheless offers excellent value for money. When we tested this machine, it scored very highly in many areas such as durability, assessability, and comfortability.

Brother SE400 has an excellent sewing speed. It can deliver up to 840 stitches per minute when sewing which is pretty awesome especially considering its reasonable price tag. Moreover, the stitching quality is excellent. It can do intricate and delicate work with relative ease. For embroidering you will get speed up to 400 stitches per minute; once again, sufficient enough to save your valuable time. You will also have the option to adjust the speeds as per your needs.

The Brother SE400 comes with a total of 67 sewing stitches. Plus, there are 98 stitch functions which means you’ll have a long list of options that provides creative seamstresses, freedom to craft what you have in your imagination. There are 70 Built-in designs, and 5 Lettering Fonts so that you can easily complete your project. The fonts and designs can be reduced, enlarged, rotated, and mirrored too.

The backlit LCD display is one of the most attractive features of this machine. The LCD screen makes it so easy for you to pick, edit, and change a design. There are also on-screen tutorials and other information to make it easier to get to know your new machine. However, keep in mind that it is only a black and white LCD panel, not a colored one. 

There is also a free embroidery arm to work on delicate designs.  The free arm also has an accessory compartment which is a huge time saver. The Brother SE400 has a well-lit workspace around the foot. Brother SE400 has an embroidery area of 4X4 which to be fair isn’t that big. However, the size is enough to adjust your complex designs on hats and t-shirts. 

Brother SE400 is definitely worth the price and will serve you for a very long time. Rest assured, it’s definitely a worthwhile investment.

Janome Memory Craft 9900 Sewing and Embroidery Machine

Best Commercial Use Embroidery Machine for Shirts and Hat

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The Janome Memory Craft 9900 Sewing and Embroidery Machine is a professional machine that boasts high-class features and functionality. It offers an excellent 2 in 1 performance. This machine outpaces most of the other embroidery machine combos due to its ease of use and wide range of features.

The Janome 9900 has a full-color LCD touchscreen to control your computerized machine. The vision is so good that you can clearly visualize the tiniest of cuts in the patterns. Plus, there it has the 3MB memory to keep all your choices stored.

The Janome 9900 also has a built-in timer that will let you know how long it’s going to be until a design is finished. You can even stop the clock while changing thread colors or refilling the bobbin.  The machine also has a free arm to make things super simple in case you need to sew a cuff without fortuitously sewing a sleeve shut.

There are 200 built-in stitches in the Janome 9900 to freely express your creativity. Very rarely you’ll find a product that offers such a big selection of stitches. Plus, there are 175 designs and shapes already programmed into the Janome 9900 to give you an idea of where to start. Moreover, the stitch quality is excellent as it offers stitch speed ranging from 400 to 800 stitches per minute depending upon your need.

If you don’t want to waste the electricity, you can turn on the Energy Saver Mode which will make the machine idle for as long as you want.  Plus, its stronger lighting system, automatic thread trimmer, built-in timer, and drop-in bobbin will help you save a lot of valuable time.

One thing that needs to be mentioned here is that although the machine is lightweight, it is by no means a portable machine. It’s a big sturdy machine that requires a lot of space to adjust.

If you are looking for an advanced level machine that offers you pretty much everything then go for Janome Memory Craft 9900. It will surely fulfill your expectations and needs.

Janome MB-4S Embroidery Machine

Best Small Business Embroidery Machine for Hat and T-shirt

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The Janome MB-4S Embroidery Machine is a uniquely built machine. Most of the traditional machines are lengthy, however, this is a much shorter machine with plenty of features. It comes packed with a range of built-in designs, patterns, a remote computer screen, and a big embroidery area to fulfill your needs.

The Janome MB-4S Embroidery Machine comes with fifty different in-built designs, ten different fonts for monogramming to get you going. You can also edit, enlarge, reduce the size, rotate, turn, drag and drop, re-edit, and zoom the designs. You can utilize other formats too by uploading your own embroidery designs from the internet to the machine. 

This Janome MB-4S has a 5.7-inch remote computer screen (RCS) to select, edit and add new designs with options of up to 65,536 colors. As a plus, this single RCS can control several machines, should you need to link up more. It also includes four LED lights just above the needle, so you can see everything clearly.

The Janome MB-4S also features an automatic thread cutter to automatically cut jump threads or threads between letters when monogramming. Moreover, you’ll be equipped with an automatic needle threader which will make it easy to set this machine for daily use even easier. 

Plus, Janome MB-4S has a large 3MB memory unit which means you can hold up to 1,500,000 stitches and up to 100 designs. Therefore, you aren’t limited to the build-in choices on this machine. Moreover, it has extra-large bobbins so that you never run out of thread.

The Janome MB-4S offers fast stitching capacity of up to 800 embroidery stitches per minute, letting you save your time and energy as it can stitch three times faster than single-thread embroidery machines. Also, you will find that the machine has a motor made specifically for winding the bobbin so that you can wind the bobbin while the machine is stitching.

The Janome MB-4S Embroidery Machine is a perfect model with hardly any faults in it. Although not built for beginners, it is the perfect machine for professionals and experts who like to work on larger projects.

Features to consider when choosing an embroidery machine for Shirts and Hats:

When choosing an embroidery machine for hats and t shirts, there are a few features to consider.

Size: he first is the size of the embroidery field. This is the area that the machine can stitch out designs. Some machines have a small field, while others have a larger field. Consider how large your designs are and how many you plan to stitch out at one time.

Speed: The second feature to consider is speed. How quickly does the machine stitch out designs? Some machines are much faster than others. If you need to produce a lot of hats or t shirts in a short amount of time, you’ll want a machine with a fast stitching speed.

Stitch Quality: The next feature to consider is stitch quality. Some machines produce smoother stitches than others. If you’re looking for high-quality embroidery, be sure to choose a machine with good stitch quality.

Price:Finally, consider price. Not all machines are created equal in terms of price tag. Choose the machine that fits your budget and needs.

Related Article: How to remove logo from t-shirt

Conclusion 

If you are reading the last paragraph, It means that you have gone through the whole review. We hope this article has helped you buy a machine that’s the best fit for your embroidery task. All the above-mentioned embroidery machines are some of the best for embroidering hats and T-shirts. You can rest assured that you will be getting a top-class embroidery machine that will last for many seasons to come. However, we believe that the below three embroidery machines are the best of the lot. They are particularly designed for embroidering hats and T-shirts.

• Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine for its simplicity, versatility, and durability.
• Brother SE1900 Sewing and Embroidery Machine because it is excellent for both beginners and experts.
• Brother PE770 Embroidery Machine for its tremendous overall performance. 

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