Sewing machine purchase

February 12, 2019 7:21 AM

PartnerSky wants a sewing machine to do very basic work. What should we buy?

We would like a small fairly no frills machine without spending a ton of money (used is fine). I grew up in a home doing some threading and machine repair so I'm comfortable with more cranky machines. I have no sewing skills. Spouce has minimal.

I just don't even know where to start looking. She wants to do some basic hems, clothing repair and maybe a button hole or two but that's it.

What machine should we look for? What price range?

posted by AlexiaSky to Shopping (22 answers total)

I would get one of those sturdy older models that are pretty much completely made with metal parts. A Singer or Pfaff or so. The generation that can do a zig-zag, but doesn't yet have the plastic gears that wear out and break down. They are often painted in two-tone paint and have lots of chrome. Some have wings and fins and look like an American car from the 1950s. That's my kind of sewing machines.

And then be prepared to pay for having it cleaned and serviced. That makes all the difference.

The best sewing machine I ever bought is a Pinnock Sew Queen from the '50s or '60s. It's all metal and built like a tank; it's easy to use and not at all finicky to work with. I paid all of €10 for that machine.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:42 AM on February 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Last year when I expressed a similar desire, my mom got me the SINGER Heavy Duty 4423 which is not that much more money than the basic beginner machine but works very well for my amateur sewing needs. I use it often for buttonholes and buttons but have also altered clothing and made tiny pouches and bags.
posted by kimberussell at 7:42 AM on February 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

In other words:
Pay up to $50 for the machine. Pay whatever they ask to have it serviced.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:43 AM on February 12, 2019

I am so happy with my Janome Sewist, there are a few different models like sewist 500, sewist 525, sewist 625 so you can pick your price point or find used.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:52 AM on February 12, 2019

Another vote for the Singer Heavy Duty 4423; you can typically find it for around $125 on Amazon. I have this and have gotten it serviced twice (once for a tune up, once for a fix for something that was 100% user error) and the technician was impressed by the quality of the machine based on how much it originally cost me.

I'm incredibly happy with it and I use it mostly for quilting, although I've sewn some doll clothes and a dress for my daughter on it.
posted by kellygrape at 7:53 AM on February 12, 2019

For a data point on makes and vintage: I have a mid/late 70s era Kenmore that has all metal gears internally and is built like a tank. I recall them going for lower prices than Singers but being comparably built.

So one more vote for an older used model in good conditon with service and cleaning: they feel a lot different (and better imo) than new stuff, and can be maintained indefinitely.

One thing to do might be to contact your local repair shop for leads.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:04 AM on February 12, 2019

Wirecutter's guide is pretty good.

I love my all-metal ancient Singer. I like my hand-me-down modern Kenmore. But if I'd had to trawl Craiglist, garage sales and the like, I'd never have ended up with either.

If you've got time to go to Goldblatt's in Wicker Park, you can pick up a decent used machine for a fair price (they won't be $50 but it will be a fair price and in solid working order). They're also very reliable for servicing.
posted by crush at 8:20 AM on February 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

Honestly, I started with an all-metal White machine, and yes, it was a tank and a workhorse, but it also suffered from issues with tension and was just cantankerous. It was my great-grandmother's, and it was kind of an albatross.

I donated it and bought a new Janome/New Home instead. Plastic, yes, but I can just pick it up (doesn't weigh 900 pounds) and sew something quickly without fussing about. The tradeoff was worth it to me. YMMV if you like fucking around with old machines.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:26 AM on February 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

If you go for an older used machine, which is not a bad idea, just make sure that it isn't a straight-stitch machine (i.e. make sure it can do a zigzag stitch) if you want to do things like buttonholes or sew stretch fabrics.
posted by trig at 8:27 AM on February 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I am so happy with my Janome Sewist, there are a few different models like sewist 500, sewist 525, sewist 625 so you can pick your price point or find used.

