Buying a Sewing Machine - Part 1

Are you looking to buy a sewing machine?  Getting confused between all the brands, models and extra features. Well here is my simple guide to buying a sewing machine, to help you find the one that best suits you.

 

What brand?

 

This may not be your first question, but if your like me, I do like to buy products from reputable brands. When I was growing up, the sewing machine brand I knew was Janome. Yes, you guessed it, that was the brand my mum had. However, when I went to my first sewing class, the sewing machine that I used was a Brother. During my search for a sewing machine and after talking to sewers I discovered that there were a lot of sewing brands that have been around for some time. Janome, Brother, Singer, Husqvarna and Bernina, just to name a few.  

 

Have a look in your local sewing store and online to narrow down your brand list and then I suggest having a chat to people you know that sew, to see what advice they can give you and if they have a preference. Word of mouth about product brands can be helpful and in my experience very reliable.

 

What do you want to use your sewing machine for?

 

It sounds like a silly question, I know. But you really need to give some consideration to this question. You answer to this question, will really help to narrow down the type of sewing machine you are looking for. your choice of sewing machine. For example, when I bought my sewing machine, I was a beginner,  looking for a basic sewing machine without all the extra trims (such as a lot of fancy stitches). So I narrowed my search down to more standard models with simple stitches and accessories included.

 

Model

 

One piece of advice I heard over and over again was "don't buy the base model". The reason for this being, is that a lot of the base models do not include basic accessories for your sewing machines. Which means that your sewing machine ends up costing you more than you expected because you then have to go out and purchase things like a buttonhole foot or a zipper foot, which you will need even if you are doing the most basic sewing. The other reason not to buy the most basic model is because some a lot of the accessories are plastic which can sometimes be less accurate and definitely do not last as long as the metal ones.

 

Stay tuned for Buying a Sewing Machine - Part 2. Or subscribe to my blog so that you receive my blogs directly to your email. In the meantime, tell me about any advice you have heard about buying sewing machines.