Newer, basic machine? Post here or on the sewing side?
 

My great-niece, Natalea, soon to turn 10, wants a sewing machine for Christmas.

This does not leave time for me to find, purchase, refurbish, and ship any of the Grand Old Ladies I hope to give my her mom, my niece.

I tried explaining my love of the old mechanical machines, but I'm sure the 9-year-old would be dazzled by the colorful new machines.

We are not going to spend a fortune on a top of the line new machine, but I do want something solid for her to learn on, and sew with for several years. By then I'll have found the "perfect" vintage machine for her mother, and she can update the daughter's machine.

What new machine would you suggest? I want her to have straight, reverse, blind, and zig-zag stitches at the minimum.

I live in North Dakota; she is in Arkansas. There are two (?) sewing centers in Mtn. Home. I will be paying for her to have classes at one of them.

I read the thread "Recommendations for an 11-year-old." Wonderful ideas, but I need suggestions (sadly) for a new machine. She's too excited to wait.

10 is a nice age to get a real sewing machine. It might be light weight, but really doesn't have to be. I remember sewing on old Singers and at the time new Berninas by that age. The 50s and early 60s Japanese zigzaggers come in nice colors for a 10 year old girl, I have seen two tone pink, pale blue, mint green. Some of them are all metal and smooth stitchers. There are all kinds of horrid things easy to fall for, Hello Kitty from Janome, miniature zigzaggers on TV shopping channels. I can't think of anything perfect, I would still not rule out the chance of a vintage machine turning up. You just have to take on a bit of cleaning and oiling your self, a full service can come later on if needed. I haven't seen any very nice new machines in the lower price ranges. Maybe a Husqvarna E10 or E20, or a Janome of resonable quality, but to me it feels such a waste to buy something temporarily. Why not just get her something else and hope the sewing machine turns up sooner than later.

I do hope something does show up, but with her in Arkansas, and me in North Dakota, I don't see it happening.

I promise I will not be party to her receiving any "horrid things easy to fall for, Hello Kitty from Janome, miniature zigzaggers on TV shopping channels." Nope; it will be real.

I'm hoping when I call the center tomorrow they may be something vintage, "real," and priced to sell.

I really don't know, but a lot of people like the range of new brother sewing machines that are out there now, they have some very well priced machines and they get rave reviews, try searching for threads on brother machines and see what you come up with. I am happy she wants to sew, out of my three, none of them sew, but they could if more interested, as they learned a lot through the years watching me.lol

Maybe Miriam on this forum can be of help. She seems to have a good supply out of cleaned up machines ready for a new owners. I don't know if she is any where near you or your niece though. Don't forget to look in charity shops and second hand shops, maybe auctions, garage sales or flea markeds. It's surpising where they turn up.

Baby Lock has some nice machines.....you might find a dealer in her area if u want to buy new the lessons on how to use the machine should come with the purchase price.

Don't get me into trouble... Again... Besides I'm pretty much not selling machines for now. I have elderly parents to take care of.

You have enough time to search around and you might be surprised what turns up.

For my 10 year old grand daughter, Miss M, we set up one of the old Singer 99s with HC, a Singer 15 and a clone. Oops she turned 11. But anyway, she keeps going back to the Singer 99 with the hand crank. Then when Phil pieced a block for Rodney, he borrowed it, too. Now it sits handy for who ever wants to use it. Miss L (8) preferred the Singer 15 no HC. Big sister Miss G (14) uses an old electric clone. They all ogled the Cinderella, but after looking it over decided to use better machines. A side note. I thought Miss G would love a Singer 404 but she hated it with a passion. I thought she could learn on that then go into one with fancy stitches... There is no accounting for tastes each kid is going to be different. Me being frugal and lazy, I would try to find a clone. They are easy to use and maintain. There are some very cool old Japanese machines that aren't clones. who knows you might get lucky and find something pink. Most sewing - maybe 99% is straight stitch. For a while it will be all she can do to master that. In a few years she might like one of the Singer slant series machines. You can pick up touch and sew machines very cheap. Stick with one that has metal gears or has been refurbished if it has plastic. The most important thing with a t & s is to find a manual and to use the manual. The good thing about upgrading a vintage machine is you can likely get your money back out of it.

It sounds like you are having too do this at a distance, that can be tough to know her needs, wants and abilities. Keep it simple. My DGKs are around quite a bit so I have a pretty good idea what they like - even then I can be very wrong.

