Best Sewing Machines for Beginners

If you’re thinking of taking up sewing then I congratulate you, you have chosen a great hobby that will not only give you years of fun and an outlet for your creativity, but will also save you a lot of money over the coming years. When you have acquired the necessary skills, and, believe me, you will soon pick them up. You will be able to totally transform your home.

Take a standard pair of curtains and sew your own personality into them, make clothes for yourself or your children, virtually transform any piece of material into how you like. Think how satisfying it is to make your own clothes and home fabrics.

OK you may have already figured that out which is why you want to take up sewing. The question on your mind is which is the best sewing machine to start with? Right. OK let’s have a look.

First thing that swamps the beginner is the sheer amount of machines available. Singer, Janome and brother to name just three great sewing machines.

It is obviously a matter of opinion and we all have our own opinions about what is the best machine. I will help you by giving you some guidelines. First I would go for a computerized machine. These are the standard today and I firmly believe in staying up with technology. I really don’t see the point in learning on older machines when you can learn on modern computerized machines.

Some people would argue that it’s best to learn on older machines and move up slowly. This is a fair point but not one I agree with. If you’re starting from scratch you may as well learn on a new computerized machine with all the mod cons on it.

If you learned on an older machine you would soon want to move to a more advanced machine and take advantage of all the computerized functions which simplify many tasks. So you may as well start on a computerized model. You wouldn’t want to learn to drive in a 1920s ford would you? So why learn on an old machine?

The good news is that the prices for a good machine are really reasonable and the functions these machines have are amazing. You can do things on a small machine in your home that required much bigger machines not so long ago.

All today’s sewing machines are computerized which means everything you can do on a machine is made easier due to computerization. You can even get embroidery machines that will instruct you step-by-step on how to make things. The instruction takes place on the LED screen.

You want to be looking for a machine that doesn’t cost too much to begin with. If you are just taking sewing up you could look at a second hand machine. The argument for buying a second hand machine is that it’s better to spend $120.00 on a second hand expensive machine than to spend $120.00 on a new inferior machine.

This is a good idea but not one I agree with. A few years ago this may have been a good strategy but the cost of machines has come down so much I think looking for a new machine is the way to go. As you become a more experienced sewer you will come to love particular machines. The best way to choose a sewing machine is to ask yourself some questions.

A beginner will need a machine with a number of basic stitches; every machine on the market will give you this. As a general rule the more stitches the sewing machine has the more expensive it will be.

Ask yourself what you want to do with the machine. Are you looking to make clothes, home furnishings, repairs, quilting or other crafts? For clothes for example you want a machine with a “free arm” this makes sewing sleeves and things like that much easier. If you are looking to do quilting then you need a machine with a wider range of stitches. If you are looking to do upholstery then you will need a strong heavy duty machine. A cheap machine will not cope with upholstery.

How often do you think you will use the machine? If you intend to get into sewing in a big way then you need to buy a more expensive machine that will stand up to heavy use. It’s not possible to name a machine and say this is the best one. I know people who swear by Janome sewing machines, saying they are the best machines on the market, others will swear by singer sewing machines, we all have our own favourites.

You can get an excellent machine for between $150 to $200. The more you’re willing to spend the more you will get. The first thing you should do is get familiar with what a machine does and learn about all the parts on the machine and what they do. Do some research, even download some manuals. Singer has excellent manuals that you can download and read. These will familiarize yourself with the parts of machines.