I also love my Janome Sewist. I have a 525, and it's great.

I generally agree with others that the older metal parts machines are great, but if you don't use them often and don't have a place to keep them out, the all metal machines can be a real bitch to get in and out of a cupboard. They're also increasingly expensive to service as labour rates go up for servicing any machine.

My feeling is that if you aren't scraping the bottom of the barrel price-wise, the new machines are actually pretty good. There's a period of terribleness starting in the 80s through the 2000s, but they've gotten better, more feature-rich and more reliable since then. This is a change in position for me over advice I've given in the past, but I now believe most casual hobbyists would be much happier with a relatively new (since 2010), not bottom of the barrel machine than with an older machine.

If you're going to put a machine through its paces -- sewing every week, sewing heavy materials, etc -- then the old metal machines might still be a better choice. But if you're going to hem some things periodically, you'll likely be way happier with a newer machine and have fewer problems with it.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:31 AM on February 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

Sewing purists may hate me but I got a $120 Brother machine at Target and used it to make baby clothes, curtains, a queen-sized quilt, and a million other small projects. There's nothing fancy or special about it but it's been working for 10+ years with no trouble, and it's light enough that it's easy to store & pull out to use.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:24 AM on February 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

I started with a Brother CS6000i and found it to be very practical and friendly.

I used it to sew clothing for 5 years with quilting cottons, super stretchy activewear fabric, heavier apparel knits--basically everything but special occasion fabrics. I also quilted and bound small lap-sized quilts. The buttonhole foot is very easy to use and the buttonholes are durable. I have not had any problems with it or even taken it for maintenance and only got a heavier machine to sew jeans.
posted by esoterrica at 10:00 AM on February 12, 2019

I got this $57 Refurbished Brother machine several years ago and it works like a champ. Got a second one to use at work and it has also been great - required no service so far. Very durable, not too heavy, and easy to move around and store.

If you get a lot of joy out of crafting, then a nicer machine might be worth it. If you don't, I would strongly recommend against paying more than $75 for a machine for basic repairs and alterations. Your local tailor has tons of thread and an industrial machine or machines - you can get a lot of tailoring done for the cost of some of these machines.


I have had bad experiences with old metal machines requiring lots of service, both professionally and personally. I sunk $250 trying to restore a beautiful vintage kenmore. Yes, great grandma sewed 100 quilts on it, yes it was strong enough to repair generations jeans for hard working ancestors, but by the time we inherited it the tension was crap, it skipped stitches, and the electrics were a shock hazard waiting to happen. Also it weighed enough to anchor a rowing skiff. We gave it away to a stranger.
posted by sol at 10:40 AM on February 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I still use the Brother I got for about $200 from Costco about 14 years ago. I also have a heavy duty vintage Singer in a table from the 70s that someone gave me about 12 years ago. I've had them each serviced once. As a kid, I learned on an old iron machine from the 20s or 30s.

The Brother is my regular machine because I can haul it out and put it away. I use the vintage machine when I need a bit more power. The bad thing about the vintage one is that the light stopped working and I haven't found a replacement bulb. I ran into a few issues with the Brother when I was quilting, because of the needle position.

I've had some frustrations in the past trying to use borrowed cheap machines, but again, my own cheapish machine has been fine. It's a bit like a car: it's nice to have a nice one, but a cheap one is going to get you from place to place as you need, until it doesn't anymore. Sometimes you get a deal and sometimes you get a lemon.

My recommendation is to ask around and see if someone you know and trust has a machine they are getting rid of, and buy it cheap off them. (I think a lot of people have machines in closets and garages that haven't seen much use.) Otherwise, just buy an inexpensive, but not bottom of the line one, at Costco, Joann, Target, etc. Personally I would look at the $150-$200 price point, as mentioned in the wirecutter review above.
posted by vunder at 11:15 AM on February 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Wirecutter's upgrade pick is currently for sale refurbished at woot for a steal.

