Originally Posted by
Kathy Osterby
My question to all of you is this: what is a good machine when you have less than $500 to spend? My WM Brother gave out and dealer said it would continue to be a problem and not wothr fixing. Now I'm in a bind as to what I can afford-thousands strickly out of my price range.
Once you narrow your choices to a few machines or at least brands--check out craigslist or ebay. I've had great success with craigslist. I upgraded my Viking and sold my old but trusty Viking #1 for a few hundred dollars, which was a work horse-to a quilter who had had bad luck with a brother quilt machine. All she wanted was to quilt, sew around curves and do free motion which that vintage machine did easily. I checked with her 6 months later and she was delighted. I was in the market for a sewing machine for my daughter and granddaughter and found a Viking Freesia on Craigslist for $110! It retailed for almost 1000 and sewed like a dream. The owner was leaving the country and in a hurry to sell. You can usually try them out before purchasing as they are for sale locally. People who don't sew are selling them for relatives or in estate sales and price them low. Anyway that's my suggestion. Make sure you know what a fair price is before venturing out on your own. Ebay can give you an idea of what the going rate is. Good luck.