Machine Guidance

[Morgan]

Somewhat depends on your budget, some examples - 


The first three are very good value for money when you compare the spec with similar machines and each has an extended guarantee of 5 years compared with the usual 2.

Janome SMD 3000 - entry level computerised machine  top loader with 7mm stitch width and is an ideal machine to grow into.  On Sale at £279


Janome SMD 2000 - Entry Level Machine with Top Loading bobbin for light to midweight fabrics. (Check Max Stitch width - I think it May be 7mm wide).  Has Adjustable foot pressure.  On Sale at £229.  (If you want a mechanical machine rather than a computerised, then this model has a good spec and is very good value for money)

Janome SMD 1000 Entry Level Machine with Front Loading Bobbin for light to midweight fabrics only (CheckMax stitch width, I think it is 5mm wide)  On Sale at £189


and an ex-display computerised model CXL301 at a reduced price of £285 and a 2yr guarantee  (This machine has the sames pecification as the SMD 3000 above - it's the same machine really, just got a different coat on and badged for SMD.)

[Radiofan]

Or you could go for a Butch Singer 401 like this one:
ebay listing

It will probably sell for £60-80 including the table and a bunch of accessories. Being all-metal inside, it will last a lifetime or two. Comes with fashion discs for sewing decorative stitch patterns.

The only thing it doesn't have (vs a new machine) is stretch stitches, which are overrated IMO.

If I didn't have so many machines, I would be tempted to bid on it myself!

[BrendaP]

My advice is to go to a proper bricks and mortar shop if you can, and one that specialises in sewing machines rather than a department store like John Lewis because the staff will be much mor knowledgeable.  They might also have a good buy on a second hand machine which has been traded in for a fancier mode and/or prepared to allow you to trade-in at a future date if you want to upgrade.

Take a few pieces of fabric with you to try the various machines with; cut off jeans leg, the back of an old lightweight cotton shirt and the back of an old tee shirt will suffice.

If you have to buy online Sewing Machines Direct are very good.  Make sure you avoid the company which, under various incarnations, promises unrealistic 25 year guarantees and has been featured on Rogue Traders.

Do your homework, and set a budget.

Ask yourself; do you need a machine with lots of fancy stitches, or just a few basic utility ones such as zig-zag, triple zig-zag, overcast, blind hem etc?

Do you need a machine with oomph in the motor so as to be able to sew heavy fabrics such as denim.  The hem on a pair of jeans means sewing through nine layers of denim; a lot of low end  cheapie machines won't do that even with coaxing the fly wheel.

Vintage machines can be a very good buy, but the old black Singers only do straight stitch.  They do that superbly well but it is restricting not to have the now standard utility stitches.  The buttonholer attachment for vintage machines will make a buttonhole as good, and often better, than the automatic buttonholes on high end machines.

Will you be wanting to sew jersey and other stretch fabrics - tee shirts, fleece hoodies etc?  If the answer is yes then seriously think about an overlocker as well.  An overlocker is also very useful for finishing the raw edges  of conventional machines.

[lizardeatspaper]

Thank you for all the continued good advice, I *think* I'm going to start out with something very basic and just have a crack at a few simple patterns - I feel it's one of those that once you get going you'll have a better idea of what you need/want and can upgrade accordingly.

I say *think* because I'm a sucker for all the bells & whistles options when it comes to anything vaguely technical!

[Ploshkin]

There's not a lot of man stuff about  but have a look at Jamie Kemp's blog - Male Devon Sewing.  He has a lot of tutorials and has done sewalongs for shirts covering all the necessary techniques.  I found it a very useful source of information when making my first man's jacket a few months back. 

[Elnnina]

May I add my comments on here too.  I am a friend of Twopence on here, and I have recently had to ask her for a machine back that I loaned to her just before Christmas.  Hence Twopence's need for a small easily portable machine to take to her P&Q classes.  So there we were looking at the SMD website, each in our own homes, but on the phone to one another.  Whilst I have never used SMD, I know others on TSP have with excellent results.  You say you are a beginner, so looking at what Morgan has suggested all from SMD, there is a bonus you get to have a huge amount of threads - there are 50 looks like 1,000 mts. spools, five pairs of scissors - all different sizes, a tape measure, some bobbins, an unpicker and some machine needles thrown in as an extra - so for someone starting out sounds like a good idea.

Of course using a local dealer is far and away the best way of looking and trying out various machines, but if there is not a dealer nearby and you have to use mail order, then SMD could well be your best bet.  I understand that Russell at SMD listens to what you are saying, and advises accordingly - now that is what I call good service.

Good luck in your quest.

[aprilla]

Somewhat depends on your budget, some examples - 

....

Janome SMD 1000 [/url] Entry Level Machine with Front Loading Bobbin for light to midweight fabrics only (CheckMax stitch width, I think it is 5mm wide)  On Sale at £189

That's the machine I bought, the SMD1000, around 7 years ago. I've been very happy with it and have sewn upholstery fabrics (dog beds), denim jeans and my first make on it was a reversible fleece kid's hooded jacket and pant outfit (layers!). The machine hasn't refused anything I've thrown at it yet.
On the SMD web site it did not suggest light to medium fabrics or I might have shied away from it as I knew jeans and dog beds were what I wanted to do.
(the bonus threads and scissors etc were great for me, especially as I've not got a shop to run to)

A shout out for SMD. During the winter I couldn't find the manual when I wanted to use the drop feed function. Couldn't fathom what to do... contacted SMD and they helped out immediately on web chat, followed up the next day with a 'are you ok now' email. Nice.

