/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Seriously, for $50, on black friday, at walmart
you can get a piece of shit brother sewing machine. You can't get much with that.
It's my first sewing machine, and it's far from reliable.
zig zag, straight stitch, and a whole lot of thread bunching under fabric, and no working tension control

If you can't wait to save up more money, you're going to blow your $50 on something unusable. Save up more money and buy like a $100-$120 machine.

>>6902846
I'm also looking for a sewing machine, and Craigslist or Goodwill can have nice used ones, you just have to make sure they work. Maybe check those places and see if you find something good. If anyone else has recommendations for something rather inexpensive I'd love to hear them.

The cheapest you'll find for a new model is around $100. Anything less than that is not built for actual garment sewing. You'll find a lot of smaller 'craft sewing machines" but tha'ts just to sew on like patches or trims.

Seriously, if you get her anything less than $100 you're throwing your money away and you'll give her something completley shitty and unusable.

If you want to, wait until Joanne's has a 50% off one reg. priced item coupon or something.

Any brand names you'd recommenc for a sewing machine around 100-150 dollars?

>>6902880
>>6902896
>>6902936
Well shit, that's depressing.
She's never owned one before so I figured there would be cheaper beginner friendly models or something.
It's an upcoming bday gift so i guess I might have to just get something else if the $50 models are no good.

>>6902899
I'll probably check those places out next.

My machine is a 60 year old Singer and it works like a charm. Solid metal, so if you break it you've really fucked up. I love it so much I might have to take it with me when I move out someday.

I actually just bought one at walmart for 75 bucks, plus 7 dollar 2 year warranty. I haven't taken it out of the box yet, but my last brother lasted 7 years (and an airplane trip - through common luggage, not carry-on).

I have yet to take it out of the box, so I can't really vouch on how good it is, but the reviews here don't seem too terrible:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brother-17-Stitch-Free-Arm-Sewing-Machine-LX2500/17039055?_mm=

I think it will be fine with casual use. I would really recommend getting the 2 year warranty in case you get a lemon though. But like other posters have said, it's probably best to save up for the 100+ models.

>>6902954
$100 is a cheap sewing machine. If you want a nice one you can easily break $1000.

>>6902954
If you want you could just give her a gift card to JoAnns for the $50 to go towards a really nice sewing machine. To make it more personal you could make a neat sewing machine card or something.

I agree with everyone else, don't buy so cheap sewing machine. The cheapest one I considered with the basic things was 200 dollars.

Do you know any other friends of your friend? Maybe you can buy a bit more expensive machine together. If everyone puts in 50 it might work!

>>6902846

Does she really even want one? Does she hand sew? Does she do crafts? If the answer is no, don't even bother with getting her a machine. It's just going to sit there.

I've had several friends say things like "Oh I wish I could sew!", go buy a sewing machines, and then complain a week later that they don't know how to use it while never even looking anything up.

If she's not like that and she's been looking them up herself then is she going to be happy with something someone else picked out? I say go with the gift card and if she really wants one let her go get it.

Also I hope you're not doing this so she can make you costumes or something.

>>6902963
The reviews don't seem too bad, I'll look into it.

>>6902979
This actually sounds like pretty good idea right now so if the whole machine thing doesn't work out this is probably what I'll do.

>>6902981
Unfortunately, our friends already pitched in for something else for her.

>>6903009
Well at the moment she hand sews everything.
Its so she can make costumes for herself.

The gift card thing is starting to look more appealing to me at this point.

>>6903040

Amazon is a good place to check around too. At least for the reviews if not the price. Often around holidays/end of the financial quarter they'll be marked down as well.

This is about 70-85 on Amazon. I used one for about a year when I was away from my real machines, and I found it easy to use and completely acceptable. It's great for a new sewer because it's a non computerized machine, which means its easy/cheap to ix if it breaks, and I suspect a person could use it for years without needing to upgrade to more machine.

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-XL2600I-Affordable-25-Stitch-Free-Arm/dp/B000F7DPEQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1370940052&sr=1-2&keywords=Brother