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Any sewing machine recommendations?

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  • flea72
    flea72 Posts: 5,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    tbh, they are all so similar, but the one feature thats standing out to me, is on the own brand machine. The automatic button hole

    Other than that, they are all much the same

    Flea
  • I'm not keen on ther Janome 3816, but that's just asthetics. The own brand one is really good for the price and if you are dress making and using buttonholes it's great to have the feature, but only if it's a good quality machine and I don't know anyone who has bought this brand. You could ask your nice young man are their any common problems with it, do they have many back for repairs compared with the Janome.

    What do you intend to use the machine for?
  • natc
    natc Posts: 593 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks flea and and fourcandles.

    The own brand stood out to me because of that too. I must say, the own brand looks a little boring and simple, "cheap"compared to the others, it may just be the pic, but i was thinking that maybe it is a cheap but sturdy machine, does what it says on the tin! After all, i just want one to do its job, and be decent enought to do what i need it for. Dont need anything fancy looking. Want to just do roman blinds, curtains, cushion covers, maybe duvet covers, all only for my own home. Not planning on dressmaking straight away, although id love to be able to get to that stage, thats where i thought the one step button hole feature would be good.
  • westcoastscot
    westcoastscot Posts: 1,404 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hi,
    I have a brother which I love, although still use an old treadle machine for most of my sewing. One thing to think of is how easy is it to get parts? My daughter has an own-brand machine - cannot remember which - and she cant get spare parts for it - not even a new reel spool for the top of it (which snapped) - makes the machine useless
    Pauline :-)
  • natc
    natc Posts: 593 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for that westcoast, never thought of that! I supposed they must have parts at smd, i shall have to ask! I think im going to def get a machine from smd as they have good comments about them, not come accross any bad ones - yet! but coppers/sewingmachinediscount hav esome rather bad ones on other forums, so wont be going there!!!
  • Hi again natc,
    Sorry for late reply, been out all day.

    Janome used to have a demonstration place around here (north west) and sell spare parts, etc) - I've been there for a couple of overlocker courses. I'll have a look a bit later to see if it's still there, that might solve your spare parts, repair, etc issue.

    Janome used to be New Home, if I remember correctly - could be wrong, of course.:confused:

    I'll get back to you a bit later, hope that's OK?
    TRH
    x
  • Hi again natc,
    Just checked and Janome are still around in the north west. They have a list of stockists of machines and parts/accessories on their website, that might help in your decision on servicing/spare parts. From my experiences, the people at the head office in Stockport are all helpful, might be worth giving them a call - number is on their website.

    My initial thoughts on your choice were based on experiences some of my friends/family/colleagues have had with particularly Brother machines. The more expensive Brother machines are quite good, as are the older ones, but the cheaper ones tend to have a lot of weakness and faults. Janome machines tend to be good right across all the price ranges and, although there are no guarantees, I think you may be better off with a Janome.

    I've found a couple of review sites you might want to take a look at - the Brother machine is mentioned on the second one.

    reviewcentre.com
    sewingmachinereview.com

    Hope this helps and good luck with your choice.....
    :j
    TRH
    x
  • natc
    natc Posts: 593 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    TRH - wow, you were up late posting that! Thanks! Cant seem to get the sewing machine review site to do what i want it to! Cant find a search bar to enter the machine?

    Decided def not going with the smd own make, just doesnt look right to me.... :confused: I really like the look of the brother machine, the janome looks like theres not much room to sew? but, from what ive read about brother and janome, janome seems to have far better feedback than the brother, so looks like i shall have to purchase one!

    Thanks very much for your help guys, love you all! You're all so helpful. Will let you know how i get on!

    :j
  • Hi natc,
    I'm a night owl, do my best work after midnight and hate mornings! Which is why I work for myself from home ......

    Anyway, sewingmachinereview site. Just got the homepage open as I'm typing this. There's a column on the home page on the left hand side - "reviews by brands". Under that you've got singer, brother, bernina, etc, in boxes. Click on the brother box and it brings up a list of reviews - on the right-hand side are some articles. This is where I found the info on the brother.

    If you're bothered about the Janome not having enough room to sew, why not look at the Janome website and see if there's a dealer anywhere near you (maybe you've already looked at this, if so, sorry). Might be able to try one out.

    Another thing I've just though of - do you have a John Lewis anywhere near you? They usually have a good selection of machines and happy to let you try them out.

    Might be a pain doing all the extra checking but, believe me, it's worth it. In my many years of sewing (started when I was 10 and don't ask me how old I am!) there is little that's more frustrating than a machine that won't work...

    Happy choosing.
    x
    TRH
    x
  • Rummer
    Rummer Posts: 6,550 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Hello

    I did a lot of research before buying my new machine and for my budget the Brother BC2100 was the best machine and I bought it from Argos. Good luck in your search!
    Taking responsibility one penny at a time!
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