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The Luminaire XP3 is Brothers flagship sewing and embroidery machine and our personal favourite! Packed full of features this machine is not reserved for the experts - it is so easy to use that with help and tuition from Jane and her team even a complete beginner can be up and stitching in no time. At £12,999 the Luminaire XP3 is definitely an investment, but in our opinion it is worth every penny.
The Luminaire XP3 is an amazing sewing machine, it has a 13 inch throat (that's the distance between the needle and the upright part of the machine) making handling large projects easy. The included dual feed foot is ideal when working with thin or layered fabrics- it works along the same principle of a standard walking foot you get with regular, smaller machines but think bigger, better, more control and outstanding results. The stitch quality is fantastic- the range of built-in stitches, over 750, means you’ll always have the stitch you need and the new and improved foot makes stitching buttonholes a breeze even on stretch, knit and sheer fabrics.
On the embroidery side, this machine is in a class of its own. A huge 10.7 x16 inch (27.2x40.8cm) hoop area means not only can you use large designs that fill the hoop, you can also combine designs easier- fitting more on each hoop and spending less time joining (though of course we should say that joining designs using the Luminaire XP3 camera and projector is super easy too!). The Luminaire XP3 has over1,100 built-in embroidery designs and loads of Disney designs- everything you need to make extraordinary projects. Smooth embroidery, stunning stitch quality and easy usage make for perfect embroidery.
Over and above the sewing and embroidery features included in this machine, the Luminaire XP3 comes with its own built-in easy to use enhanced My Design Centre. Trust us, no artistic ability is required to use this feature- not one of us here can draw for toffee and yet we have been able to make beautiful designs with this machine. Using this built-in programme you’ll be able to take any basic image and make a stunning project- don’t worry, we’ll show you how.
When we first saw this machine we were told it was quiet. We work with machines all day every day and the noise just becomes part of the background. We didn’t think about it at all until we had four machines going in a group and realised that everyone was chatting away, not having to stop machines to hear. Moving from machine to machine noise has never been an issue for us, and without them grouped together we wouldn’t have noticed a difference. Having said that, going back to a different machine- they all seem loud and more clunky. The Luminaire XP3 is definitely a smoother, stronger, quieter machine in a class of its own.
The Innov-is Stellaire range is the newest addition to the Brother embroidery lineup. The Stellaire XJ1 is a superb combination embroidery and sewing machine packed with a host of amazing features.
It all starts with the Stellaire XJ1s high resolution screen. This screen is not only a brilliant size for browsing through your sewing stitches, creating your own embroidery patterns or combining and editing embroidery designs at the touch of a finger, you can also use it to watch built in tutorial videos- it’s that clear!
On the sewing side the Stellaire XJ1 excels. It is just so easy to use, we always find that customers worry when looking at buying a high end machine that it will be too technical, too complicated but it really doesn’t work that way. The larger the display and the more room you have to sew, the easier things become. We’ve had complete beginners loving this machine who had been put off sewing entirely in the past because despite their interest they couldn’t make machines do what they wanted, or the results just weren’t good enough for the effort they were putting in. On the Stellaire XJ1 they have just hit the ground running- they already had the inspiration to sew but this machine just made things easier from the get go.
The fun starts with the simple things like a drop in bobbin. Wind your bobbin, drop it in the holder, put the thread round a plastic guide and you’re good to go. Then use the Stellaire XJ1s electronic automatic needle threader- you put your thread on top of the machine, pull it round the numbered path and push a button to thread- it’s that simple. Speaking of simple, when you finish stitching your row you can set your machine to automatically secure the stitching and cut the thread- not just amazing but a great time saver too.
One of our favourite things about the sewing side of the Stellaire XJ1 is the size of the machine itself- the bed of the machine is so roomy. All the projects that you had difficultly squeezing through your smaller machine- just imagine how much simpler life will be with all that extra space.
