Toyota sewing machines, any good?

Grumpysally

Thinking about treating myself to a new sewing machine for my birthday. Theres a toyota machine advertised in my mums magazine for £99 which shoud be £219. Does anyone here use this brand would they recomend?
Ive posted here rather than the 'I want ....' forum as I thought I'd be more likely to come across sewers here than there.
Thanks, Alison
PS 'sewers' is that the right term/spelling?

Greenwellies_2

Hi,

I'm not sure what model you are looking at, but I have been looking at price-drop.tv and bid.tv on freeview.

They sell two types, have a look on their websites and see if they sell them any cheaper?

Good luck

Greenwellies

ps I once brought a size 18 skirt for £3 in dorathy perkins, and I managed to take it in - bargain! I then brought a pattern and some material and made myself a dress, only a strappy summer one, but ideal for lounging in.

ChocClare

Toyota is a reputable brand, so should be OK.

Is it a zigzag machine? If you're doing basic sewing, you really only need a machine which does straight stitching and zigzag. I had a cheapo machine for years and it was great. The only reason I traded it in was that I wanted a machine which did automatic buttonholes as I'd done a tailoring course and wanted something which produced a more "professional" result.

Most cheap machine's buttonholes just look like you've zigzagged in a ragged rectangle and let down the general look of the piece. Of course, now I make buttonholes by hand for that ultra professional finish, so there you go!!!! :rolleyes:

Things to look out for: how easy is it to adjust the tension/thread the machine/change the bobbin/buy spare parts/feet for it? Does it have different stitch lengths/widths?

Think about it. If you're making a skirt or a pair of trousers or a dress, you need to be able to sew straight seams, maybe zigzag the raw edges, put in a zip and make a buttonhole (which may not show). If you're making a jacket, you want the buttonholes to look good as they'll be on display, but you still only really need straight seams. If you want to get busy with blind hems then feel free to look for that as a feature, but they've never worked for me particularly well, so I've always hemmed by hand!

Good luck and have fun sewing (and yes, it is sewers. Looks odd when you write it down, doesn't it?!)!!!

nuttywoman

I have 2 Toyota sewing machines, one is about 18 yrs old and a real workhorse.I`ve never had to change the bulb yet.It sews all sorts of cloth and different stitches etc.At xmas i got a Toyota Quilter, its a dream at £150. I got it from https://www.coopers.co.uk .
It was free delivery in 2 days, loads of extras and great service.They do basic machines as well so have a look on their site as well as others.
val

Queenie

nuttywoman - I've had 2 Toyata machine's as well!!!! Gave one away a couple of years ago to help someone else out. Pretty good machines they are too!

I've now got a Husqvana and I love it.

Greenwellies - I hear where you're coming from - bought myself 2 skirts at the market (many years ago now) for only £1 (one black, one red). Gorgeous they were, only thing wrong - they both needed zips. Grabbed some cotton from another stall and I was well away First time I ever put zips in and I was really pleased with the results *and* myself

Alison W: Do you know the model? Look it up on the internet and you should be able to get a description of which stitches it will be able to do.

LizD_2

Hi

I currently own one, which I bought about 6 years ago. Its' very reliable (touch wood) despite never having had a service. It's a fairly basic model, but does a few fancy stitches as well.
I would recommend them as basic machines, although I'm after a particular foot, which is proving difficult to find at the mo, as it's not a Brother or Janome

P.S. you could also use dressmaker or seamstress

nuttywoman

LizD the foot your looking for, have you had a look on www.jaycotts.co.uk.They`ll send out a cat . I only mention them cos i was looking for a walking foot for my 1st Toyota and they did universal foots as well as ones for other makes.As it was i got one free with my Quilter.Hope that helps

nearlyrich

I have one too I bought it before I had children so it's probably about 25 years old now. I don't use it a lot these days but it still works fine.

Grumpysally

Thanks everyone, Ive been checking out the toyota direct website, and have now set my sites on a slightly more expensive model. Seeing as one of my biggest bugbears is always having to mess around with the tension I thought I'd get one with automatic tension. Which seems to whop the price up by about £30 -£40. I think I'll have to wait and see how much money comes my way for my birthday. ( though i find the older I get the less comes my way)
Intersestingly (or not ) Toyota have been making sewing machine longer than they have cars.
I've emailed the site to see if the instruction manuals are available in Pdf form so I can study in more detai.
Alison