[Roger]

I'm a sucker for a vintage machine too - I bought a 500a (very similar to a 401) to fix kids clothes and turn up trouser legs (it has a blind stitch) and I love it so much its my pride and joy - doesn't stop me having a couple of other machines too (see my signature) and making things like a pair of salwar for my partner..

There are a lot of perks to having a vintage machine - they are usually better built and a top of the line machine like a 401 is generally cheaper and more repairable than most modern machines, has a massive number of stitches practical and decorative, will stitch through tougher materials and is all metal so with a bit of care will probably outlast us all

When I took mine for a sewing lesson the teacher was very complimentary about it and loved some of the cute vintage stitches which apparently brought back a lot of good memories for her... tbf she may have just been being polite  

[Catllar]

Oooh lovely (rubs hands together) another newbie, falling into the sewing pot!!! The beginning of a long journey of adventure and discovery!  Vintage  all the way.

[Radiofan]

I'm a sucker for a vintage machine too - I bought a 500a (very similar to a 401) ...

There are a lot of perks to having a vintage machine - they are usually better built and a top of the line machine like a 401 is generally cheaper and more repairable than most modern machines...

I would like a 240v version of the 503a "rocketeer", but they are hard to find and expensive. I just like the style.
Another lesser known gem out there is the Singer 306. Like the famous 201k, it is virtually indestructable and has as many stitch patterns as you need.
In many ways I wish I had started on a machine like this rather than repairing a bunch of mid-70s models. Maybe it's one for the collection...

[Roger]

The 503a is glorious very similar to the 500a but no built in stitches - theres some debate in the states about which is stronger but I dont think theres much in it tbh.

the 306 is very nice I have a serious soft spot for the 319 and 320 - they on my 'i would love to have list' the keys are too cute. but check out the 316 if you get a chance thats a crazy looking machine its like a 15 with  steam punk tinkering to give it extra stitches - it takes the cams too and uses a class 15 needle shame they're so rare.

[Iminei]

And now for my twopennth ...

When I started the long and slippery slope into The Darkside I was sewing on the old Toyota something or other that was secondhand to me when I used to make waistcoats in the 90's for a sort of living.

I found I now disliked the vavavavavoom it went with and after a class at the Local Emporia that was, having sewn on their purring Janomes, I bit the bullet and bought a Janome 525S Sewist for £249 (iirc) which they were using on GBSB at the time.

It was lovely, but as I slipped further down the rabbit hole I decided to upgrade to a secondhand  SMD 4000 on ebay (same as Janome 4100, retail at the time £499 iirc) It was a lovely machine with all the extra bits and bobs that SMD are famous for BUT I disliked the fact I couldnt swing the door over the needle open and that you couldnt alter the foot pressure (both things I could on the cheaper 525 !!!)

And so I upgraded again finding another ebay bargain in the form of The Splurge (Janome Atelier 5, retail at the time £999) which couldnt be resisted, the machine was  NEW, untouched, still had the lil bit of tape across the swingy out door over the needle housing, but at a 3 year old secondhand price!!!

The Splurge kept me very happy for 3 years or so until, along with a plea from Fran for an Atelier and the offer of an almost unused Atelier 7, I upgraded once again to The Splurgess (Atelier 7, retail at the time £1,300 ?) for a bargain basement price.

Throughout this journey, and the moral of my tale, I was easily able to sell each Janome for just over half the price I had paid for them ... Janomes are good machines and if you decide to upgrade, and are sensible with your expectations, will easily sell on!

[Goth Gardiner]

Will you want to see buttonholes? If so, take fabric and buttons to an bricks and mortar shop and only buy a machine that has been demonstrated to do a satisfactory buttonhole on your choice of fabric and with your choice of button.

[Manuela]

Will you want to see buttonholes? If so, take fabric and buttons to an bricks and mortar shop and only buy a machine that has been demonstrated to do a satisfactory buttonhole on your choice of fabric and with your choice of button.

I do all my buttonholes on vintage Singer Buttonholers I bought on Ebay for between 10 - 20£.

[HenriettaMaria]

Another consideration - cheap machines have nylon chassis.  Older Singers and higher-spec machines have cast metal chassis.  Metal chassis = more rigid machine = more drive through tougher fabric (or one's finger, as I recently found to my cost!!).  So what?  Well, if you take up jeans, you can find yourself trying to stitch through the fell seam that could have up to 9 layers of denim.  From experience I can attest to the fact that a £99 Brother (bought by brother for SiL as a 'surprise'!) doesn't have the oomph to do that.


I can also vouch for pre 1980 Singers as being extremely good for precision straight stitching, a feature that will make men's shirts that have fell seaming/topstitching much more professional.  My old machine was a Singer 522.  It died 20 years ago but recently I acquired my aged mother's identical machine and I can say that the difference between that and my bells-and-whistles Brother is noticeable in that respect.  The Brother does one-step automatic buttonholes so it still has a place in my heart, whereas the Singer is a swing-needle and so it's four-step manual buttonholes only.  There are lots of Singer 522s going at reasonable prices on Ebay if you want to take a look.