I also stand by my earlier comment regarding my Brother machine from this thread with a similar question.
posted by slipthought at 1:31 PM on February 12, 2019

I have an Elna 2005 that I bought roughly 20 years ago.
Mrs. Plinth and I have used it for countless projects and it has held up extremely well. It is lightweight and simple and not particularly huge. You can find them used for $100 (plus whatever it costs to tune it up). A lot of the stitches are cute, but quite honestly most projects don't need much more than a straight stitch, a button hole function, and a zig zag stitch. If I have any complaint about it, it's that the fastest stitch speed isn't fast enough. To be fair, this is my complaint with just about any machine and it only is an issue after I've done a bunch of straight seams and am hitting the pedal like I'm gunning down the straight away in the Indy 500.

See also this older thread.
posted by plinth at 1:51 PM on February 12, 2019

I'm an avid sewist and have an older plastic Janome that I bought used from a sewing machine repair shop years ago. I love that machine. However, I also have an old metal Singer from the '60's that a friend gave to me when her mother was downsizing and even after having that thing serviced, it's a NIGHTMARE to sew with. My advice is to either go with the Wirecutter's pick or go to a repair shop and see if they have any refurbished machines for sale. The repair person will know how the machine sews and should be able to help steer you in the right direction.
posted by sarajane at 2:13 PM on February 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm looking into getting a used machine as well, and it's daunting. Some of the bits of advice I've picked up so far:
- Until the mid-sixties, machines were generally build to last. After that, less so.
- Avoid the Singer 285, it's cursed
- Newer plastic Singers are not held in high regard
- Pfaff and Janome seem to have always been great
- If you're going with something old, stick to big names (for parts availability) and check that it doesn't take wacky proprietary bobbins or needles or something
- A free arm makes hemming a heck of a lot easier
- Zig-zag is super useful. Other fancy stitches, not so much.
- Some of the super old straight-stitch-only machines have add-on accessories to do zig-zag. I don't know how useful/awkward these are.
posted by bethnull at 2:39 PM on February 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I once bought an ancient Bernina off eBay - one of the heavy iron ones referenced in previous answers. Yes, it was extremely heavy and yes it had bad problems with tension. I don't think I ever used it successfully and eventually put it back on eBay.

Now I have a lightweight basic Janome which does everything I need and cost maybe around $100. I used to be in pattern-making school where all the school machines were Janome - they got almost constant use and were very rarely out of service.
posted by bendy at 3:23 PM on February 12, 2019

I had a Brother that I used for a couple of years until it broke. The sewing machine repair guy said it wasn't worth trying to fix. The Janome New Home he sold me has been working fine for multiples of the time I had the Brother.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:41 PM on February 12, 2019

Is your spouse comfortable with cranky machines? If not, I would buy a cheap, new, brand name one. If you get one from a smaller sewing store, they will sometimes come with a beginner lesson, which can be worthwhile doing, if you learn well from in person instruction.

I take part in a monthly sewing bee with 30+ machines, and we've had a lot of slightly dodgy older machines donated. I'm comfortable pulling them apart and seeing what I can do, and can often get them going again. However, when other less experienced people use them, as soon as the machine does something odd, they don't have the patience or skill to deal with it. You only need a tiny thing to go wrong for a sewing machine to be completely useless. These beginners have often then gone out and bought a cheap and cheerful new one, and had no problems at all.

If you can find one secondhand for very cheap, it might be worth the risk. They are super fun to pull apart and see how they work. However, most inexperienced sewers seem to do best with newer models that have threading instructions and manuals.
posted by kjs4 at 5:37 PM on February 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

The cheapo model from IKEA has been perfectly fine for me since acquisition. It's pretty basic but has been pretty reliable too. I've done basic hemming, buttonholes, and the like. Mostly I use it for sewing patches on my kid's Scout shirt.
posted by caution live frogs at 3:05 PM on February 13, 2019 [1 favorite]