one observation and one question

[dchenes]

My last post should've been titled "heat-on-ism". It's not quite a good enough pun to go back and change the title, though.

I think I've decided to buy a sewing machine with my mad money. Does anybody have any recommendations, or any brands I should avoid?

Comments

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

While they are the cheapest, avoid Kenmore. They tend to be finicky and need tune ups more often than most. Go for Singer, Brother, Bernina, and Janome. Unless you've got a really pressing reason for it, stick to the kind that has a couple varieties of stitches but mostly just does the basics. You canget some fantastic deals on Overstock.com as well as EBay. If you can get a heavy duty or an industrial grade machine, do it. They will last you longer and grow with you as you become better at sewing. Most people who sew expand into heaver or lighter fabrics that need a better machine so a heavy duty machine is worth the money in that you will get more mileage out of it than you will out of extra fancy stitches.

[bigmeanie.livejournal.com]

I have an older Brother machine (bought in 1994, used lightly until 2005, when I got my Bernina) that needs a little work on the tension--or perhaps someone with more patience than me to make the tension correct.

You can have it, if you'd like it, for nothing, given that it might need some work on the tension. Comes with various parts, some bobbins, and quite possibly the original instruction book. Has about 20 different stitches, I think. I can get you the model number and specs if you're interested. Let me know and we'll work out how to get it to you.

[dchenes.livejournal.com]

I would be happy to take it off your hands. I'm not looking to do anything fancy with it, so if I can get the tension to behave, it sounds like just what I want.