The Brother SE400 Embroidery and Sewing Machine has a USB cable port. This means you can connect the SE400 directly to your computer. You can then download embroidery designs saved on your computer into the SE400. This article explains step-by-step how to do this.

Choose .PES or .DST Embroidery Design File Format

You can buy additional embroidery designs for the Brother SE400 on CD or download them from the Internet. In addition, many online sites, including Brother.com, have designs you can download for free.

The Brother SE400 can only handle embroidery data files in .PES and .DST format. Be sure to get the right file format.

Check that hoop size is 4×4 inches.

Copy Or Download The Embroidery Data Files To Your Computer

I usually store all of my designs in a folder called “Embroidery Designs” on my Desktop. Then I organize them in sub-folders by type. For example, “Flowers” or “Sports.” Make sure that the file names don’t contain special characters. It’s safest to only use letters, numbers, hyphen (-), and underscore (_).

Connect Your Computer To The Brother SE400

Plug the included USB cable into the USB port on the right side of the SE400. Connect the other end of the cable to the USB port on your computer. Make sure both the computer and embroidery machine are turned on.

You should see the “Removable Disk” icon in “My Computer” on your computer.

Copy The Embroidery Design Data Files To “Removable Disk”

Copy the embroidery data files you want to use to “Removable Disk.” Do not put folders in “Removable Disk.” The SE400 cannot recognize folders or find embroidery patterns in folders.

Do not copy more than 12 patterns to “Removable Disk.”

Save the patterns to the machine’s memory. Otherwise the patterns in “Removable Disk” will be lost when you turn off the SE400, and you will have to copy them over from the computer again.

Select The Pattern You Want To Stitch

Press the USB icon on the LCD screen. The downloaded patterns are displayed. If you have a .PES file, you will see an image of the design. Move to the pattern you want using the Previous and Next page keys. Press the Retrieve key.

The Tajima ( .DST) Embroidery Data Files are limited. Only the first eight characters of the file name will be displayed in the pattern list, not the image of the design. Also the .DST format does not contain specific thread colors and will be displayed with Brother’ default color sequence. Check the preview and change the thread colors to what you like.

Embroider Your New Pattern

Edit the design and begin stitching.

For Macintosh Users

Even though Brother says the SE400 is only compatible with Windows, it works just fine with the Macintosh. Connect it to your Mac’s USB port. The SE400 will show up as an external hard drive, named “No Name.” Just drag and drop the embroidery files to this drive. The rest of the instructions should be the same as the PC.