Baby Lock Alliance Embroidery Machine Reviewed In Full

The Baby Lock Alliance is a single needle embroidery only machine like the Baby Lock Flare. But its shape more closely resembles that of a multi-needle embroidery machine like the Baby Lock Intrepid. What difference can a different shape make? And more importantly, is an upright single needle embroidery machine like the Alliance a good fit for your sewing room?

About Baby Lock and the Baby Lock Alliance

Baby Lock is a relative newcomer amongst sewing machine manufacturers. Dating back to the mid-20th century, Baby Lock’s mission has always been to bring powerful crafting features to sewists at all levels through well made, easy to use machines.

The Baby Lock Alliance is an upright, single needle embroidery only machine.

Who is the Baby Lock Alliance For?

That’s an interesting question.

Traditional consumer embroidery machines like the Flare are made with the home sewist in mind. They come at differing levels of complexity, from the entry level Brother PE535 to the mid range Bernette B70 to the top of the line Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 2.

Professional and “prosumer” multi-needle embroidery machines, on the other hand, are often chosen by people starting home based businesses. Examples of these include the Juki Tajima Sai and the Janome MB-7. Multiple needles make for faster work, and the shape of the machine lends itself to lots of different types of products.

The Baby Lock Alliance borrows features from both of these. Like consumer machines, it has a single needle. Like multi-needle “prosumer” machines, it has a space-saving upright design. 

The Alliance’s work area is also shaped differently – instead of the long, wide flat bed that you’ll find on a regular embroidery machine, the Alliance has a free arm with an optional detachable cylindrical bed. This makes it easy for the Alliance to embroider on things like caps, shoes, inside pockets, and even stuffed animals.

If your embroidery doesn’t lend itself to a flat, rectangular work surface, but you’re not ready to splash out on an expensive multi-needle embroidery machine, then the Baby Lock Alliance may be the solution you’re looking for.

How Does the Baby Lock Alliance Stand Out?

We think the single-needle upright embroidery machine is a really neat idea. The setup lends itself to a wider range of projects than a traditional flatbed embroidery machine, and the single needle machine head means that it comes in at around half the price of a multi-needle upright machine.

At the same time, the Baby Lock Alliance doesn’t have the same advanced editing features that you’ll find on a multi-needle machine (or a traditional embroidery machine at this price point). 

Also, unlike many higher-end traditional embroidery machines, the Alliance lacks the auto return post break feature, which means that you have to manually reset the needle position after a thread break.

To be fair, the other single needle upright machine that we found, the Brother Persona PRS 100, also lacks these features. But it seems like a missed opportunity, especially considering the cost of the machine.

Single Needle Embroidery Machines: Upright vs. Traditional

There are two reasons you might prefer an upright embroidery machine: versatility and the footprint. An upright machine is better able to embroider on hard-to-reach surfaces and oddly shaped projects like caps. Also, although upright machines may be just as heavy as traditional embroidery machines, they have a smaller footprint, which can save space.

The features of an upright machine can also be a bit different. Here’s what to look for.

Work Surface

An upright machine has a more versatile workspace, which may include a free arm and / or a cylindrical part for embroidering on things like caps.

Editing Capabilities

You may want to customize the motifs that come with your embroidery machine, or which you buy separately. Most embroidery machines will allow you to make some changes, such as rotating the design, resizing it, and moving it around within the embroidery space. Other machines may allow more advanced adjustments.

Editing capabilities can vary from machine to machine, so check the specs carefully of any model that you’re considering.

Design Transfer

At some point, you may want to purchase additional embroidery designs and add them to your machine. Alternatively, you might want to transfer designs from your machine to your computer, in order to perform more sophisticated edits using embroidery software.

So, how do you do this?

Most embroidery machines have a one-way USB port, to transfer designs from your computer to your machine. Some models may have a two-way USB port. As you travel up the price spectrum, you might also find multiple USB ports, WiFi connectivity, and app-driven design transfer, too.

Control Panel

Most upright embroidery machines have a large color touchscreen, through which you control every aspect of your machine’s usage. 

Built-in Designs

Like traditional embroidery machines, upright machines often come with a selection of built-in embroidery motifs, frame designs, and lettering.

Stitching Speed

Upright embroidery machines are often a bit faster than traditional embroidery machines. While traditional embroidery machines stitch at speeds of between 400 and 1,000 stitches per minute, upright machines often start at around 1,000 stitches per minute, and go up from there.

Thread Handling

Running out of thread, tangled thread, and thread breakage can cause huge problems for machine embroidery. As a result, many upper level embroidery machines, both traditional and upright, come with features designed to reduce thread problems or eliminate them before they begin. These may include:

• Thread breakage sensors
• Thread tangle sensors
• Independent bobbin winding motor
• Low bobbin thread sensors
• And more.

Features and Benefits of the Baby Lock Alliance

The Baby Lock Alliance is chock full of excellent features for machine embroidery. Here are some of our favorites.

On-Machine Design Library

The Baby Lock Alliance comes with a respectable complement of designs built in. These include 125 embroidery motifs (images), 140 frame combinations, and 25 different embroidery fonts, including floral and Greek letters.