As an embroidery machine the Stellaire XJ1 has all of the features you expect from a high end embroidery machine and a few more besides. Yes it has a large hoop area of 9.4x14.1 inches(24x36cm) and yes, you’ll be spoilt for choice with hundreds of built-in embroidery designs, including a hundred Disney designs but the Stellaire XJ1 also comes with its own design features – you can add stippling or even a decorative quilting stitch to your embroidery, and you can even make your own patterns from scratch. Okay, we get that ‘from scratch’ is a scary term for a lot of people, but don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for, making sure you use all the bits of the machine- not just the bits you’re comfortable with! All you really need is a start- we’ll take you through making basic shapes, to combining shapes and learning all the programme features before moving on to making and using basic drawings to make embroidery designs you can be proud of.
The Brother Innov-is Stellaire XE1 is the machine we here at Caffle have been waiting for for so long and now we have it.
For years we’ve been asking for a high end, embroidery only machine and now we have it. It’s not that we don’t like the sewing or functionality of the combined machines. It’s just that when people are looking at these machines there are three main reasons they don’t want to have sewing and embroidery together in the same machine:
1) They already have a sewing machine that does exactly what they want
2) They want to be able to sew and embroider at the same time
3) They have zero interest in sewing and don’t want to pay for something they know they are never going to use.
In 2012 Brother brought out the Innov-is V3 – now don't get us wrong it was, and still is, a great machine- colour screen, ablily to edit and combine designs, USB slot makes getting designs in nice and easy, and a generous 7x11.8 inch hoop size but it still doesn’t have all the top end features that customers want in an embroidery machine. Then, in 2019 Brother brought out their new Innov-is Stellaire range including this, the Stellaire XE1 embroidery only machine. This machine still has all the features you’ll find on the Innov-is V3, but over and above that it has an awesome 9.4x14.1 inches (24x36cm) hoop size, an extra 500 built-in designs, it’s own built-in embroidery design centre, when stitching out designs you have the ability to change the density of a design- putting in, or taking out stitches to improve the quality of your stitch out andyou can use stipple and other fill stitching either by themselves or in combination with other designs to make truly unique embroidery.
With the use of the My Design Snap app you can even take a picture of your fabric for perfect placement every time. In fact, the Stellaire XE1 has all the embroidery and design functionality of the Stellaire XJ1, it just doesn’t sew- and at £4,599 it is £2,700 cheaper than the combined machine making it a more comfortable price point for most.
The Innov-is V5LE is an excellent sewing and embroidery combination machine from Brother for the beginner and experienced sewist alike. The newest version of their established Innov-is V5, this machine has the upgrade previously available for the built into it meaning that right from the start your machine will have an amazing 7.8x11.8 inch (20x30cm) hoop size. Before the availability of upgrades the lowest price machine in the Brother range that could stitch this size cost over £6000 so to be able to stitch the same size for just over half that price is truly remarkable.
There is no cutting of jump stitches on this machine- smaller machines jump from area to area leaving a thread trail behind them that you have to cut after embroidering- The Innov-is V5LE notices the gap between sections, cuts the jump thread and leaving the tails on the underside moves to the next section and starts again. Cutting a bit of thread doesn’t sound like much of a chore until you realise that on some designs you’ll spend longer trimming the ends than doing the embroidery in the first place! To have your embroidery finished and trimmed when you take it out of the hoop is a definite plus.
The screen of the Innov-is V5LE is great. It’s a large colour screen, on the right hand side of the machine which is able to show the full size of your largest hoop. You can see all the detail in a design- even using the edit function you can easily combine multiple designs on one page and see all of its detail. Sounds confusing? Let’s explain…. you want to stitch out a birthday cushion for your next door neighbour and she loves flowers. So first you load your chosen flower design from a built-in pattern, or from a USB stick. Next, you want to write Happy Birthday above those flowers. So, before you stitch you add the words Happy Birthday using the built-in alphabets in the machine, maybe curve the text a little to make it look prettier. Finally, you want to personalise the cushion by putting their name on- just pick some more lettering and type in their name. The whole combined design can now be seen on the screen. Before you stitch it out you can decide if the spacing looks right, what colours will go together for the embroidery and (if you’re anything like us) just how many S’s there are in Susan! All of which you can change before you even start to stitch.
