machine recomendations
 

hello, newbie here. I have been looking for the perfect sewing machine for a couple of years now and my most recent failure has been the brother cs6000i sounded as if the needle was hitting something underneath after only 20 minutes of regular sewing. So I am looking for recommendations for a sewing/quilting machine with"cruise control" variable speed setting for around $150.

Sorry to hear your machine is misbehaving. Unfortunately, like with cars and appliances, you often get what you pay for. I'd save up and buy a used Bernina. That's what I did, and have never regretted it. Good luck with your search!

I agree with Terry, buy a Bernina. It is the only machine made where it has always been made, Switzerland. All the others are farmed out to third world countries for manufacture.

I would go to a Viking, bernina or janome dealer and look at used machines. Often, if you buy from a dealer, they provide a limited warranty and some instruction.

look for the older kenmores. they are all metal and solid. they sew very well, you can get those with "fancy" stitches built in or one with cams. very quiet compared to my inexpensive brother. strong motor. Can often be found in thrift stores for around 40 dollars. My mothers was bought new in 1973 and is still sewing strong. You don't need a new computerized fancy machine to do great work. The older machines do great and since they are all metal and don't have a computer, they rarely truly "break".

Unfortunately, no longer. Only the top-of-the-line Berninas are still made in Switzerland. The others are farmed out to third world countries. If the Bernina does not have the "Made in Switzerland" logo on it, it wasn't.

Did you just purchase the Brother machine? If it didn't sew well after 20 minutes of sewing, return it or call Brother's help line. If it is new, as in just purchased, it might have been dropped somewhere along the route to the store, so definitely return it. Or it could be a lemon...it happens.

In fact, even if it is well used, call Brother's help line anyway. You have nothing to lose.

I have had 4 Brother machines of various price ranges and love them all.

One was an $89 machine that had 70 stitches and worked like a champ for 6 years - even though I rarely did anything like cleaning it! I let my niece and nephew sew on it, too. It went on a trip with me and was dropped when either packing or unpacking the car and suffered fatal injuries! That sewing machine had 3 speeds that you could set, but was still powered from the pedal.

I bought two Brother replacement machines: a Brother PE-350; I've had it for about 2 years and use it almost daily. Haven't used the embroidery part, though, but you never know. It too, works very well, especially considering I'm not particularly gentle with my sewing machines. What I really like about this machine is the push button thread cutter. What a blessing that is!

The other replacement machine is a very low end mechanical that sews very well, but doesn't do anything fancy and is completely un-computerized. I use it when I'm traveling, for obvious reasons.

The newest is a SQ 9185, that cost me less than $200. It's got a slightly larger throat, sews well, you can use a pedal or use a button to start and end sewing, which may be what you mean by 'cruise control'. i don't use it as much as the PE-350 because it doesn't have the push button thread cutter!

Whatever you buy, good luck and happy sewing.

This is true of most sewing machines of that era. I had a Montgomery Ward machine that sat in a closet for about 30 years, took it out, threaded it, put a bobbin in it and started sewing. it was a wonderful machine.

Unfortunately, I truly abused it and broke it but good. I didn't mean to abuse it - I did what i did out of ignorance. Lesson learned.

Be careful of thrift store buys unless they are very low dollar priced. Sometimes they simply don't work. Other times, all the machine needs is a good cleaning and a bit of oil. The thing is, you can't tell until you try to sew with it. If the machine costs almost nothing and you are somewhat handy, then spend the money. You can usually find manuals on line, so that's not usually a problem.

You'll probably be hard pressed to find a sturdy machine with those features in that price range. I would look for something more basic that sews really well. Consider some of the vintage machines. We got a model 99 in a cabinet for $35 and it sews like a dream. If you are only quilting it just needs to go forward and backward. A featherweight that may not look the best can sew perfectly and fit in your price range. So might a Singer 301.

I don't know of any quality sewing machine new with features that will be $150 or less. If there was one we would all have it.