Quick Answer: For most buyers who genuinely want both functions, the Brother SE1900 (about $1,200) is the best sewing and embroidery combo — a 5x7 inch embroidery hoop and 240 built-in sewing stitches, so you’re not shortchanged on either half. Budget-conscious buyers who mainly embroider can start with the Brother SE700 (about $680-$790, 4x4 hoop), while the Janome Memory Craft 9850 (about $2,000-$2,500) suits buyers who want a bigger 6.7x7.9 inch hoop and a heavier-duty sewing side. If you only care about one function, a dedicated machine beats any combo on value.
A combo review almost always gets reduced to one number: the embroidery hoop. That’s the mistake. According to Brother’s and Janome’s own published specs, the sewing side of a combo varies just as much between tiers as the embroidery side does — the SE700’s 103 built-in sewing stitches versus the SE1900’s 240 is a bigger jump, proportionally, than the hoop-size difference between those same two machines (both top out at 4x4 and 5x7 respectively, same as the dedicated PE-series). Buy a combo on the hoop spec alone and you can end up with a sewing half that’s noticeably thinner than the embroidery half you shopped for.
Sewing + embroidery combos compared
| Machine | Best for | Max hoop | Sewing stitches | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother SE1900 | Best all-around combo | 5x7 in | 240 | about $1,200 | ★★★★★ |
| Brother SE700 | Best entry combo | 4x4 in | 103 | about $680-$790 | ★★★★☆ |
| Brother SE2000 | Best wireless combo | 5x7 in | 241 | about $1,499 | ★★★★☆ |
| Janome Memory Craft 9850 | Best for bigger hoop + heavier sewing | 6.7x7.9 in | 200 | about $2,000-$2,500 | ★★★★☆ |
1. Brother SE1900 — Best All-Around Combo
Brother SE1900
- 5x7 inch embroidery hoop — the same size as the dedicated Brother PE800.
- 240 built-in sewing stitches, well ahead of the entry-level SE700's 103.
- Wireless design transfer and a large color touchscreen shared across both functions.
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The SE1900 earns the top spot because neither half of it feels like the compromise you’d expect from a combo. The 5x7 hoop matches our overall pillar pick, the Brother PE800, and the sewing side’s 240 stitches is a genuine sewing-machine feature count, not a token gesture bolted onto an embroidery unit. We cover this specific machine in more depth as the home-use combo pick in our best home embroidery machine guide.
2. Brother SE700 — Best Entry Combo
Brother SE700
- 4x4 inch embroidery hoop — the same ceiling as the budget-tier PE545.
- 103 built-in sewing stitches and 135 built-in embroidery designs.
- Lowest-priced current Brother combo, roughly half the SE1900's cost.
The SE700 is the right combo only if you’ve confirmed a 4x4 hoop covers your actual projects — the same ceiling that limits the dedicated PE545, covered in our best cheap embroidery machine guide. Per retailer listings, the jump to the SE1900 isn’t just a bigger hoop; it also more than doubles the built-in sewing stitch count, which matters if you plan to use the sewing side for more than basic seams. It’s also the combo pick in our best embroidery machine for beginners guide, for the same reasons.
3. Brother SE2000 — Best Wireless Combo
Brother SE2000
- Same 5x7 hoop as the SE1900, plus 193 built-in embroidery designs and 241 sewing stitches.
- Wireless design transfer and a larger touchscreen interface than the SE1900.
- Priced roughly $300 above the SE1900 for convenience features, not a bigger hoop.
The SE2000 embroiders and sews at essentially the same ceiling as the SE1900 — the extra roughly $300 buys convenience (wireless transfer, a bigger screen), not more hoop or dramatically more stitches. It’s the better buy only if that convenience is worth the premium to you; otherwise the SE1900 does the same core job for less.
4. Janome Memory Craft 9850 — Best for Bigger Hoop + Heavier Sewing
Janome Memory Craft 9850
- 6.7x7.9 inch max embroidery area — noticeably larger than any Brother combo's 5x7 ceiling.
- 200 built-in sewing stitches, six one-step buttonholes, and dual-feed capability per Janome's own spec page.
- List price $2,499 per Janome, though street prices from authorized dealers commonly run $1,999-$2,299.
The MC9850 is the one combo on this list that actually beats the dedicated-machine hoop ceiling most of this site recommends — its 6.7x7.9 inch area is bigger than the PE800’s 5x7, not just equal to it. That’s a real reason to consider it if you’ve genuinely outgrown 5x7, but it roughly doubles the SE1900’s price to get there, and per Janome’s dealer-pricing model you’ll want to confirm the current street price before buying, since list and street price differ by hundreds of dollars.
What actually matters when buying a combo
- Check the sewing stitch count, not just the hoop. The SE700-to-SE1900 jump more than doubles sewing stitches (103 to 240) — a bigger spec change than the hoop-size step, and one most buyers never compare.
- A combo only pays off if you use both halves. If you’re embroidery-first, the dedicated Brother PE800 gives you the SE1900’s same 5x7 hoop for roughly $500 less. If sewing is your main hobby, our sister site SewingVerdict ranks dedicated sewing machines without the embroidery trade-off.
- List price and street price can differ a lot on the Janome. Janome’s own site lists the MC9850 at $2,499 and defers to dealers for actual pricing — confirm the current number before comparing it to Brother’s fixed retail pricing.
- Bigger hoop isn’t free. The MC9850’s 6.7x7.9 inch area beats every Brother combo, but at roughly double the SE1900’s price for a hoop that’s maybe 25% larger by area — worth it only if you’re regularly hitting the 5x7 ceiling.
The bottom line
For most buyers who want one machine that genuinely does both jobs well, the Brother SE1900 is the best sewing and embroidery combo — a full 5x7 hoop and a real sewing stitch count, not a token one. Go smaller (SE700) only if your embroidery stays within 4x4, and go bigger (Janome MC9850) only if you’ve actually outgrown 5x7 and have the budget for it. If you’re not sure you’ll use the sewing side at all, the dedicated Brother PE800 is the better buy.