want cheap sewing machine!!??

afterglow_2

im after a cheap sewing machine maybe £50 for making some crafty items to sell on ebay and elsewhere, and for fixing up old clothes to save some money!
anyone got any advice on what to look for how much to spend and where from??

poorandindenial

Check out freecycle, if there isn't one already listed you could do a wanted notice for one - then it will be free!!

If you google freecycle brighton you should get a link to the page - you need to join Yahoo to post on the board.

Slimcilla

Go have a look in a local charity shop, mine came from one and it's a lovely old style Singer with a motor and lots of attachments. It cost £10....

afterglow_2

will any type be good enough for cushions etc?

poorandindenial

Most should be, mine is a really old Brother one (about 30 yrs) and it does all that sort of thing. If you give it a go and it doesn't work very well then give it a drop of oil then a run with no needle/thread/fabric in it and put a fresh needle in it and see if it is any better.

Not that I have used mine for years, I must dig it out and get sewing...

ormus

i saw new singer sewing machines in Dunelms last week, for 99 quid.
think they also do a 59 quid budget model (no name) machine too?

LMCD

am sure i have seen some decent priced ones in tesco!

roo9

theres one on the john lewis site small does light/med fabrics with about 10 differant stiches.cost £49.99

dander

There are an awful lot of fancy machines that will do all sorts for huge amounts of money, but the vast majority of sewing jobs only require a straight stitch and a zig-zag.

It sounds as though you're a bit of a beginner to sewing - in which case I would recommend looking for a dead simple machine - don't be blinded by fancy stitches, the chances are you won't use them.

Ideally you should get a machine from somewhere where you can try it out and see which one you feel most comfortable with stitching, changing the bobbin etc - but that isn't all that likely since most of the cheap machines come from places like tesco and dunelm where you just have to take what they've got.

I reckon you'll need a machine with straight stitch, zigzag, a button hole - ideally one-step buttonhole for simplicity although I don't know whether you tend to get that on the basic models. Also a proper zipper foot is worth its weight in gold. If you're mending clothes a stretch stitch option would probably be useful, but personally, I find a decent selection of presser feet is far more use for day to day sewing than a wide selection of stitches.

If you've got the choice in your price range, I would definitely go for one of the big-name brands - ie: brother, singer, janome, husqvarna. The reason being that all of these manufacturers sell additional bits and bobs - such as presser feet, to fit their machines. Whereas with the mystery brands, you may find that you can't get extra parts to fit, so if you start getting more adventurous you'll have to go out and buy an entirely new machine rather than just adapt the one you've got.

savagelyric

poorandindenial wrote: »

Check out freecycle, if there isn't one already listed you could do a wanted notice for one - then it will be free!!

If you google freecycle brighton you should get a link to the page - you need to join Yahoo to post on the board.

I got an ace PFAFF machine from freecycle, as I'm a beginner it took a while to figure it out but a lovely lady from the Sewing forum lent me her manual to photocopy.

I love my machine now and doubt that any cheap n cheerful machine I might have bought new would be better...

savagelyric

poorandindenial wrote: »

Check out freecycle, if there isn't one already listed you could do a wanted notice for one - then it will be free!!

If you google freecycle brighton you should get a link to the page - you need to join Yahoo to post on the board.

I got an ace PFAFF machine from freecycle, as I'm a beginner it took a while to figure it out but a lovely lady from the Sewing forum lent me her manual to photocopy.

I love my machine now and doubt that any cheap n cheerful machine I might have bought new would be better...