Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway Review

The Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway sewing machine is one of the most capable machines you can buy, but we had a few hiccups in our reviews.

Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway Review
(Image: © Brother)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

The Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway sewing machine can sew stitches and lettering, but the machine kept catching during our tests.

Pros

  • +

    It can sew up to 850 stitches per minute

  • +

    This machine offers lettering and 100 stitch patterns

  • +

    The Brother XR9500PRW has a smart and attractive design

Cons

  • -

    There's a learning curve

Why you can trust Top Ten Reviews Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

The Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway sewing machine can sew quickly and has a lot of different stitch patterns to pick from, including lettering. Reaching up to 850 stitches per minute means you can speed through almost any sewing project. You can also choose from 100 stitch patterns, the second most of the best sewing machines we tested. The multitude of stitch patterns includes basics like a straight stitch and zig-zag stitch alongside some enchanting leaves, geometric shapes and letters. With 55 built-in alphanumeric stitches at your fingertips, you can sew any message you want. The only other machine we tested with letter stitching is the Singer Confidence 7640.

Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway: How it performed

The Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway is a versatile sewing machine, but we experienced some problems while using it. The bobbin thread got caught, particularly on denim.  Some of the fancier decorative stitches didn’t always work on the first try either, and the letter sewing feature puckered on cotton. The machine is a little temperamental, but with time you'll get used to it.

The drop-in top bobbin worked well at first. After wrapping the bobbin thread through the mechanism you simply pull it around a small cutout path where it gets pulled against a sharp edge and cut.

There’s no need to hold the bobbin thread as you start your project because it’s automatically pulled to the correct place. It does have some nice features, too, including eight different styles of buttonhole, extension table, hard case, sewing light and thread cutter on the side of the machine. It also has an automatic needle threader and needle position button to automatically move the needle to either its highest or lowest position. Speed control is accessible on the machine itself too.

The stitch patterns themselves and other settings like stitch width and length are accessible on the Brother’s LCD screen. The flip-stitch guide is located on the front of the machine, and we’ll admit we were kind of in awe over it. It flips back and forth! How fun! While the stitches have predetermined settings, you can manually change them or the thread tension if necessary. Even at its fastest speed, this sewing machine was one of the quieter ones we tested as it only reached 66.2 decibels.

Like all the sewing machines we tested, the Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway has a very useful and thorough instruction manual. It also comes with six extra sewing feet and a bunch of supplies, including extra bobbins and a sturdy screwdriver.

Should you buy the Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway?

Brother XR9500PRW Project Runway has a plentiful supply of extras such as six sewing feet and added bobbins. It also has a smart pull-out stitch display to make it easy to choose your desired stitch. Unfortunately, we did experience a few issues in terms of how clean the stitches on the XR9500PRW came out. It's not the smoothest machine to use straight off the bat, but with some getting used to it is still a capable and powerful sewing machine. 

Anna Burleson

Anna Burleson hails from South Dakota and worked as a writer and reviewer for a number of sites, including Top Ten Reviews. She has written for Top Ten Reviews across a number of subjects and her knowledge is very broad. Primarily, Anna has covered dating apps for this site, along with things like flower delivery and even sewing machines.