All of the embroidery features we’ve just mentioned are just the same as in the Innov-is V3LE - same hoop size, built-in designs, jump stitch trimming and editing functions. The screen is just as good too. On top of all of this the Innov-is V5LE is also an awesome sewing machine.
Although you can take the arm off the machine to sew, you don’t have to. This is a definite improvement on older type machines which you had to dismantle before they would let you sew. All you have to do is press a button- the machine moves the embroidery arm out of the way, then change your foot to a sewing one and you are off! As well as having a nice big space to the right of the needle (11.25 inch/ 28.5cm) making handling curtains, quilts and other big projects easier to manipulate the Innov-is V5LE also has a built-in fabric sensor which continually monitors the fabric you are sewing looking for different thicknesses and adjusts the foot pressure accordingly to improve stitch quality at all times. It comes with hundreds of built-in sewing stitches and we know you are going to love the automatic thread cutter. An automatic thread cutter is one of those features that if you’ve never had you wouldn’t mind not having now but if you’ve ever had an automatic thread cutter on your sewing machine before you’d never buy a machine without one again!
The Innov-is V3LE is a great choice of machine- as the sister machine to the V5LE it has the same chassis and embroidery capabilities but being an embroidery only machine it comes with a lower price tag of £2,399.
The Innov-is V3LE comes with a large 7.8x11.8 inch (20x30cm) hoop size as standard, in a single hooping.
If you are looking to upgrade from a smaller machine the Innov-is V3LE will still stitch out all your 4x4 inch and 5x7 inch designs but you can now embroider up to an incredible 7x11.8 inches a great size hoop for larger designs.
It is so easy to get your designs into this machine- just save your embroidery designs straight to a USB stick, put it in your machine and you’re off. No special software required, and because the Innov-is V3LE has a great big screen that lets you combine designs and see them in full colour there really is no reason to learn how to use a computer to get your embroidery done.
No more jump threads! The Innov-is V3LE trims the long threads that are left between sections on your embroideries. If you’re wondering why that is helpful you have never had a machine that cuts the threads! They can take as long to cut than the embroidery takes to stitch out!
A great automatic threader, on screen pattern combining, large colour screen, independent bobbin winder (so you can wind bobbins while you’re still embroidering) what’s not to like? One of our favourite features on the Innov-is V3LE is when it comes to two hours past bedtime and you realise you’re still embroidering just press stop, turn the machine off and when you turn it back on in the morning it will remember where you were and you can just pick up where you left off – just how fantastic is that??
The Innov-is VQ2 is the sewing machine you need. It is described by Brother as a long arm sewing and quilting machine and it doesn’t disappoint. The other Brother sewing machines in our range have a work space (gap between the needle and the inside of the sewing machine)of between 7.3 and 8.3 inches (18.5 and 21cm), the Innov-is VQ2 has 14.25 inches (36.1cm). That extra room makes handling large projects like curtains or quilts so much easier to handle. Just think when you’re trying to shove multi-pieced bags through your machine what that length would give you- don’t under estimate the impact that extra space will have on your sewing.
At first glance the large touch screen looks daunting, it makes the whole machine look like more of a technical gadget than the standard sewing machine that we’re all used to- don’t be worried, it is designed to be simple to use. Even Jane (who still can’t work out how to change channels with the TV remote…) says that this is super easy to use. You turn on the machine and press the picture of the stitch you want to sew. That’s it.
This machine has a lot of extras built in. As well as having hundreds of stitches you can even make your own, there’s an option on the machine for a pivot function- when you finish your stitching you can set it that it leaves the needle in the fabric and lifts the foot a little so as you can turn your work easily, it has a knee lift- meaning you can lift the foot without taking your hands off your work and much, much more but we’ll take you through all of that step by step. Don’t be put off by a screen- it doesn’t mean it’s over technical or super computerised- you’ll be fine.
