which sewing machine?

learningtosew

I'm taking up sewing, and am thinking of buying a machine. My local lidl has a silver crest at £50 or on gumtree I've seen a Janome 2139N, sellers asking £70. Has anyone got any advice or thoughts?

valk_scot

Before you do anything else, ask around your older relatives and family friends. Chances are at least one of them will have an older black Singer in the attic. Now you may think these are too old to be worth using but in actual fact the build quality of these older machines means that most of them are still sewing far better than any budget level machine availible atm. In most cases they just need a clean, some oil and a new needle to be as good as new. They take modern needles btw and bobbins are standard too. If you're lucky it will still have it's box of attachments too, so will do ruffles, gathers and hems, plus you can get zig-zag and buttonholing feet too.

And ten years down the line it will still work perfectly while the Lidl one will be in landfill. So yes, avoid budget level machines, find an old one to use atm and save up for a decent quality modern one, by which time you'll know what you want from a machine.

Elliesmum

Hi there

I back up valk_scot on this one. Having had a budget machine which lasted 6 months, they really are not worth the money.

If you cannot get a one either from relatives etc, try freegle, I have seen sewing machines being exchanged on my local group.

If you need to buy, then my advice is the Janome - they are an established sewing machine brand that have been going since the 1950's.

HTH's

EM x

j.e.j.

My SiL got a Janome off EBay, - they are a very good make. Brother used to be good but I think perhaps aren't as well-made these days.

The thing about the modern, cheaper ones is that they are light-weight, which is great when it comes to lifting them, but apparently they have been known to move across the table when sewing!

I've got an old Brother sewing machine which a kind person gave to me after it had been sitting in her house for years just gathering dust, as she never used it. It works, but it really needs servicing, and I'm having trouble finding someone who comes out, as i don't drive so getting it to a shop would be tricky..

gibson123

You can get a decent Janome sewing machine new in Dunelm Mill for £114. So £70 second hand seems a bit steep unless it is very new.

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/janome-re1318-sewing-machine-245414

gibson123

Try some basic maintenance on old machines before going for a service

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4731/preventive-sewing-machine-maintenance

valk_scot

I bought (another) sewing machine in our local charity shop today. It was an absolutely immaculate 1949 Singer 201 electric machine, straight stitch but with reverse and also the feed dogs drop for freeform sewing and quilting. The chap in the charity shop said it came from a lady who was clearing out her late mother's house and that though the machine was a good one it hadn't been used for a while. I belived him, it had a round pin plug on it!

Anyway when I got it home I checked the wiring for any frayed or dodgy looking bits, changed the plug and plugged it in. Nasty grunchy noise, argh. So I unplugged it and gave it a bit of a dust, looked under the needle plate and lo and behold, massive wodge of tangled and broken threads. I pulled that lot out, blew out the rest of the dust, dripped in a bit of oil, switched it back on and it purred away like a kitten.

It still had a reel of thread and bobbin wound with the same colour of thread as the bits jammed underneath so my bet is that sometime in the 50's/early 60's that machine had got jammed up with thread, been put away in a cupboard and left there for the next fifty years. Did I say it was immaculate? It also came with a set of attachment feet, oil, instructions, ten Singer needles, six bobbins and a mock croc carry case. It looks brand new tbh. And it stitches beautifully.

How much did this little gem cost me? £10. How much would it have cost new? Well, a Singer 201 was the highest quality machine Singer have ever produced for the domestic market, all metal geared and can sew anything. When it was new it cost the equivelent of six months average wages back then, or the same as a small car. You'd have bought it on an installment plan after spending some time on a waiting list for one. It was a major purchase for a family at that time but it was The Best.

And now? £10 in a charity shop. It's ridiculous. Who wants a cheap tacky plastic machine that struggles to sew two layers of polycotton together and can't hold its tension when you could have this vintage gem for a fifth of the price?

ETA: In the interests of full disclosure it does have one major disadvantage. It weighs twenty kilos with the case, eek! I am quite strong but I don't think the word portable applies, lol. But you could always use it as a cheap alternative to gym weights.

solventsoon

valk_scot wrote: »

Who wants a cheap tacky plastic machine that struggles to sew two layers of polycotton together and can't hold its tension when you could have this vintage gem for a fifth of the price?

