Brother SE425 Review: What Are The Pros & Cons?

Guide to This Tremendous Sewing & Embroidery Machine

Do you love the powerful feeling that you can create, embroider, or alter any piece of clothing to fit you perfectly?

If the answer is “Yes,” you are on an excellent way to become a hobbyist or a professional crafter in the field of textile arts.

If you want to become skilled in this hobby or turn it into your job, however, you will need more than a needle and thread.

No matter whether you have learned to sew from your family (like me), from a class, or you’re self-educated, what we all have in common is the seemingly never-ending search for a perfect sewing machine that suits all our needs.

I know how tiring this search can be, and I want to make it easier for you with my reviews, as always.

Today I’ll be reviewing Brother SE425 for you, a machine which allows you to turn your sewing and embroidery skills into beautiful projects.

Brother, a multi-international company, operates since 1908 and traditionally produces machines that are known for their quality, reliability and innovation.

With this one, they upgraded their original sewing machine to a computerized tool that works like a dream and offers even a wider range of options for you.

Additionally, I will share my tips for using this machine for any challenges you might run into.

Keep scrolling to find out why Brother SE425 should be on your list!

Brother SE425 Grades Table

For those of you who want to scan how the machine performed quickly, take a brief look at my scoring table.

There is the outline of my test, but to see why and how Brother SE425 earned these grades, in the following section is my complete review and honest opinion on what this machine has to offer.

Brother SE425 Put Into Practice

In this section, you will find all the technical and software features I tested out, as well as some tips I find useful.

Physical Features

Brother SE425 requires a relatively large working space compared to some other sewing machines, with 15 x 15 x 20 inches (38 x 38 x 50 cm) size. It is not on the heavy side, though, so it can easily be moved from one working area to another.

It also has a useful handle for transporting.

The sleek design, along with the large 4-inch x 4-inch (10 x 10 cm) embroidery area adds to the good grade of the physical features I gave to this machine.

On the machine itself, some buttons can be used to access a certain feature quickly (there are many features, though, so some are accessed from the display, and some directly when operating).

Apart from the start and stop button (which is deactivated once you plug in the foot controller), the shortcut buttons on the operation panel include access to needle position adjuster, reverse and reinforcement stitches feature and thread cutter. There is a “slide” button that helps you adjust your sewing speed with ease.

The options that are accessed from the display include memory, utility stitch and embroidery keys, as well as “help” and “settings” keys to make your experience easier.

What adds to the functionality of its design is the air vent on the side of the machine.

You should be careful not to cover the air vent while you use your machine because this enables your motor to cool down. (It works pretty much like any electronic device that has air vents – you don’t want it to overheat or gather dust)

Visually, the thing that makes this machine unique is the touch screen LCD display (some technological features ahead!).

The interface of the display is not the easiest one to use, in my opinion. For instance, some icons seemed to me like arbitrary shapes instead of a clear representation of the function in question.

Of course, you can follow the manual and very easily decipher these, but I wish they were a little more intuitive; that’s how always preferred to do things.

The resolution of the display is satisfying – I’ve seen worse and I’ve seen better. You can clearly see what you need to do, and everything will be clear, but not in 1080p. I don’t consider this a flaw, as it gets the work done efficiently.

If you want to enhance the size of the screen while doing more delicate projects, you can do so by connecting your Brother SE425 to your PC or a laptop – you will automatically get a larger screen for use, as it will show on your monitor.

Tips & Tricks For Using Brother SE425

Here is some useful information I noted to share with you.

When you press the power switch on the right side of the machine, the needle will make a sound; some other machines don’t so I thought I left something on until I got used to it.

You won’t have problems turning it on; it is simple as that. The green light will indicate it is ready to use.

Now, there are a couple of tips to note about the LCD Display.

First, I suggest using it with a touch pan; that will largely increase the utility.

You will get two different screens once the machine is turned on, depending on whether the embroidery unit is attached.

It is quite easy to operate from this screen, and I suggest that the first thing you do is set up your preferred settings.

You should adjust the needle position so that the stitching can be placed exactly where you want it to be (initial and final needle position, as well as the stitch width).

From here, you can also set up some of your preferences; e.g., choose the display color of the thread.

Winding the thread around the bobbin is easy. You can choose between three spool sizes. For example, if you sew with a fine, cross-wound thread, you should choose the small cap. On the other hand, if you sew with a stacked thread, you should use a bigger cap.

Always make sure to leave a space between the cap and the spool.

