My granddaughters both learned to sew on brother machines. The youngest was 4 when she made her first quilt. I love the brothers because they have speed control on them. I was able to slow them way down then even if they were heavy footed the machine didn't get away from them. I set them up on a little CARE bear table with little chairs so their work space as just their size.

Thanks, Stitchnripper. That helped.

Fredda

Glad to know. I really like the low end Brothers. I think they are very easy to use and not fussy about thread. I also think kids nowadays would want something new and modern. I have a lot of vintage machines but my granddaughter isn't interested in them - thinks they look "old fashioned". Maybe one day she will appreciate them.

That's what I was thinking. I learned to sew on an old Singer Genie 353 (from the early 70's) and it was/is great. Only does straight, zigzag & darning stitch, but it does them really well, and Singer parts are relatively cheap and easily attainable. It had been sitting in my mother's closet pretty much since the day she bought it so it needed a tune-up, but after that I was good to go ... pillows, clothes, home dec, quilting ... it pretty much does everything. I even sewed a custom vinyl shower curtain on it & turned jeans into jean shorts. It's hard to even find such a versatile machine like that these days unless you're willing to spend quite a fortune.

I would room end an older mechanical machine, maybe a Singer from the 40s or 50s. I couple of years ago I sold one of my hand crank Singer 66s to a 9 year old who has used it for the last 2 years quite happily. She has made quilts, stuffed animals, and even a skirt. The hand crank is easy to control and incredibly easy to operate. It just purrs and sews beautifully. So many of the inexpensive machines are easy to throw out of time and impossible to repair.