Sewing machine recommendations

[RustyPaperclip]

I relatively new to sewing and so far having been using a John Lewis Mini sewing machine. It has served me pretty well so far but now I'm looking to buy a more advanced machine. However I have no idea where to start! Can anyone recommend a good sewing machine for a beginner who really wants to do more sewing, e.g. Cushions, curtains (and maybe clothes when I am brave enough!)?

I learned to sew on the Brother LS14 - www.hobbycraft.co.uk/brother-ls14-sewing-machine/561344-1000

Still has the drop in bobbin you'll be used to with a few more stitches (including buttonholes for clothing if you need them) and from a few others that have had the machine then changed over to another went back to the LS14, so I'd suggest that.

Thank you. I also asked a friend and she recommended the Brother LS14. I've now ordered one

Mine was £70/80, I got bought one but it had bad views, so I took it back and paid a bit more. It's a Brother but not sure if model.

Does anyone know why you'd need different feet?

You need different feet to do different techniques/see different fabric. E.g. Button holes, cheating pleats, cheating gathers, invisible zippers, blind hems etc.

I got a cheap set of feet for my sewing machine and they work fine.

It arrived today and I am happy so far but I suspect I will need to buy more feet when I get a bit more used to it

older where did you buy your set of feet?

Ooh might have another look.

OP a lot of accessories are cheap and highly rated on Amazon.

I will have a look on Amazon. I'm such a novice though, what kind of feet should I be looking for? At the moment I'm just doing patchwork quilts and cushions but hope to make some curtains in the near future and maybe eventually some simple clothes

My kit looks identical to this one

The feet at maybe not the best but I think they are a good start and you can alway replace one or two with better ones later.

I use a blind hem on curtains, bit fiddly but looks good in the end, the foot for it is in the kit.

Invisible zippers aren't something I've tried yet but there isn't a foot for that in the kit.

I have completely ignored invisible zips, I have problems with normal zips!

I bought a really cheap 32 foot set from amazon or ebay at one point, they worked well and included feet for quilting. The only thing it didn't come with was a walking foot, had to buy that separately

I only use vintage machines but perfectly fine for dressmaking and curtains, are machines like the little Singer 221K.

www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/featherweight/fhome/

They only sew forwards and, the later ones backwards but have feet and attachments available to do other stuff. But their straight stitch is the best of almost any machine ever made and you can get them for under £200. I got a recently serviced one on eBay for about £160 and later, snapped up another for about £70. There is very little to go wrong on them. Many women sewed all their family's clothing and curtains on them, for decades. I mainly use mine for dressmaking but have made curtains for the caravan and house, with them.

I know modern machines have all the bells and whistles but some old machines are worth a look, if you don't think you will need super advanced features. Older machines are beautiful to look at and, in the case of the 221K, also much quieter.

Might not be of interest but it's worth mentioning.

They originally came with about 6 different feet but you can get lucky and buy one that someone had extra attachments for. Needles are same as contemporary and attachments are cheap and widely available.