sewing machine for a child

[madwomanacrosstheroad]

My daughter is nearly 10 and has her heart set on an electric sewing machine. We have an old treadle machine she has used a few times and she has used my bernina under supervision.
Have looked at the janome mini machines and am quite underwhelmed.
Have seen a 3/4 size machine on sewingmachines direct by a company called Jaguar. Seems to be a half decent beginners machine. Does anybody know more about it?

Have you a John Lewis near you? Might be worth a chat with one of their sewing machine staff as you can try out a few models. I have a Janome Gem - it's a quite a few years old now - but it's a fabulous mini machine and is just as good as my much bigger Bernina and Elna machines for basic sewing, dressmaking etc, free machine embroidery. It was bought because I needed a light machine that could come to workshops and my Bernina weighs a ton! Otherwise Lidl have a Singer that comes up on offer on a regular basis and IKEA have their own basic machine (~£60) - both would be ok if you ar wanting something cheap for your DD to use.

I would go for something that isn't too heavy - so she can lift it up onto her desk when needed but otherwise a machine that has all the basic stitches that she might need. You want it to last rather than have to replace in a few years. That's my opinion though!

Just wanted to add - could she not use your machine, at least to start with? My DS's have both used all my machines from around the age of 7 with supervision to start with. DS1 can now use the machines on his own and does so at school - he's 14, DS2 uses them with me in the same room and a reminder of watch the needle etc but not direct supervision - he's 11, so it won't be long till your DD is sewing on her own on an electric machine.

Yes and no re my machine. She tends to decide to use mine at the same time I want to use it....
Was considering a decent 2nd hand machine but she loves the idea of a smallish one. What is the ikea one like to use?
No jl close by unfortunately.
I am thinking if she loves the machine and acutely uses it she can use my better machine later and may have matured enough to understand that a good 2nd hand machine is much better than a new shiny cheap one.
What is the ikea machine like?

Also the weight of my machine is an issue. She needs something she can manage and that will not break immediately. The jaguar is £75.

My DM, who has years of sewing experience and is fabulous, has an IKEA machine and she absolutely loves it. If that helps

Here is the link to the jaguar machine. Taking into account the accessory "gift" price works out similar to ikea.
www.sewingmachines.co.uk/categories/sewing-and-embroidery-machines/1?brands%5B%5D=12

And here is the ikea machine
m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/30208975
Not keen on the janome / john lewis machines as no light and only single speed.

I got DD a Janome from Hobbycraft, think it must be the Mini for £40 although it looks a bit different to DDs so maybe a newer model. She is much younger than your DD and gets on very well with it. I bought a Janome because I thought you could get a finger guard, but unfortunately it doesn't fit this model. However, we haven't found it to be an issue - no sewn fingers yet!

Ive heard good reviews of the IKEA machine but I've also heard good reviews of the Hello Kitty machine too. I've not used either so can't comment.

BUT... the HK has a controllable variable speed control - my Elna has that and it's fantastic - if I wanted the sewing machine to be slower ie when ds's were younger or I wanted a little extra control then I was able to have more control over the speed, it also means less likelihood of a foot slip causing a massive speed increase. So that does lead me towards the HK.

At £75 it's a worthwhile buy don't you think? It'll last 3-5 years in terms of your child's ability at least if not longer. If she gives up on sewing it's not a huge amount to lose and if she chooses to progress on then it's easily upgraded.