suggestions for new low cost sewing machine, please
 

I'm in my first year as a guild member. I'm joining a "small group". Our primary purpose will be community service quilting.

I need to buy an inexpensive ($200. or less) sewing machine to take to meetings. It needs to be light weight. (I'm a vintage sewing machine person.) I tried taking my vintage Singer 301, but it's too heavy. Besides being too heavy, it's my favorite machine and I don't want to pack and unpack it regularly.

I"m sure that what I will mostly be doing is making blocks. I would require that I can purchase a bed extention table.

Any suggestions?

bkay

A Brother from Walmart will fit your needs. The better one may be over $200 but would probably have the ext table included.

Put the word out in your guild, see if anyone has a machine they've been thinking about selling. Also check with your local dealers/sewing machine techs. Lots of very good, previously loved machines out there to be had for a very decent price. I bought my beloved Brother 1500, close to brand new, from a guild member for less than the listed retail price.

The low end Brothers are not bad machines. Because of the plastic parts they won't hold up well for heavy sewing or projects, but they pretty much all have assisted threading, easy to follow threading paths, quite a few stitches, and feet or other accessories are easy to find. Make sure that you have enough variation for stitch length.

The nice thing about the Brothers is you can just run down to Walmart and get going in minutes!

With basically the same set of criteria, I went with a mechanical (non computerized) Eversewn Sparrow. 15. I've been pretty happy with it so far, but it does seem noisy in comparison to the other machines at my sewing group, and if I was sewing on it more often, I'd want a faster machine.
https://www.amazon.com/Eversewn-Spar.../dp/B01FEHUB2U
I wanted a lightweight mechanical machine, the Charllotte model is also within your price range and offers a bit mor3.
https://www.amazon.com/EverSewn-Char.../dp/B01GSNNZ72

Check for estate sales in your area. You can google it and find out what will be either auctioned or out-right sold. I have seen some great deals on machines that way. Also, if your church has a bulletin paper it would be a good place to put an ad for what you are looking for. Any place where seniors meet, or tell the people at the secondhand store you are in the market if any come in. I once saw a man come in to pick up a almost new Juki for a fraction of the normal cost.
I think my point is, don't limit your looking to normal sewing guilds or stores.

I second a Brother from Walmart. If you are needing it soon, it is too hit or miss to wait for an estate sale to produce something that is in full working order in your price range. I have gotten machines that way, but, wouldn't depend on it for an immediate or near immediate need.

Our guild had a well known quilter do a class for us. One asked her what machine she used at home. She said I shouldn't tell this but I use a Brother off Walmart shelf. She said her high end Bernina quilt sewing one evening and she had a deadline to finish sewing a quilt. She said she went to Walmart and bought a Brother machine to finish the quilt top. She said she liked it so much the Bernina is sitting in a closet.
Another teacher told us she buys an on the shelf machine, uses it until it breaks and then buys another one. She said they last for several years and she isn't out thousands of dollars or the need to have the machine repaired for hundreds

I found a nice Janome at a dealer that had been traded in. 3060 has a table that comes with it. It's lightweight so its perfect for travel to classes.

Just like Ice, I was thinking Eversewn
I have one and I really like it. I had the Sparrow then upgraded to the QE

You may or may not be able to get an extension table with the 15 though, unless you get a custom one from somewhere like SewSteady.
And, if you have time to shop around, (and wait for shipping), there are other online places that sell the Eversewn 15 for less than Amazon does, and you can still get free shipping.

Of course, buying online you don't get the advantages (if any) that you may get from a local dealer (unless you're talking walmart or joann)


I have bought machines over the years from both of these (as well as Amazon), and been happy with the customer service:

Eversewn 15 price right now at both of these is $149.99 (At Amazon it is 169.98)

https://www.kenssewingcenter.com/eve...g-machine.html

https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/s...field=eversewn


The Charlotte sure is cute.....
:)

If you have a Costco membership check out their online service - they used to have a Brother quilting machine that came with the extension table. My sister had one and it lasted for years - at least over 10 that I know of. I was going to buy one but ended up getting a Featherweight instead. Found really good deals on ShopGoodwill.com and Ebay.

be sure amd check weight... 301's only weigh 16 pounds and if that's heavy for you ...the brother I bought for our RV is 24 pounds.
maybe hunt for a Janome Hello Kitty. They don't sew fast but they sew well. 12 poun d 3/4 size model like the featherweight. and cute :) my cousin takes hers to sewing group every week.

I have a Brother CS3000i that works for me. I bought it in 2012 because it included the slide on table. Amazon has the new iteration, CS7000X for $239.00 for the machine with the table. It weighs 14 pounds. I bought a basic carry case for mine and the slide on table fits in nicely behind the machine.

Thanks Quilting Candy. I think I might just look for a featherweight.
bkay

Talk to a dealer. You may be able to get a refurbished machine and get more for your money.

I take my Singer 99K to the open sew days at my LQS. It travels easy and it's not too heavy for me, definitely lighter than my Singer 15-91. I got my Singer 99K for $30 off goodwill.com auction.

Of course, buying online you don't get the advantages (if any) that you may get from a local dealer (unless you're talking walmart or joannes


I will not by sewing machines at Joanne's. Bought one about a year ago (Singer, low end), and it did not work at all. Returned it and Joanne's told me they don't take returns. and the factory didn't want them back. Joanne's finally relented - sort of- and said they could accept the return if I paid a $15 restocking fee. That was it for me.

my suggestion was going to be the 301.... hmmmm

I love my 301. It's currently my most used machine. However, by the time you put the machine in a tote, add scissors, snips and ll the other "stuff" you will need to sew away from home, it's heavy, Then you have your project, maybe a cutting board, etc., it's almost like moving.

If you take your regular machine. then you have to install it in the cabinet when you get home, along with putting away all the stuff you just packed up this morning. (I may be talking myself out of participating in this endeavor.)

The bright side is that I have not been on the Goodwill auction site in years and I'd love to have a Featherweight. (My old user name worked, but had to change my password.)

bkay

I don't know of ANY dealer that will take machines back. Some will trade them in for a different machine. If you don't want to buy from a dealer, Costco might be a better choice, because their return policy is fairly generous.

Someone mentioned the Brother with extension table from Walmart?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brother-S...0&from=/search

Great suggestion and a good machine. I love my Brother machines :)

Do you have a good facebook marketplace in your area? I have seen some pretty good deals on sewing machines but I'm in a heavily populated area and the FB marketplace in my area is pretty active.

I bought 2 of my FW at estate sales. I only paid $50 for the white one. It wasn't working, but all it needed was some oil and it worked like a charm. I also got a black one at another sale for $75. If you check estatesales.net you can find sales in your area and set up alerts so they send you an email when those things come up.

i had the older version several years ago as my travel machine. i was really surprised by how good it was. with a walking foot, i even managed to attach a binding and quilt a twin-size quilt. the only feature missing (for me) is a thread cutter (scissors button.)

the cpx100 also a good option.

i saw a [refurbished] Singer C7250 which does have a thread cutter, but it's more than $100 over your stated budget.