Light weight travel machine
 

HI! My sewing machine is a Bernina 440 QE which I love. The problem is I have a craft room in the basement, and it's heavy to carry up and down the stairs on arthritic knees. I'd like to get a light weight machine for travel that I can leave in the trunk of my car. I go to sewing days with friends and weekend retreats frequently. I want something for piecing as I'd still do my quilting at home. I'm thinking a Bernette or a Featherweight, but have never owned or used either.

I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

A Featherweight is the ultimate piecing machine IMHO, but it doesn’t do anything but a straight stitch if you want to do other types of sewing. I took one for a number of years in my RV. It is a bit of a challenge to get perfectly matched seams between two machines, nut the FW has some aftermarket accessories that can help. I prefer the acrylic seam guide on mine. I don’t know if you would be happy with a Bernese after the 440. They just aren’t as solid a machine. The FW, though light, feels solid. Getting one a bit scratched up is much less expensive than a pristine one, but it sews just as well.

To say I love my FW is an understatement! It is great for those travel days where I go with my quilt guild or to sew with friends or family. My Janome just went down until I can get it in the shop for repair so I pulled out one of my FW's and have been piecing a lot ever since and I love it. I can get a nice 1/4" so easy and it is as smooth as velvet. If you have the choice that is what I would do. I also have a light weight Brothers machine that I take with me from time to time but the FW still reigns supreme.

I have a FW but it lacks any features. So if bare bones is what you like it will be great. Any new little portable machine will be find for classes and sew days. I have an older Janome Jem and it's great. I wouldn't pay a lot for one because it may get dropped or jolted about.

I have a Janome Gem Gold with an acrylic extension table that I use for classes. I like it very much with one exception: I have to change the needle position to get an accurate 1/4" seam. But it's light weight, reliable and easy to use. And, with the acrylic table, it looks good!

Will you be leaving the machine in your car between classes?

Will it tolerate temperature extremes? (Assuming you stay in Michigan all year?)

Featherweights are great. I have two. But it took me a long time to find them at a reasonable price.

I have some low end Brothers with some nice features that I take with me. Never had an issue.

I have a janome gem it is light weight alot lighter than a fw

I had a Gem Gold and I really did like taking it to classes where I did not need the fancy stuff....I had a little fabric carrying case for it and it was easy to fit my accessories in it too if I took just what I needed. I could carry everything in one load...unfortunately, I gave it to my nephew. So, I bought a Bernina 215 (red machine). That one is lighter than the 440 but heavier then the gem gold was. Also it has some computer boards in it although it is a simply machine. I would hesitate to leave any modern machine in the car in a Michigan winter...I live in Minnesota and my understanding is that you can damage screens in old weather and also you need to let the machine warm up for a couple of hours if left in a cold environment before using.

I also sew on a Bernina 440QE, which stays upstairs in my quilting room. I have several other machines, including a featherweight, but the one I use most when I want to sew downstairs or go to a class is a Singer 301. It's known as the big sister to the featherweight, weighs just a bit more but is larger and faster.

I really love my FW's They are so easy to care for and tote to class . I highly suggest if you get a FW get either the book or DVD those fantastic featherweights by David R. McCallum, I got both and really glad I did, if I do not "get it" reading the book I can see it on the DVD, so which ever way is best for you. The cost of both, are what I would have paid for one trip to the shop to get what ever done. I have fixed one or more of my machines with the book or DVD and saved my self some money. these machines were made so women could care for them self's. I am with out a doubt the least mechanical person ever, and even I can do any thing with my machine's now to fix them. So what ever you decide good luck and hope you get the machine that is best for you.

It's also Singer's first Slant-O-Matic machine. This alone makes it no big sister to a featherweight. The only thing they have in common is the bobbin and case. The 301 requires totally different feet and accessories than the FW. The 301 is a strong, gear driven machine. The FW drives with a little belt. I love my 301s. My featherweight... less so.

I too really like the Jem Gold for classes/travel. If you use the clearview 1/4" foot with that machine, you will find it covers the dogs well and you will get an easy, perfect 1/4" seam. The straight stitches are as arrow straight as those of the featherweight. That foot makes a world of difference and I have it for each of my Janomes. The Jem Gold is well-made inside and out and actually has a 1 amp motor. I liked mine so much I bought the HD 3000 for a bit more versatility and it is now my go-to machine. The FW is also great and I do have one of those too. I don't use it as much as the others. All are really great. I do also concur with the merits of the 301.. offers a little more room too and not much heavier than the FW. For just piecing, Brother offers some nice little machines with more stitch offerings than the Jem Gold and those are popular too for a couple hundred (could be more now).

Has anyone mentioned Eversewn? I don't have one but have heard good things about them.

I would go with the Featherweight over the Bernette. I have heard Eversewn also have good reputations, even on the low end.

.I have a Brother Simplicity that is very light weight and has needle up/down, speed control and plenty of stitch settings--and a very accurate 1/4" seam(a flanged foot) plus an extension table. Price was about 1/2 of the FW in my area at time I purchased.

I have the Eversewn 30. Great machine for the price. It sews as nice as my older Bernina and has more features.

My travel machine is my feather weight, hands down. When I go to retreats, not this year, I plan on piecing. I keep the quilting for my larger, heavier and better for quilting for home. Oh, I could straight line quilt with my FW, but I seldom do because of its small size, harp. I do have a smaller Viking that I used to haul around that would do everything, but as time passes and old bones, shoulders and knees speak louder to me, I leave even that one home and stick with the FW. I always get good accurate and consistent results with the FW. Why buy another machine? I use what I have at hand. Happy machine hunting, Dawn V!