Dual USB (A and B) for Design Transfer

The Baby Lock Alliance has two USB ports: one USB-A (host device) and USB-B (peripheral control).

Reads Multiple File Formats

Machine embroidery designs are files that the computer of an embroidery machine reads. Different manufacturers have their own proprietary formats, and many embroidery machines can only read their manufacturer’s format. The Baby Lock Alliance, however, reads four different formats: .PES, .PEC, .DST, and .PHC.

This means that you can use designs from a wider range of third-party providers.

Updateable Software

Built-in obsolescence is a problem with a lot of different types of equipment, including embroidery machines. However, the Baby Lock Alliance has updateable software to keep your machine current.

High Speed Stitching

The Baby Lock Alliance stitches at a speed of 1,000 stitches per minute, to help you get through your projects fast.

Large Maximum Embroidery Area

This model comes with a max embroidery area of eight inches by eight inches, which is quite respectable, indeed.

Six Included Hoops

The Baby Lock Alliance comes with six different sized hoops to accommodate a wide range of project sizes. You can also purchase a cylindrical work area separately for caps and other projects.

Free Arm

The Baby Lock Alliance’s free arm is another way to help you to embroider those harder-to-reach places.

Independent Bobbin Winding Motor

With the independent bobbin winding motor, you can wind bobbins while you stitch, which means that you’ll always have a bobbin ready to go.

Upper Thread Breakage Sensor

The Baby Lock Alliance will tell you when your upper thread has broken. 

Light Beam Needle Guidance

The Baby Lock Alliance’s light beam needle guidance tells you exactly where the needle will go, so you can make sure your design is perfectly placed.

Large Color touchscreen With Stylus

The Baby Lock Alliance comes with a large seven-inch color touchscreen with a stylus. You can control all of the machine’s functions through this panel.

Alternatives to the Baby Lock Alliance

This is a difficult question. There really aren’t a lot of other upright single needle machines on the market. However, there are several other machines that may be able to give you the features that you need.

Brother Persona PRS100

The Brother Persona PRS100 is one of the only other upright single needle embroidery machines on the market. It’s very similar to the Baby Lock Alliance, and comes at a similar price point, too. Its features include:

• 405 built-in embroidery designs
• 1,000 stitches per minute stitching speed
• 20 embroidery fonts
• 6 decorative alphabets
• Independent bobbin winding motor 
• 8-inch by 8-inch maximum embroidery area
• 6 included hoops
• Thread sensor
• Dual USB for design transfer
• Compact 18-inch wide footprint
• Light beam embroidery placement marker
• Access to Brother’s Ibroidery design marketplace
• Optional cylindrical work area

As we said, this is a very similar model to the Baby Lock Alliance, though it does have a bit more in terms of built-in designs. For the right sewist, this could make the difference.

Janome MB-7

If you’ve been reading this and thinking that perhaps you’re ready for the jump to a multi-needle machine, then the Janome MB-7 could be one to consider. 

The Janome MB-7 is a seven-needle embroidery machine that costs about 30 percent more than the Alliance. However, for the right sewist, the extra features, as well as the convenience of not having to change threads for every color change, could be well worth it.

This machine’s features include:

• 50 built-in designs
• 10 embroidery fonts
• 2 and 3 letter monogramming
• Advanced on machine design editing
• USB design transfer
• Reads three different file formats (.jef+, .jef and .dst)
• Remote control panel that can run up to three MB-7 machines simultaneously
• Independent bobbin winding motor
• Extra large bobbin
• Auto return post thread break

The Janome MB-7 is slower than the Alliance, and it doesn’t have as many built-in designs. On the other hand, it can network easily with up to two other MB-7 machines, so it would be easy to upscale this model for a growing home business.

If you’re after a high quality multi-needle embroidery machine that won’t cost you the earth, the Janome MB-7 could be one to check out.

Bernina 500E

If you don’t absolutely require an upright machine, you can buy an exquisite traditional embroidery machine for the price of the Baby Lock Alliance. The Bernina 500E, for example, has an astounding array of features, including:

• 275 built-in embroidery designs
• 8 embroidery alphabets
• Enormous 15.75 inch by 6.5 inch maximum embroidery area
• Free arm
• 1,000 stitches per minute stitching speed
• Upper and lower thread sensors
• USB design transfer
• On-machine editing and word art
• On-machine tutorials
• Included embroidery art software

If features, rather than positioning, are your main concern, you might consider the Bernina 500E.

Should You Buy the Baby Lock Alliance?

Possibly.

On one hand, the Alliance fills a very small and very specific niche: the upright single needle embroidery machine. It costs quite a bit less than a multi-needle embroidery machine, yet provides the same versatility of positioning.

On the other hand, neither of the single-needle upright models that we found has particularly advanced editing capabilities or the ability to return to the previous needle position following a thread break.

Furthermore, for the price of a single-needle upright embroidery machine, you can buy an incredibly richly featured traditional embroidery machine.

And if you’re starting a home-based embroidery business, then the scalability and advanced functionalities of a multi-needle embroidery machine might justify biting the bullet and taking the plunge.

However, if your embroidery requires a single needle upright embroidery machine, then the Baby Lock Alliance could be a good choice. 

Have you used the Baby Lock Alliance? What did you think? We’d love to hear about your experiences!