Which sewing machine?

[MotherOfAllNameChanges]

I want to buy a sewing machine & am wondering if you could recommend a good simple one for a beginner please?

Anyone?

I have heard good things about the John Lewis one!

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-jl110-sewing-machine-white/p317685

This is well regarded as a beginner machine. It's manufactured by Janome who are a well known maker of machines.

There's a great Facebook account called 'sewing in the uk' which is worth joining

Thank you @Astridd 💛

I have a Brother LS14S which is perfect for my beginner level of sewing. I've made some play mats, kids trousers, and baby toys with it so far. It's got all the basic stuff, but it's not a "bells and whistles" machine. If you're just learning like me then it's great, if you want to be a professional seamstress then not so much.

Thanks for the tips ladies x

If you are starting out- it really doesn't need to be complicated.
Most of the time you will use 2 stitches only! So don't spend loads.
I love my machine- it's over 40 years old, built like a tank, and it makes me smile when I need to use it

I'd recommend Janome too, they're reliable work horses. Never had any trouble with mine. I Huskvana [sp] are very good too.

On the other hand I wouldn't have a Pfaff one again, it was the most expensive machine I'd ever bought and it's a pile of junk.

I have a janome, also John Lewis, which has significantly more function than the John Lewis one you linked and was not catastrophically more expensive. John Lewis do (or did, a couple do years ago) lessons too in some stores if you buy through them.

Should say also from
John Lewis! It is Janome branded.

I've been sewing for years and would also recommend something reasonably basic - I have three machines and still rarely use anything much more than the basic stitches. I have a fancy pants computerised machine, a middle of the range machine and a vintage 1970s machine that does only the basics - the latter is the one I love most for its simplicity. It's a workhorse that never lets me down

I started off with an Aldi machine, bought on a whim, and after a few months got so frustrated with it I bought an entry-level Brother (Innovis-10A). It's fab because you have good, solid, reliable quality and you don't need all that many stitches at the start. However, it does have one stitch/foot that mimics an overlock, which is really useful.
Features I like that I would recommend for any beginner machine:

• some sort of automatic needle threader.
• a speed setting so you can limit the maximum speed for tricky bits.
• a bobbin holder with a little window so you can see at a glance how much thread is left on the bobbin and its colour.
• possible to change the length and width of zig-zag stitches, not all machines offer this.
• compatible with mainstream bobbins and presser feet so you can buy a ridiculous number of extra feet not made by the manufacturer.

The only disadvantage I've noticed is that it can be a bit snotty about cheaper yarn and refuse to sew tidily or knot up.

Really it's a great machine, I've made any number of quilts on it and it's still going strong. A few more fancy stitches would be nice, but that increases the price so much it's not really worth it.