As always we like to give you the benefit of our experience when buying a new machine and as much as this machine already has a considerable price tag at £2299 there are three Brother accessories which we really do recommend to take this machine to the next level. The first is an adjustable zipper and piping foot. The Innov-is VQ2 comes with a standard zip foot, and you will use that but far more often we use the adjustable zipper and piping foot with all our machines- the ability to move part of the foot so as its exactly right for your chosen project is awesome. The second is a wide table (£106). With all that space to the right of the needle we tend to use a wide table to give us the same the other side, it makes sliding and balancing your work way simpler and a wide table is always a great idea if you’re wanting to do any free motion work- loads of room to move. Finally, but probably our top tip is you are going to want a dual feed foot. It costs £265 but trust us, odds are you are going to want it so we like to warn you up front. Since it came out we haven’t sold one without it- it truly is a game changer and takes the Innov-is VQ2 to a whole new level. The machine comes with a walking foot, if you are upgrading to an Innov-is VQ2 chances are you already have one or have used one just like it. They are great at helping with handling of bulky quilted materials or for fine and sheer ones too. The dual feed foot is head and shoulders above a standard walking foot. We’ve had customers buy the Innov-is VQ2 just so as they could use the foot- it’s that impressive. With a normal foot the action of your needle going up and down moves little feed dog like teeth in the top of the foot to help feed the fabric through. The dual feed foot actually plugs into your machine, it has its own motor and wow- it’s just something else. It makes handling fabrics just so, so easy (can you tell we like it?!).
Oh, and did we mention that the threader on the Innov-is VQ2 works at the push of a button? We seriously love this machine. If you’re looking for the machine, the one that is going to easily handle everything you want from it not just now, but everything you want in the future too. This is it.
The Brother Innov-is A150 is priced at £589 its certainly not the cheapest, nor is it the most expensive but it is hands down our best selling sewing machine. The top machine in the A series range its single, most important feature which put it above the others is the thread cutter. It sounds basic, but trust us (and anyone else who has ever had thread cutting on their machine!), scissors are a game changer. It’s seems like something so simple, and everyone who sews has a lovely pair of thread scissors I’m sure, but the cutter don’t just save you time. Without a cutter – you finish stitching a line, lift the foot (which releases the tension on your threads), snip the top thread, snip the bottom thread and try not to pull your stitches whilst you do it, maybe you even put extra reinforcing stitches in specially to stop it pulling. Whereas with the cutter - you finish stitching a line, press the cutter button in the front of the machine- a tiny blade, near the bobbin cuts both the top and bobbin thread. Then you can raise the foot and easily remove the sewing.
Add to that that the Innov-is A150 also has four built-in fonts and ten styles of one step buttonhole as well as the standard super easy needle threader, start/stop button which means you can use your machine with or without a foot control (don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it!) and a lock stitch button which does your reinforcing stitches on the spot (rather than going forward and reversing and making messy stitches) and you can see why it has becomes our best selling sewing machine. True, the face of the machine looks a little daunting and space age-y compared to others but it is really simple to use you just need to know how and at Caffle Crafts that’s what we are all about. Whether it’s with one to one lessons, over the phone, via email- whatever works for you, we are there for you making sure that you get the most from your new machine. We should mention too that our back up isn’t time limited. Odds are you want a new machine because you already have a project in mind and these machines are very user friendly so you can probably plug it in and hit the ground running but often that means you don’t end up using all the bits of your machine. So if you buy your machine from us, do your project and then decide you want to know a bit more about how to use all the features on your new best friend that’s fine-you can come back to us whenever – it’s what we are here for.
The A16 is a basic sewing machine that's easy to use and is so quick and easy to learn you'll be off in no time.
Although it is the cheapest in Brothers 'A' range it is the same quality and size as the others, with a more limited range of stitches. Sorry, 'limited' is a relative term. It has 16 stitches but, in our opinion, often those 16 stitches will cover most of your needs. It doesn't come with any fonts, or a huge range of buttonholes but it does include three buttonhole styles, straight stitches, zig zag stitches, overcasting stitches, blind hem stitches, feather stitch and bar tack stitch.
On top of all of that it has the amazing A range threader- no more getting the magnifying glass out and last but not least the drop in bobbin.
So many of the A range features, at £369 the A16 is the machine you want so a solid, easy to use machine which doesn't skimp on features.