The only tip I have here is to be careful to position the spool horizontally and that the thread unwinds to the front at the bottom. If it unwinds in incorrectly, in the other direction, the thread can entangle.

The end of the thread should always be wound clockwise around the bobbin. I do it five to six times.

After you’ve followed all these tips, you can start the winding bobbin thread. It will display on the monitor.

However, if something happened and the thread happens to be winding incorrectly, I like that one press of the “start/stop” button will stop the feature (or one press of the foot controller, if you use it). This is pretty much the case with all the features.

So, no need to worry, the mistakes are easily corrected with this machine.

When you need to position the bobbin into the bobbin case, just make sure to hold it with one hand, and the end of the thread with the other, so that it does not become entangled now that it’s almost set.

It will go smoothly into the slot; no need for any exertion of force.

When using the upper thread, I follow some rules:

1. I only use 75/11 through 100/16 home sewing machine needle
2. No wing or twin needles with the needle threader (this should be done manually)
3. No No. 20 or lower threads

The right choice of the needle and thread is crucial to quality projects, so make sure to always consult the chart.

From the chart, you can also see that the list of supported materials and threads is long and very satisfying. I can assure you that this machine worked efficiently with every single one of them.

The only fabric I haven’t tried it with is tricot, but I don’t doubt this machine’s efficiency.

As for the twin needle that I mentioned, I like using it very much, and I think that the best stitches are made with this needle. Two lines that are sewn look perfect.

However, it requires a manual setting-up, but don’t worry, the instructions that they provided you with are quite clear and straightforward.

What once occurred to me is that I set up the twin needle correctly, but I forgot to select the twin needle setting on the display, so it broke. I was quite frustrated when this happened, so don’t make that mistake like I did.

Replacing the needle with this machine feels safe and easy. Of course, always do it when the machine is turned off.

Highlight Features

Now, let’s take a look at my favorite features of this machine.

It offers 67 built-in stitches (wow!).

My favorites are decorative stitches for heirloom, but you can choose from a wide array, from simple hem stitches to the quilting and the button-sewing stitch.

You select them from the touch screen (an icon for each will be displayed). The navigation is simple, and there are some icons you will have to remember (for instance, “Q” patterns are for quilting, and “P” patterns are for piecing).

Automatic reverse/reinforcement stitching feature which you can set up is there to make sure your stitches are quality. You should skip between these after 3 to 5 stitches for the maximum efficiency. This machine also allows you to mirror stitches.

Zipper sewing is a piece of cake with Brother SE425.

Programmed thread-cut is another convenient feature that I liked. You can set your machine to automatically cut the thread; this saves up time and nerves.

Bobbin work may seem a little complicated, but you will surely get the hang of it very quickly, and I created so many wonderful quilts with it.

Learn here how to make how to make a patch with Brother SE425:

Resewing with a different color is also available, so more interesting applications are created.

As for the embroidery features, the screen for selecting the embroidery patterns will pop-up once you attach the embroidery unit.

The versatility of embroidery patterns is what also amazed me: 70 patterns to choose from, including character and frame patterns (flowers, animals, geometrical shapes).

Take a look at logo embroidery:

This machine also allows you to use an embroidery card, in order to use patterns that are not kept in the machine, and save patterns in the memory. You can save up to 12 new patterns.

You can alter the patterns’ shape and size, rotate them, or even import your own, which leads us to the final section of my review.

Computerized Features

For a complete experience, this machine comes with a USB-cable and different options that can be chosen on a PC.

That is how you import your designs. You can also download them and import them onto the machine.

A tip: For embroidery, you should not create designs larger than the 4-inch x 4-inch embroidery area, as it will result in an error “the file is too large”.

Included Accessories & Additional Enhancements

With this purchase, you will get a foot controller which will enable the safe operation of the machine, as well as efficient speed control (pressure on the foot controller will increase the sewing speed, and vice versa). This is a big plus.

You will also get a bobbin clip to wound your thread, which will prevent loosening.

Optional bobbin accessories that you can buy include Embroidery bobbin thread in white and black variants.

To Sum It All Up…

The Conclusion and My Recommendation

From my point of view, Brother SE425 offers anything you want to do with a sewing and embroidery machine – sewing, quilting, bobbin work, patchwork, appliqué stitching, neat and incredible embroidery… Astonishing.

Not only that; all these features on paper will result in quality work and successful projects with ease.

With the development of the computerized software, this machine will take all your creative skills to the next level.

All things considered (or better yet, all features and its performance considered), Brother SE425 is a valuable purchase and I highly recommend it.