Sewing machine suitable for gsce textiles

[hels71]

Hi
DD will be starting gsce textiles in September. She would really like a sewing machine for her birthday. Any suggestions? Not cheap but also not too if the range!! Thanks!

Top of the range...not sure what I pressed!!

The John Lewis own brand one got good reviews.

I've got a Brother LS14S and it's fab. You can add presser feet as you need them, it can sew pretty much anything and it cost me £80. Is that in budget?

I wouldn't buy a new cheap machine but go to a sewing machine shop and buy a second hand good quality one (serviced/refurbished). You'll get an awful lot more for your money.

You want a Brother LS14

It's a really good workhorse. Easy to use and the right price range for a beginner.

I've long upgraded to something a bit more complicated but I still have my Ls14 to use for topstitching and generally as a spare and always enjoy using it when I do.

If you can stretch to about £200 there are some good machines that will maybe be a bit more heavy duty. Husqvarna E20 is a good beginner machine. You can get creative with any machine though you don't need a lot of fancy features.

If you can get hold of a second hand bernina jump at it, they are brilliant. New they’ll be too much - mine was my 18th birthday present from mum and dad and both sets of grandparents but I still use it at least once a week and am now 35 (and a textiles teacher with a mostly handmade wardrobe)

Our GCSE students use a mixture of Bernina 1008s and Janome 7025s at school.

i would definitely explore getting her a darning foot as well, and choosing a model you can set up for scribble stitch/free machine embroidery (you’ll want to be able to drop the feed dogs). This will give her loads more mileage for creative as well as practical use of the machine.

I can't recommend a specific model, but one with an automatic buttonhole stitch will be a game-changer if she wants to make clothes. But I don't know if entry level machines have them.

I had a Singer Starlet before I recently upgraded - it coped with all sorts of projects (but I'm pretty sure you couldn't drop the feed dogs, if that's important). People don't tend to look kindly on Singers, but mine did a fine job for a long time (and still works perfectly well).

Totally this! DD did textiles at GCSE, went on to college to do HND in textiles and fashion, then degree level fashion studies, all with a 2nd hand machine.

I started at 18 with a Husqvarna, it lasted well for 25 years.
I replaced it with a Janome and I've been please with this too although it's high end and fiddly.
I also use an entry priced Singer for its simplicity when I don't want to risk my expensive machines and it's performed well.

I'd go into a sewing machine shop ask if they have an engineer and ask him which are the most reliable machines for the money.
They may have reconditioned ones to sell.

I agree, the vintage Elnas from the 1970s and 80s are also very good secondhand. (Speaking as someone who owns two!)

If she needs to be able to drop the feed dogs and the machines in your budget don't have that function, you can buy (for about a tenner) a darning plate for most machines that clips over the feed dogs and allows her to do free machine quilting and embroidery. All you add to that is a darning or embroidery foot. They're brand specific usually, but you're still only adding £20 or so to the cost. Vintage machines often have a darning plate in their standard kit as mending clothes was expected when the machines were made.

Thank you so much! Lots to look at now!

Before you buy ask the teacher what she will need to do with the machine. The usual advice is to buy the most expensive one you can. I expect she is going to need her machine to do a lot of fancy stitches.

My shortlist of features would be

• not too lightweight/cheap or "mini"
• stitch length and width adjustable separately

-one step buttonhole -stretch stitches

• drop feed
• needle threader
• mainstream brand you can get more feet/accessories for and serviced easily (IE not Aldi)
• you dont necessarily need 50 or 100 random built in fancy stitch patterns. Sewing is more about skill than equipment, if you have a machine that does the basics well.

I'd also go mechanical over computerised, all that means is it will have dials to select things rather than push buttons.

Oh another thing, especially if buying online:
Just check the ergonomics

• Does the handle feel like it will actually pick up the machine or is it flimsy?


• Does it pack away neatly or have a bulky hard cover/nowhere to store the power lead and control


• Ideally the accessory box should pull out to reveal the free arm and be nicely designed to store spare feet, bobbins etc


• Could it be packed up for taking to class? (you can get carry bags)

My machine was quite expensive but actually has a soft cover with pockets for all the accessories and instruction book so it's completely self contained.

I've got an old Elna "quilters dream" with fancy stitching - it's been a great workhorse - but when I started doing more free motion machine embroidery I wanted a machine with a vertical bottom bobbin - it's easier to manipulate tension, that's why people love Berninas!

I couldn't stretch to a Bernina but I got a Bernette - made by Bernina. Manual (no dozens of computerised stitches but plenty of variety) and I've now pretty much switched to using it full time as I love it.

I’m a really clumsy sewing machine driver and an entry level computerised machine changed my life.

i used to always say Janome 301cxl but I think that model has been superseded.

try your local specialist shop or Frank Nutt / David Drummond online. People often trade in machines….I certainly did when I upgraded to my current one (Bernina…everything they are saying up thread is true but they are really ££££ for someone that age).