sewing machine advice for an 11 year old please

[Sonnet]

DD1 ( just 11) would like a sewing machine for Christmas. Can anyone recommend a junior type one that is fairy easy to understand and operate?
TIA

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I am a sewing machine idiot and have this one, because it's cheap and easy to use (it is - I can use it and most 11yr olds are probably better than me). I (now I have got over my fear of it) use it every day and it's great. One day I'll get a better one with fancy stuff on it, but there's no point in spending a few hundred pounds on a first machine. I got mine 2nd hand from a friend, so ebay might be a good place to look also.

Can you get to somewhere like John Lewis where you can actually see the sewing maching in action, that's how I bought my first one. Also, try not to get one that's too loud otherwise it'll drive you nuts.

Thanks Gingermonkey and bran - I don't want to spend too much coz I don't know how much it will get used - I'd rather a simple straightforward cheap one and then replace it in a few years should she use it - IYKWIM.
I have found this one in Woolies - what is your honest opinion:
www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50488415

What is your honest opinion???

Gingermonkey - sorry but couldn't get your link to open - it kept timing out!!

something like this would be better. I don't know what's up with my link - I can't get onto the site now either. It's www.joyssewingmachines.co.uk anyway, so try later on.

The trouble with buying a really cheap machine is that it won't sew smoothly and if it goes wrong(which it will while she's learning,trust me)it will cost more to repair than it cost to buy and could put her off for a long time. New needle
s and bobbins that fit in it may be a problem too.

I wouldn't buy a machine on ebay either.

If you have a proper sewing machine dealer in your area,go and talk to them.They usually have second hand,reconditioned machines.They will show her how it works and the maintainance she needs to do after every project to keep it sewing well.My local dealer gives free tuition if you buy your machine from him.

You really would be best buying one of the big names too,Brother,Janome,Bernina or Pfaff.
Sturdy machines that will run for years and years if looked after well,then if she goes off it for a while,put it away til she leaves home and wants to make curtains!

Agree with sugarfree, my first machine at age 11 or 12 was a second-hand entry level elna that I used for the next 15 years!

I would go for a straightforward grown up model - we used regular sewing machines at school for needlework when I was eleven. Go for a simple model without all the fancy stiches - I have a Brother one that I think came from Costco but John Lewis are always helpful!

My DD has been using my Brother machine for the last 2 years, since she was 8 .

She is sensible and careful and can get it to do stuff that I can't.

She adapts clothes, makes pencil cases and ragdolls and i'm hoping that she will recover the sofa one day!

I too would say go for a proper grown-up one.

I just remarked to DH this very evening that the machine I am using (getting a bit rattly now but I no longer use it very much) is the one I had as a b/day present when I was 13 (I am now 43).

(He was amazed at a 13yo having their own machine, but my sister did too. My mum was a keen seamstress and my sister now does it for a living!)

Anyway it is a Frister and Rossman (not suggesting you buy one as I am sure they are no longer made!) and was then a fairly basic lightweight one but perfectly acceptable as an everyday machine. Equivalent today maybe Elna or Brother?