My son and daughter in law want a basic sewing machine for Christmas, mostly to do mending but if they like it I think they may do more with it. What are your suggestions for a good, not too expensive, not alot of whistles and bells, dependable machine. I have and love my Bernina and am not going that pricey. I've looked at a lot of Brothers, the price range is huge and I have no idea which is better than another and why. I was also thinking of a Janome. Ant suggestions would be very helpful, I don't know where to start and this board has a wealth of sewing machine experience. Thanks in advance.

Have you thought about a used Bernina???

A good basic Janome.... good workhorse!!

Joann's has a sale on Singers, would make a good start machine

Go to a reputable dealer and tell them what you want or need. They will be able to give you some great suggestions. I have Vikings and love them, find them very user friendly. There are many price ranges so you really need to think about what they might want or need. Just make sure you don't get one with plastic parts, they don't hold up very well. All the machines sold at WalMart, etc. have plastic internal parts and are made to be "throw-aways". This was told to me by a friend who works for WalMart and spoke to a company representative of the machines.

IMHO I wouldn't buy a Singer from Joanne's due to lack of support. Janomes are generally workhorses. Also there are some Brothers that seem to be liked such as the CS6000i.

I would also consider checking older used machines that can be found at yard sales and resale shops. The older Singers are much more reliable than the newer ones.

Lots of good suggestions here. All the major manufacturers have basic "starter" machines that are all mechanical and not computerized, so that keeps the price down. And, for what they will probably use it for, one of the Brother models (is it Project Runway??) available at Walmart really isn't a bad choice for this purpose. Not expensive, and it doesn't seem like it will get heavy use from what you said. If it turns out either of them like to sew, then you can think about a higher-end machine in the future. But, if they don't, then it's not a lot of money tied up in a machine they don't use.

a Brother

Wow, hadn't thought of that - no support! Thanks for the info, my machine was a gift.

I think a used Bernina is an excellent idea. Also we really like the new Bernette line. The 12 15 20 and 25 check those out!
The 46 is a good little machine too!