Hi, congratulatiois!  I have had my SE270D for about 3 months now.  I have never done any type of machine embroidery.  I would suggest setting  up a notebook to write down various notes as you learn the basics.  Just start by following the manual that comes with your machine.  You should be able to sew a design  in less than an hour from the stored designs/fonts in the machine's memory.  A great source for all those other tips such as hooping, thread to use, how to lay out your design, what type of stabilizer to use, etc., go the www.EmbroideryLibrary.com.  They have free instructions that you can print out and save in your notebook.  Excellent help!  Also you can go to the Brother website and check out some of the basics although their site is kinda complicaed to navigate.  The best thing to do  is just study the manual and practice on some scrap fabrics.

If you want to download designs from the Internet, you will need PED Basic which is the card reader/writer to transfer the designs to a blank embroidery card which you then insert into your machine...just like using a digital camera memory card.    I have found downloading to be less expensive than buying the Brother Embroidery Cards as you can pick and choose individual designs that you want...not get something you might never use.  You can find PED Basic on eBay or buy from your local dealer.  Range $75 to $130

Hope this helps.  I'm having lots of fun with mine and everyone in my family is getting embroidered gifts for Christmas!!

Carolyn

I think that information is in your User's Manual--but on my Brother (different model) the sizing is done on the LCD screen.  Once the pattern that I want to embroider is loaded on the screen, I touch the button that says "adjust"--that gives me a couple of options, but for size, I touch the area that says "SIZE".  There are several icons and the box that has lines going out of it is the one that makes the size bigger.  The one that has the lines going into it, makes the pattern smaller.  There are nine icons that will move the hoop in nine directions.  There is also an icon to rotate the pattern in 1 º increments. 

My first tip to anyone who is new at using machine embroidery:

READ THE USER'S MANUAL, cover to cover, two times at least before you ever turn the machine on.

My second tip:  Buy lots and lots of needles.

Hope this helps,

Sharon