# Is this a good buy? BROTHER INNOV-IS 1500



## swanweb (Aug 16, 2008)

Hi All,

Currently i have a Vinyl cutter and am producing garments using that, however i'd like to add a new string to my bow, and have come across someone selling a Brother Innov-IS 1500, 1yr old, looks brand new, for £1300.... seems like a good price.

I am looking to start off small, and work with low volumes, company logos etc? what do you think?


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Small sewing field, don't think you can do hats with it? Multi color designs will be a pain when you have to constantly rethread the machine for each color... It all depends on what you want to do...


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## swanweb (Aug 16, 2008)

Any recommendations for a good starter machine?


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

It all depends on your price range. You can get one of the Brother PR600/620/650's, SWF 6 needle, etc which will do hats and have much larger sewing fields. Problem is, they also cost a lot more money. Don't forget, you also need software to create the embroidery files, that can be anywhere from free to over $10K just for the software.

I know SWF is running a startup sale for their compact machine, lettering and editing software and a thread/backing package but I don't remember what the price is - check swfeast.com...

It's a slippery slope, it all depends on how far you want to go down it...


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## propsuper (Mar 23, 2008)

We run a toyota 850 and do a lot of caps, but its a pain to change from cap to flat so we bought the same brother machine you are looking at to do monograms on shirts and such. 
It is a pain re threading the bother for color changes but not near the pain of changing the toyota from cap to flat and back. If your know what your primary customer base will be wanting ie caps or shirts let that be your guide as to which machine you need. Hope this helps


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## EXTouch (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm sure there's an aftermarket hoop for the Brother Innovis, but take it from someone who started out on a home embroidery machine...if you want to do hats DON'T BOTHER. lol. You'll rip your hair out and need a hat for yourself. 

From what I remember, the Brother 600/650 didn't have a hat frame. But that was a few years back when I was looking at them. 

I think Tajima's smallest machine, the Neo, has a hat frame attachment.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

EXTouch said:


> From what I remember, the Brother 600/650 didn't have a hat frame. But that was a few years back when I was looking at them.


The Brother 600/620/650 all have cap frames available. The 600's are generally limited to 2 inches vertically unless they are upgraded to a 620. The 620 I think is 2.25 inches, the 650 says it can go up to 3 inches vertically.


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## T3Design (Apr 11, 2011)

The Brother 650 is a bad (as in good) machine


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## ikkuh (Apr 8, 2010)

The prxx series from brother are very nice machines to make a start in the embroidery business.
Real workhorses and not so difficult to handle.


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