Choosing an Embroidery Machine for a Small Business

What you sell decides the machine

Products and what the machine needs

You sell	The machine needs
Names and logos on towels, tote bags, flat items	A field large enough for the design; any embroidery machine
Finished caps	A cap frame; Brother’s fits baseball (golf) caps, tulip hats and bucket hats2
Shirt fronts, sleeves, bags	A tubular arm, so the back of the garment stays out of the stitching3
Designs with many colors	Several needles, to cut thread changes2

Single needle or multi-needle?

On a single-needle home machine, “Stitching stops automatically with reinforcement after one color has been completed.” You then rethread for the next color.¹ Brother’s single-needle PRS100 can sort a design’s colors so you change spools as few times as possible, except on overlapping patterns.³

A multi-needle machine keeps one color on each needle. The PR680W has six; when a design uses seven or more colors, it stops and asks you to change spools. The 10-needle PR1060W stops at 11 or more.^2,8 Speeds reach 1,000 stitches per minute on both, with a maximum of 600 on some frames.^2,8

Caps and garments

Brother’s cap frame gives a 130 × 60 mm area and works on baseball caps, tulip hats and bucket hats, but not on hats with a front of 50 mm or less, such as sun visors and children’s hats.² On the PRS100, cap and cylinder frames run at 400 to 600 stitches per minute, and they are sold separately.³

A tubular (cylindrical) arm lets you embroider “tubular materials such as bags and T-shirts”.³ For a T-shirt, Brother’s manual tells you to pass the machine bed through the waist of the shirt, not the neck.²

File formats

The PR680W reads .pes, .phc, .phx, .dst and .pen files; the PRS100 reads only .pes, .phc and .dst.^2,3 A .dst file carries no thread colors, so Brother machines show it in a default color order.²

Before you sell: permits, logos and design licences

• Permits. The SBA says most small businesses need a mix of licences and permits, and that zoning rules can apply to home businesses.⁴ In Canada, BizPaL lists the permits for your location.⁵
• Logos. A trademark is a word, symbol or design that tells customers whose goods they are buying.⁷ Before stitching a team or brand logo for sale, ask the owner; we don’t give legal advice, so ask a lawyer when unsure.
• Copied artwork. The US Copyright Office says you cannot claim copyright to another’s work, no matter how much you change it, without the owner’s consent, and recommends asking permission when in doubt.⁶
• Bought designs. Each design seller sets its own licence: read it before you sell items made with it.

Two example machines

Single needle, tubular arm

Brother PRS100 (Persona)

Needles

1

Largest field

8 × 8 in

Formats

.pes .phc .dst

Speed

up to 1,000/min; 400-600 on caps

Cap frame

optional

Strengths

• Tubular arm for caps, shirts and bags
• Color sorting to cut thread changes
• Cap and cylinder frames available

Drawbacks

• One needle: a thread change for each color
• Cap frame sold separately
• No wireless: designs by USB or card

Good fit: you start small, with caps and garments, and can change thread for each color.
Skip it if: most of your designs have many colors.

6 needles

Brother PR680W

Needles

6

Largest field

300 × 200 mm (8 × 12 in)

Formats

.pes .phc .phx .dst .pen

Speed

up to 1,000/min

Caps

PRCF3 cap frame listed in its manual

Strengths

• Six colors without a thread change
• 300 × 200 mm field
• Wireless and USB

Drawbacks

• Stops for a spool change from seven colors
• Cap frame included only in some regions
• In Canada, sold through stores and dealers

Good fit: you stitch designs with up to six colors without stopping, on flat items and caps.
Skip it if: your designs often have more than six colors, or you only stitch small runs.

Buying in Canada

On 2026-11-10, brother.ca’s pages for the PR680W and the PRS100 sent buyers to a store or dealer rather than to an online cart.^9,10 Ask the dealer about training and service before you buy.