Sewing Machine Recommendations please

[OnlyToWin]

For a beginner sewer please!

I can’t work out what I need and don’t need and how expensive to go! Plus the fact that half of them are out of stock!

Thanks very much

For a first machine I would buy a second hand machine from Ebay. I have 2 sewing machines. Love both. Bernina, swiss made, beautiful stitch, expensive new. Toyota, good stitch, light machine.
I think the less stitches a machine makes the better the stitch will be as the needle isn't making so many changes.
I would look for a machine that does a straight stitch, zig zag stitch, button hole.
Enjoy your sewing.

Thank you

Does anyone have the John Lewis JL111 one? Is it any good? The reviews seem good.

Personally I found getting one which didn't require the foot pedal was hugely helpful - mine has a start/stop button and a speed control slider. It's one less thing to think about and makes it much easier to do things like top stitching as you know the speed is constant.

I'm not a beginner, but my pedal lives in the drawer these days.

I didn’t even know you could get one like that. Thank you.

Quite a few machines have a start/stop function as an alternative to the foot control. There are plenty of good machines in the £100-£200 price bracket. The John Lewis one is generally well reviewed, I think it's made by Janome.

You can get some great secondhand machines (often better build quality) but it can be hard for a beginner to judge what you're getting unless it's in a dealer, I wouldn't buy a random machine off Facebook.

Baseline features for most sewing:
Stitch length/width independently adjustable (some very cheap machine are fixed width)
Stretch stitches
One step or no-turn buttonholes
Drop feed (for quilting/embroidery)
Ability to take a walking foot (you can buy as an extra)
Ability to take twin needle
Variable speed.
Extra feet and accessories availble e.g. for zips, buttonholes etc.

Other features like start-stop, auto thread cutter, needle threaders, alphabets etc are nice to have but not essential.

The Janome 725S is the machine they use on the Sewing Bee, that's a good benchmark all-rounder.