Journey Lubbock

Ladies – Need help in deciding the type of sewing machine to get.?

I am looking for a sewing machine for my daughter-in-law and am confused. I have been searching on Ebay, and even went to our local Sewing center here in town. Haved decided Brother machines are out. Did find out that Janome makes Elna and Sears Brand –

Drop in bobbins are handy, but can be a pain if she ever wants to do bobbin work… the only thing you use reverse for is starting and stopping a seam that will not be crossed by another seam. Much faster and easier to do is to adopt a factory sewing technique and simply hang on to the fabric for about three stitches at the beginning and ending of a seam, so it doesn’t feed. Reverse is common on most home sewing machines in the last 60 or so years, but the lack of a reverse button wouldn’t stop me from considering a good used machine that lacked one.

I also generally don’t recommend that sewing machines be purchased for someone else, unless you’re an experienced sewing enthusiast buying for a beginner. Even then, I’d encourage the experienced person to take the beginner shopping rather than simply choosing a machine for them.

Want a present to wrap up? Make a homemade gift certificate and wrap it up with a pair of good scissors (I like Kai, fwiw) or a sewing book, and go shopping later.

My standard beginner sewing advice:

http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

What I want for beginners in sewing:

- a machine that doesn’t scare you
- a machine that isn’t balky (cheap new machines are often very
balky or need adjustments often and are rarely repairable –
just too frustrating to learn on!)
- very good straight stitch
- good zigzag (4-5 mm is fine, more than that is gravy)
- a method of making buttonholes that makes sense to you
- adjustable presser foot pressure (which helps some fabric
handling issues)
- accessory presser feet that don’t cost an arm and a leg
(machines that use a “short shank foot” typically handle
generic presser feet pretty well. Some brands of machines use
proprietary or very expensive presser feet)

If the budget stretches far enough:

- blindhem and stretch blindhem stitches
- triple zigzag (nice for elastic applications)
- a couple of decorative stitches (you won’t use them nearly as
much as you think)
- electronic machine because of the needle position control and
because the stepper motors give you full “punching force” at
slow sewing speeds — mechanical machines often will stall at
slow speeds.

Please go to the best sewing machine dealers around and ask them
to show you some machines in your price range, *especially* used
machines you can afford. You’ll get a far better machine buying
used than new, and a good dealer is worth their weight in sewing
machine needles when you get a machine problem — often they can
talk you through the problem over the phone. While you’re trying
things out, try a couple of machines (sewing only, not combo
sewing-embroidery) over your price limit, just so you can see
what the difference in stitch quality and ease of use might be.
You may find you want to go for the used Cadillac. Or you might
want the new basic Chevy. Might as well try both out.

Suggested reading: John Giordano’s The Sewing Machine Book
(especially for used machines), Carol Ahles’ Fine Machine Sewing
(especially the first and last few chapters) and Gale Grigg
Hazen’s Owner’s Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and Knitting
Machines. All of these are likely to be available at your public
library.

Used brands I’d particularly look for: Elna, Bernina,
Viking/Husqvarna, Pfaff, Singer (pre 1970), Juki, Toyota

New “bargain brand” I’d probably pick: Janome (who also does
Kenmore).

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I would strongly urge you NOT to buy from ebay — if she’s a beginner, she may well need a little backstopping. Also, the warranty on most machines is from the dealer… so if you buy a new machine in California, you may well have trouble getting warranty service if you move to NY with it, contrary to the automobile warranty model. (Yes, it’s dumb, but so far, nothing’s changed). So theoretically, if you bought a new machine on ebay, you’d have to mail it back to the ebay seller for warranty service each time it had a problem…