Wilbur likes the Singer 128 because it has a 'rocket' for a bobbin... He's into anything that flys. He will turn 6 this week. Walter gets his hands all over knobs, levers and buttons. If he were to choose it would be a Japanese machine with a dashboard, I'm sure of it. I caught him resetting half the machines on a shelf one day. Ggggrrrrr he will be four just after Thanksgiving. Emma is not allowed anywhere near anybody's sewing machine. She is an 18 mo old terrorist. The other DGKs aren't allowed to go near anything dangerous probably because mommy is afraid of sewing machines, too... Sigh.

The right machine can be what will motivate any young sewist boy or girl to sew. If you are comfortable with some machine or another the kid will be more likely to be comfortable. If you don't like/love vintage machines, go to Walmart and find something.

I believe Janome is supposed to have a newer model that has a very large plastic needle guard.... If you have to go plastic for speed, might as well aim for safety...

This is the time of year when the dealers will have some good low end machines coming in for the holiday season. Brother or Janome, those are the dealers in her area I would look for if you're going to go that route.

Janome makes the low end Babylocks now so I'd skip it. A similar Janome would be about $50 less.

Cari

As much as we love and advocate vintage machines your best bet would be a new one given the distances involved.
Shipping and not being able to show how to use it yourself are deal breakers on vintage machines. Do try to get her one from an actual sewing machine dealer instead of a big box store though. Maybe they have a good used machine in on trade? It can't hurt to ask. That way it will be easier to get any repair work or adjustments that may be needed in the future done.
Rodney

Funny, I thought I read somewhere yesterday that Brother was making Babylocks. Whoever it is, it's probably all the same people.
Another generation of badged machines. :D

Another thought: 4-H just started up again in October. It might be worthwhile for her mother to see if you niece can sign up with a 4-H sewing group in her area. She'll get some great sewing instruction at very minimal cost and the social environment will help keep her interested.
Rodney

http://www.sewinginsight.com/janome/...-18750-review/

I've never seen this machine before, just that cute smaller pink one. This one looks a lot like my Janome DC2010 (which is pretty similar to the Magnolia too). My 10 year old daughter prefers my DC2010 over any of my other machines.

Brother does make most of the Babylock machines. In the 50s and 60s Brother was the largest maker of badged machines. Now it's Janome, though Brother does still badge some.

Cari

Get her a new machine. She is a kid. She wont "appreciate" an old machine. We want to encourage her sewing...not dissapoint her by offering what she will percieve as "old" and used. There are plenty of lower priced machines in the marketplace. I would probably buy from Amazon and have them ship it to her house.free shipping..direct destination. She will thrilled! Plenty of time to upgrade in the future...when she is ready.

Sandy

I agree with Sandygirl! The best sewing machine will be the one she uses and I hear good things about Brother ( just about the only brand of machine I don't own!) and Babylocks do have lessons at most dealerships.

I tend to agree with the posters who suggest a new machine. Does she have anyone at all to help her set it up? The last mechanical Brother I got worked straight out of the box, really, and it has given me zero problems. If someone can set it up for her and show her the basics and remind her to put the presser foot down (the hardest thing for my granddaughter to remember) she should have very few problems. If she is going to take classes anyway, the machine shouldn't need to be "dealer specific" and could come from Amazon or a sewing place like Allbrands or Kens, directly to her. I think Amazon has the best return policies though but, not sure about that.

I vote for a low end Janome or Brother around $300. I've used both and enjoyed the ease, quality, variety of stitches and reliability of both. I love vintage machines but wouldn't bank on a 10 year old liking it. They like seeing fancy stitches.

Janome has a decent machine called the Magnolia that is touted as a great first machine. I have a Janome 2011 that would also be great for a beginner. I also had a Brother cs6000i that I used as a travel machine for a while. It was decent quality for an inexpensive plastic wonder. Too bad you couldn't find her a vintage machine that didn't need a lot of work!

A friend of mine wanted a small machine she could carry around to retreats and that really works well. She checked around and bought a Brother for under $100 that she said was excellent. I really don't know which machine it is but she said it had many decorative stitches and she was amazed at how well it sews. She is considered an expert quilter and she said this machine was light to carry and excellent to sew on.

Maybe the Babylock BL9, my dealer sells it for $99. Full size, solid machine.
Or the Brother cs6000i(computerized with a bed and many feet) I have seen many here on the QB recommend that machine. Less than $200 on Amazon.
I agree, maybe something new.