[ :?: b]As a newby to this wonderful hobby, I am currently using my mom's White sewing machine. It is ancient but I learned to sew on this machine as a child and am quite familiar with and is an old friend. But, it has its drawbacks (tension requires constant supervision and it balks and groans at anything too thick) I am seriously thinking of getting a new machine. I want one that is well made (no plastic parts if possible), simple to operate----it doesn't have to have lots of fancy gadgets and attachments. But, it does have to be dependable so I can think more about sewing and less about getting the machine to work correctly. I think I'll buy something new and have been cruising E Bay but don't know if that's the best place to purchase such an important item. What kind of sewing machine would you suggest[/b]?

THANKS!

Hi Joan, I have a Singer Futura sewing/embroidery machine. I only used it for embroidery untill my other Singer went to the shop for a week. So I pieced some of my blocks on the Futura while I was waiting. I absolutely love it . It has needle up/down option and with my other I had trouble feeding strips in when chain piecing, not the emb. mach. it just took them so smoothly I could hardly make myself quit! It does have a lot of fancy stitches that I may never use but some times it's fun to use some of them for some top stitching.
Then a friend recently cohersed me into buying a basic White. Nothing fancy but seems to be a good machine and for 75.00 not a big investment if we're wrong about it.

Joan, A lot of the newer machines are made with plastic parts. The old reliabels for having the majority of metal and durability are both
Singer and Bernina as far as I know. I still have my Bernina I purchased 30 years ago and it has been a work horse. My mother has her Singer still. Check out either of their sites. You can also check out www.sewingmachines.com and get an overview of machines and which will best fit your needs. Good luck, a good machine is a quilters next best friend. :D

Joan, I have a New Home/Janome, bought online from a dealer in MS., have been very satisfied with it. :lol:

my machines are all old, Kenmore and singer. Mine all from thrift stores and garage sales. All were under 10 dollars. You could buy a couple of these, and send your sick friend in to be overhauled or tuned up.
:D :D :D :D :D :D

[b Joan:

I have a Pfaff machine not the most expensive but expensive enough and I just love it they are well made and are very sturdy. I think you should
go and at least have a demo on one. You will not be sorry.

ef

I bought my Bernina in 1975 for $555.45, which seemed like a fortune at the time. I regularly clean and oil it. I also have had it professional adjusted about 3 or 4 times. It's absolutely the best machine I could ask for. I highly recommend a Bernina, and since they are so dependable, if you can find a used one, treat it like gold. The biggest secret is to clean and oil it REGULARLY. And once you are familiar with your own machine, why switch? I think you will find that we all love our own machines and recommend them. Shop around enough that you know what you want. S.

I bought my Pfaff Creative 1471 last year from E-Bay and it came with a warranty and was reconditioned when I bought it. Have had NO problems with it.
I am a new quilter and besides that never learned to sew. THe Pfaff was very easy to learn to use. I looked for four things in a machine for quilting after doing much research. 1. the ability to drop the feed dogs for free motion quilting, 2. can sew thick or heavy fabrics easily 3. the needle down feature. 4. an even feed or walking foot.
The 1471 comes with 99 built in stitches which I have used in machine quilting. You can also program your own. I took it to a quilting class and the teacher looked over, saw it and said: Good choice, that one's a work horse.

hope this helps :)

Marybeth

My mom started out with a brother about 27 years ago...got a new brother about 3? years ago.
I Have about a 5 year old brother and a new Brother SE270D (sews and embroiders).

So, we love brother and our brother's brother!
i've never owned a singer, but I've heard great things about them, too.

I'm not familiar with the other brands.

I wanted a machine that was easy to take in for repairs etc. So I bought a Husqvarna Viking Sapphire. It was 1200 dollars but worth it. It has a 10inch arm so it is soooo much easier to squeese a quilt thru. It has all the bells and whistles I need for quilting except a stictch regulator. You can buy a fabric mover with a stictch reg. but it is an expensive extra.
Anyway I got it at Joanns. So its easy to take it in for anything I need done and for any extra attachments I might want.