first simple sewing machine, which one?

cornishchick

Ok, I am looking for my first simple sewing machine, want to try my hand at sewing crafts, so must be more than one of those hand held jobbies.
Under £100 but able to do more clever things if I can master the basics, looked at loads and some 2nd hand ones. But decided if I am going to go for, I may as well go good style. :rotfl:
any advice welcome.

ragz_2

I got the tesco one, fine for my needs but doesn't do fancy stuff like embroidery.

savetosave

Here's the sewlution to all of your stitching needs: this Hobbycraft Multi Stitch Sewing Machine is packed with features such as double threading, double speed and automatic thread rewind. It also comes with its very own foot pedal and adaptor.

Best of all is the built-in Stitch Selector - just turn the dial to select one of eight pre-set stitching patterns. Perfect pillowcases, quality quilts and glamorous garments are all just a twist-and-click away, with this marvelous machine.

Dimensions: W = 27cm, H = 26cm, D = 12cm
Forward and reverse sewing
Eight built in Stitching Patterns
Automatic thread rewind
Built in foot pedal and adaptor
Hobbycraft

What about this one on the hobby craft website, for £22

Dozey_crow

I don't have any answers I'm afraid but I am very interested in the answers you get. I am looking for a reasonably priced machine with the same idea; a goods basic one to start with but also one which doors more when I get more confident.

I am relatively new to craft and I tried hand sewing last year but it took ages, wasn't brilliant, my fingers resembled pin cushions and so did my DH's feet from all the pins and needles I dropped on the floor (I wear slippers :rotfl:). So my DH bless his kind, amazing heart has said that he would like to buy me one:).

So any recommendations would be most welcome for me too. Immediate projects include a peg bag, making some fabric hearts and a draft excluder. But longer term I wasn't too make clothes
curtains and pretty bags.

rosie-lee

I am sure someone more knowledgable than me will come along but my sister in law was told to look at the Ikea sewing machines for her teenager daughter who wanted to start sewing clothes & crafts..

It was recommended by the lady in a craft shop who was running beginner lessons, so she wasn't actually selling them, just suggesting them. at around £49, Might be worth a quick google. Failing than Singer still tend to do good entry level machines.

cornishchick

savetosave wrote: »

Here's the sewlution to all of your stitching needs: this Hobbycraft Multi Stitch Sewing Machine is packed with features such as double threading, double speed and automatic thread rewind. It also comes with its very own foot pedal and adaptor.

Best of all is the built-in Stitch Selector -

What about this one on the hobby craft website, for £22

Sounds perfect, only not in stock in any of the stores near me..

Biscuit_Lover_2

I'm in the same boat, wanting to get my first sewing machine. I did wonder about the Ikea one, it's a good price. John Lewis have some good inexpensive ones, I think the cheapest is £35. For me, I'm hoping to try my hand at quilting, so would need a machine that could handle 2 layers of fabric plus the wadding in between. Not sure if all machines will do that.

miffy257

Those cheap machines are not really any good if you want to do serious sewing, especially patchwork and quilting. It might be worth looking on e bay and getting a second hand one. Janome are great. Lidl often have a ' Silver' machine which is supposed to be quite good. You can get a Janome for £99 with a lot of features.
Happy Sewing.

kboss2010

Janome mini is a really good basic one but it only does variations on straight and zig zag stitch.

You won't get a cheap machine that does anything fancy for less than £100 (OH's mum is a quilter with many machines of various kinds and she advised me of this when I asked) but my mini Janome has been used to make handbags, ipad and iPod cases, cushion covers and even jewellery wraps.

You can't use them on thick fabrics like denim or leather though, the needles just aren't strong enough.

suzybloo

I recently bought the janome one from dunelm for £99, and i am more than delighted with it, does various stitches and has various types of feet with it for zips edging. As for it being suitable for quilting I have done a jelly roll quilt with it no bother. It is basic but easy to use, it's got weight with it so its not jumping about the table, all in all I would give it full marks for a basic starter machine :-)

helen_jelly

Hi
I've got the Lidl sewing machine, cost about £70 [cant really remember] its a great machine, got lots of stitches but easy to use and I use it for quilting - make them for home use and not to sell so its absolutely fine for me :]