margecam52

Worst gadget? has to be thimble...I just can't use one...been hand sewing for 30 years or more...can't use a thimble...I'd rather poke my fingers!

I bought two machines at Walmart...Singer 2662 (was on the sale table at Christmas...marked that the feed dogs didn't go up... one turn of the hand wheel backwards...up they came..great basic machine). I also bought a Brother SE270D embroidery/sewing machine...and I love that little machine! I did have a problem with timing on it...third time to dealer...I finally figured out my error...read the manual...I was embroidering with 50 wt thread in the bobbin...instructions said to use only 60 or 90 wt...ooops! Not one problem since.

On the Singer...had the original buyer read the instructions...she/he would have seen where it said to bring the feed dogs back up, you had to not only flip the lever, you had to turn the hand wheel 1/2 a turn backwards, then forwards...I found that out when I first got it home (my machine was packed for a move)...and I was trying to set the needle in an exact spot on the fabric..turned the hand wheel backwards to bring the needle back up to move the fabric...when I went to set the needle again...the feed dogs popped up...best 45.00 I ever spent on a new machine!

I learned a lesson with that one..and the Brother I got a few months later...read the instruction manual before using the first time!

I now have a Singer Futura CE150 & love it. I use it mainly for embroidery...and my Little Brother Disney machine...it's my favorite for sewing...self threading (really...you pop in the cartridge & it threads the needle!), and cuts the thread at the end of the stitching (just press a button). When embroidering...it cuts the thread at the end of each color run...Nice because the cut threads are all pulled to the underside...do fuzzies on the top.