If you can send your pfaff home with her I think that would be wonderful, the 7500 series are work horses. You don't see all of the stitches until you open the lid to change thread and don't have to use them until you are comfortable. I have several machines that do all kinds of things and have never used 90% of those stitches. Personally what I think would be more discouraging to her would be to get a cheaper machine that is much harder to use for the basics or has issues and is frustrating.

I have a White's Jean machine and love it. In fact I had it serviced with the idea of giving it to my GD who is showing an interest in sewing. It is a work horse and would be perfect for a beginner.

My friend has a new Brother that her DH bought for her at Walmart several years ago. when she needs something sewn she calls me and I use her machine. It is really a nice machine. Easy to thread and sews nice and quiet. don't know why she won't try to do any sewing with it. I have a lot of Singers, 1 Brother, 1 German made Dressmaker, a Sphinx, FW, 301, 1 Futura, and I forget all the others. Need to get my place set up so I can use them when I want. Forgot to add I have a Brother commercial that sews many thousand stitches a min. also a Juki serger, Singer serger and have tables for the Brother and the Juki. so need lots of room to set them up.

If you can spare the machine, I'd let her take it. Kids ( and I consider 27 a kid!) are pretty technology savvy, so I'll bet she'll master that machine before you know it, and will be hooked. It will be great for her to learn on a good machine, so she can see if she wants to spend more money for that kind of machine when she chooses her own.

I just upgraded to a Singer Confidence Quilter, and taught my 29 year old DD how to sew on it. It was easy for her to use, and she enjoyed using it. I paid less than $250 (New in box) with free shipping via Ebay. Oh, and I love the machine, too!

I would go to Wal-mart and buy one of their Brother sewing machines. They are pretty dependable, as I have owned three with only taking one to the shop in 30 years. Be sure to teach her how to keep it clean under the feed dogs.

I agree with MacThayer and MaggieMae. Let her be a part of choosing the machine after finding what she actually wants to do with it. Make it simple so she doesn't get discouraged. And encourage her to go online and utilize all the good YouTube videos on a plethora of different subjects, all about sewing/quilting/embroidery etc.

The runway machine by Brother is an excellent choice for a beginner and is relatively inexpensive. If you buy it from a dealer you get warranty support and service. Also lessons on how to use it.

Since this is a "learn to sew" situation, I would look for a nice used machine at a dealer.

Hi Polly13 When my daughter wanted to make a quilt for her 1st child I was quite excited, she never had an interst in sewing not to mention quilting she would say "I do not understand why you make quilts what do you do with them?" Now she knows. she made her firs quilt and her little girl sleeps under "The blanket of love" every night. NOw to get to your question I let her take my singer touch and sew that I have had from age of 17 years old. And then a couple years later I picked her up a Singer quilting machine that she love.