[Closed] any wives keen sewers, need sewing machine advice

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/very-very-ot-stitchingtrackworldrecommend-me-a-sewing-machine-for-daughter

Do you have a budget? What do you mean by fancy stitching - free machining, over locking? Part of the faculty I run is a fashion department and although I know very little I do have lots of staff that do! The main issue seems to be that cheap machines commonly bought in argos etc have mainly nylon internal mechanisms with an intended use of 12 working hours and are impossible to service. When I bought a cheap(ish) machine for home I was advised by the suppliers we have a good relationship with to buy a Silver Viscount 502. It's not very fancy and a bit noisy but very robust & industrially made.

I'd recommend contacting the guys who supply us - it's not a fancy place but it is where most sewing machine shops in the south send customer's machines for servicing.

[url= http://www.sueco.co.uk/ ]sueco[/url]

any wives keen sewers

What about any women who read STW themselves? Or men who are keen sewers?

I have a Janome which I got for my 18th (25 years ago) although it does not get daily use it has been used to make curtains, pouffes, cushions, pillow cases, make duvet covers smaller and to take up trousers for the short of leg MrPP. This is also the make they use in the Great British Sewing Bee. Have you got a local sewing shop you can go into to ask their advice?

Second hand frister+rossmann cub7.

Portable and very very able.

As above go into a local sewing shop and ask.
John Lewis sell sewing machines.
Nowadays they seem to be all singing all dancing and you have to decide are you going to use all of these attachments.
Go for mid range.

Or possibly look at a good second hand one.

I have a sewing machine. The only person who has used it is my husband 😆

Oy! It's not just women who sew - I "may" be a devil for the sewing - and it doesn't in any way impinge on my masculinity! *takes thimble off finger, puts back in special sewing bag*

I've got an Elna 340 and it's bulletproof - they use the same model in my local sewing club. Typically they cost £230-ish. It does all the standard stitches, some fancy ones and it has a really nice overcasting foot included (and it will do a buttonhole in one go)...

That might be too much money, but depending on how into it your wife is, a cheap machine may be a false economy, as they don't last and can't always be serviced.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Elna are owned by Janome, so the feet are interchangeable if she wants to get a nice zip foot etc.

Mrs IRC says a Janome.

http://www.johnlewis.com/store/janome-dc3050-sewing-machine/p231340611?navAction=jump&_requestid=8826345

Depends on budget etc of course.

Mrs BP has a Brother MS-6NT and absolutely swears by it. Does the fancy stitches, even I've had a go and produced good results, while being affordable.

Has a 15 year (!) warranty.

firstly let me apologise for the blatant sexist thread i posted, i appreciate there are men who sew (G.B Sewing bee proves that) and ladies read this forum - i beg your pardon..

ok, after 3hrs productive surfing at work, budget is £450, needs to be bombproof as her current aging brother has provided sterling service. Anyone used PFAFF machines, good reviews for many of the models.

thanks convert for the link, i'll ring them tomorrow. I cant ask the wife what bells and whistles she needs as it would give the game away, she's tried a more modern machine with the various stitches and other gadgets and was impressed. she uses her current machine regularly as she makes her own clothes and clothes for the kiddies so whatever i go for wont be gathering dust and me wishing i'd spend the money on a set of king R45's

cheers all

Mts_oab has a rather splendid Husqvarna, that was a brand recommended by a few people as being robust and easy to use.
It was £180 odd, half price online.

If it was me and I had £450 to spend I'd spend £200 ish on a machine and the rest on an overlocker.

As I said on the other thread (ho ho) I use a Brother, it's v easy to use, has all the basic stuff you need, adjustable speed, raising and lowering the needle and a bunch of fancy stitch patterns (mostly never used)

If I had £450, I'd split between sewer and overlocker

Got one last week for the Mrs, for £120 it was between the Toyota Super Jeans and Janome 2200XT, The Toyota is capable of sewing heavier material, the Janome has more features, got a beter deal on the Toyota so when for that.