I love my Featherweight for classes. I have 2 because I couldn’t resist buying the second one. She is Red, my favorite color and 1941 just like me! Her name is Ruby! My other one is black and her name is Aunt Gertie because she reminds me of watching my favorite sew. I have a small Janine that goes to class sometimes but not as often. My sewing room favorites are a Bernina and a Viking. I love sewing machines and hopefully will not buy any more.

I always take my FW when going to retreats, sewdays, or classes for a back up machine. It has saved the day for me and many others. Someone forgets the power cord, machine locks up, tension goes crazy, it's okay, I have the FW to the rescue.

I absolutely love my Featherweight. However, they are 60-100 year old machines, so when you buy one it's not guaranteed to run like new. It also requires regular oiling and maintenance, more than modern machines.

If you want a couple modern conveniences, consider the Janome 3160. It's not much heavier than the Jem, but has a larger throat, needle threader, thread cutter, needle up/down, and a couple other features. It also has a nice quiet motor. I'm also a fan of the Pfaff Passport, which includes IDT.

​​​​​​I recommend you try before you buy - you might discover that there are features you want, or things that bother you in a machine regardless of other people's recommendations.

I am going to go out on a limb here and ask if you've ever considered using a mini-machine.

I have one, it's a Uten uea001 and while it looks like a machine that you would give to your pre-teen, I can assure you, this little girl is an absolute workhorse. I bought her off of Amazon after my big girl (Dressmaker ss2402) went down on me and I needed something fast because I was working on a nine-patch quilt for my fiancé and I - it was coming up on fall and all of our comforters were so thread bare that one of them exploded in the washing machine.

She sews straight as an arrow and has a few other stitches, too and she's lightweight - like, I'm almost positive she weighs less than a full gallon of milk, she's that lightweight. On top of that, I'm able to carry her around using just my pinky finger and I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome, with tendon lock and arthritis. I was extremely surprised at how light she is, but she was able to handle a queen-sized nine patch quilt top without breaking a sweat.

My machine is no longer available on Amazon, but there are a lot of other mini-machines available (mine was originally listed at $160, but I was able to pick her up for $45) and the prices are pretty reasonable, even though there still seems to be a little bit of price gouging going on with the pandemic. If you're only going to use the new machine for straight stitching and taking her out and about, maybe consider going the mini-machine route? Whenever I'm able to travel back to Kansas City to visit with my family, my little girl is going with me, without a doubt.

I have a Janome Gem Platinum.that I love.

Whatever machine you decide on, I would not leave it in the trunk of my car. The jarring and bouncing isn't going to be good for it. If it's a smaller machine, you can easily take it in and out of the house.

I have a 99k that i leave at my friends house for sewing. before that. i had a plastic thing from Walmart. did straight and zig zag. it did what i needed and it was light. for travel, get something not to expensive. will someone try to steal it out of your car/trunk. and what abut temperature extremes.

I have 2 travel machines. One is a Featherweight, the other is a little Europro that I got from HSN many years ago. It was a whole $100.00. The FW is straight stitch only, so if I know I will need the zig zag I take the Eurpro. Living in So. Cal the car can get extremely warm so I never leave any of my machines in the car. It just wouldn't be good for any of it. But as Lynnie said if someone does steal the machine from your car, you don't want it to be too expensive to replace. I do keep them in a case that rolls so they are easier to transport to and from the car.

Another vote for the Janome Jem Platinum. Great little machine and very light.

I have a Singer 301 and it is my go-to machine for piecing. It only does straight stitches but it doesn't chew up the fabric at the beginning of a stitch line so I save time by not having to use a leader like I do on my larger machines. I can easily service the 301 and parts are still available for it online.

I have been using my brother sq9050 from walmart for 9 years now. I probably sew on it more than my dreamweaver. It has done dresses bags, quilts, been an absolute workhorse.

I love the FW. It's so cute! But, I do find it a bit unstable on the table while I'm sewing. It's just a little too lightweight for me, especially when trying to manage a large quilt. The FWs are also expensive, due to their popularity. For something with a little more heft, you might look at a 301 Singer, which is a full sized machine, but fairly light and portable. There's also another, older Singer that I have, which is my favorite. It's just a touch bigger than the featherweight, just comes only in black and is very portable. I'm sorry, I can't remember the model number. It's still dark here. When it gets light out, I'll pull it out, take a look and post here. Perhaps another vintage sewing machine enthusiast can fill in.

Lynnie...I think that's it...the 99K. I'll double check in an hour, or two.

tee hee....speaking of old vintage machines.....I think my old Viking D1, one of the earlier computerized machines, would almost qualify and also based on the size of the newer high end machines....I could almost consider my D1 a traveling machine....with a lot of features...sure has a nice straight stitch....however, my old singer 66 cast iron machine is probably the heaviest of all my sewing machines.....

Yes, it is the 99K. Here's a pic of one that sold on Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1636270...isting_details

I love this machine!

My large machines are Brothers, love them but for travel machines I prefer the lightweight Janomes. I have the Janome Platinum 760, a wonderful machine but it has been discontinued. and I also have the small Janome Jem Gold, sturdy, simple, great stitch quality. A friend has one similar to the Platinum, came out after platinum discontinued, I think JW is in the model name, can't remember for sure, she loves it.
But because of so many making masks the small less expensive machines have been hard to find, they are just now coming back on the market.

I have a Bernina, a vintage Viking - Husqvarna, and a Janome Jem Platinum. The Jem is by far my favorite. I love the needle up/down feature and the (albeit limited) speed control. And I think it only weighs something like 12 pounds. Very easy to carry around when I need to.

Some of the small computerized choices are surprisingly good little machines, and come with needle up/down, well controlled low speed operation, and nice threaders. All 3 of my regular machines are heavy. I might like one of these little guys to play with. Throw it in a tote and go, but with a few modern comforts.