ETA: In the interests of full disclosure it does have one major disadvantage. It weighs twenty kilos with the case, eek! I am quite strong but I don't think the word portable applies, lol. But you could always use it as a cheap alternative to gym weights.

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm using a Bernina I bought in 1977 and there is no way that I would replace it with a new plastic machine. It will sew absolutely anything, doesn't care if I leave it idle for up to a year at a time and has never let me down, I love it.

It weighs somewhere around 15 kilos so ain't exactly portable either:rotfl:

To the OP, there are a lot of places in the London area which repair sewing machines, they may also sell reconditioned older machines. It might be worth trying them?

Good luck. If you get the right machine sewing can be a joy, the wrong machine can make it into a complete chore.....

angeltreats

I totally agree with all of the above!

I have two machines. One I inherited from my friend's mum and it came with its two-roundy-pin plug attached. It's a 1961 Bernina that weighs a ton, because it's made with all quality metal parts. It will sew through ANYTHING and is a joy to use (I swear the thing purrs). It does adjustable forward and backward straight and zig zag stitches and 90% of the time that's all you need anyway.

The other is a Viking from the 1980s that does fancier stuff - a bit more modern but still an extremely heavy machine, also with metal parts. I use it for things like blind hems and quick buttonholes, and it's a fantastic machine, but I prefer the Bernina.

The first machine I had was a modern Toyota. It was a nasty plastic piece of junk that I sold on quite quickly. I've also used quite a few modern machines in classes etc and with the exception of the Bernina 1008 (which is about £650!) they have all felt very flimsy and didn't like sewing through multiple layers of denim etc.

You would be far, far better off buying an old, used machine from a charity shop or car boot and spending a few pounds on getting it serviced.

thriftwizard

Yet another voice recommending older machines, with one difference - it's my business! Ad I can tell you that valk-scot has indeed got herself a magnificent bargain; Singer 201s are superb machines, as are old Berninas, Elnas, Frister-Rossmans, Pfaffs & Husqvarnas if you come across any of these. More or less any of the old black & gold machines will do you proud & still be stitching well in 100 years; the only ones to steer clear of are most of the ones with T-shaped plates under the needle (technically, transverse shuttle machines) and that's only because they stopped making needles to fit these about 25 years ago and there aren't many left now. Bobbins for long-bobbin machines can be an issue too, though Singer & Jones bobbins aren't hard to come by. That said, they mostly work perfectly well in each other's bobbin cases, but where they don't is in the bobbin winders.

Modern machines are designed to "die' in 5 years so that you'll have to buy another; if parts fail, they will NOT be replaceable, and that's quite deliberate. You have to spend quite a lot more (£650 for the Bernie 1008 is spot on) to get one that will be fuss-free & repairable for the foreseeable future. The Janome on Gumtree may be a fine machine, but some of its useful lifespan is behind it now.

I do have a 1008, but I also have & use regularly a Bernina 707 from 1977 (has an excellent narrow hemmer that the 1008 doesn't) a Jones 565 on a treadle (which I'm technically trying to sell for space reasons, but I don't think it will, and I'll be very glad if it doesn't!) and a Jones Medium from 1909 which does 90% of all our stitching, and there are 3 of us sewing regularly in this household, 2 currently making items for sale at craft fairs & online, and one training to make dance costumes! So that should reassure you that there's nothing second-best about second-hand machines. They're also much simpler to take care of yourself; I only get mine serviced elsewhere when there are electrics involved.

One word of warning - don't buy one from an antique dealer! Not only will you pay top whack, they only buy in the really shiny ones, which often haven't been used much & don't work nearly as well as ones that are slightly battered. You want one where the front decals (decorations) are a bit worn and there are oil stains on the arm & pillar (these clean off easily with a bit of plain green Swarfega) which shows that the machine has been well-used & cared-for. From a dealer's point of view it's not worth nearly as much, but from a stitcher's point of view, it's better!

Anyway, good luck with your hunt - let us know what you find & how you get on with it!

learningtosew

Thank you all so much for all the input and ideas. I'm kicking myself now, as about 5 years ago I gave away my late mum's old machine. I couldn't get it to sew smoothly but with the research I've done in the last week it probably just needed a service and i think it was the tension in the bobbin that was causing the problems. I'm heading out to the local charity shops tomorrow so I'll keep an eye out for any of the machines you've named, as well as any nice bargain fabrics!