All I can say is WOW on topic

I learned to sew on a treadle. Learned to play the piano on an old upright that was snaggled toothed and missing a few keys. Who knows how much better I might have been (or not) with some nicer tools. Maybe this child will just wonderfully benefit from having a really good SM. We will hope that this is a great beginning. Polly

WOW! is right! (pass the word to "Auntie" that I'm adoptable!)

amy in CNY

I learnt to sew on the machine my mother got when she got married (and moved away from access to her mother's machine). In the days, it would have been an expensive machine.

Since the girl's mother has poor eyesight and presumably doesn't sew, I don't think it is so bad. But it is a lot of money spent on a present for a child.

I own two machines: a less than $200 machine from Walmart and a pretty good Pfaff. I loved the cheap one when I got it, but it is _much_ easier to get straight, well-balanced seems on the Pfaff.

Like you, though, I hope they get good help in teaching her to use the machine well.

Hanne in DK

Oh! My! Where does this very lucky child live? I am here ta offer me services for ta teach her ta sew on this most wonderful machine >G< I am not that great but I can sew a straight line or curvy what ever the pattern calls for. I can, however, sew a good 1/4 of an inch seam!! AND I hve had some great kids adopt me recently!!!

Nana In COLD MD.

I am confused why the aunt shouldn't spend the money on a quality machine (if she can afford it). Anyone that has ever learned to sew on a pos machine can appreciate how great it would be to have access to a nice machine. Lots of areas still have 4-H groups that would be a good place for her to learn to sew. I hope the auntie has fostered a life long joy for the child. Taria

Joanna, I agree that it's disgusting the way some people will shower kids with expensive gifts to make up for not spending time with them. The bright side is, she might learn to be a marvelous seamstress on her new machine. I posted earlier about a Singer I bought that has given me nothing but trouble. I honestly think if a 13 year old got one of those, they'd never want anything to do with sewing out of sheer frustration. But surely there's a happy medium between the two. That's kind of like buying a 15-year-old a Mercedes to learn to drive.

Sherry

Assuming that Auntie was at a trade show, she has some sort of interest in sewing/craft/needleart herself?? Who is to say that she doesn't have inside knowledge from her niece that the desire to learn about sewing is real? It really isn't your place to criticize this gift or the intention with which it was given - you acted as surrogate

- period. jennellh

Oh, I dunno... When I bought it, my Lily was £1100 list price. I paid over £800 for it. I use it for teaching kids to sew. They love it. The boys especially love exploring all the stitch patterns and want to make it write their names!

I have had equal success teaching kids to sew on ancient hand cranks that cost nothing, and a variety of thinhs in between. A good machine is always an advantage.

delurking a bit here.... first, you don't know the finances involved. It could be that the aunt can well afford the machine...plus, at a trade show, i bet she scored a deal. AND, you really don't know if the aunt spends time or not with the kids.

I have a sister who is VERY weathlthy. both she and her husband earn a good living. what is "normal" to spend on things in their household is not normal in most....so, I can't really slam my sister for how she spends money. what's normal for her, is extravagent to me. That she treats my children well....thankyou for being such a nice aunt!

Betsey

I can't help but agree, Taria. If my second machine had been my first, I'd probably never have sewn another stitch. Thank heavens my first machine was a dream (biggest mistake of my sewing life to have traded it for a zigzag machine when double knits came out!), which gave me hope for a better experience the next time around. :)

Perhaps the aunt, since she did attend the trade show, is hoping to spend some time sewing with her niece. At the very least, she's trying to make her niece's sewing experience a happy one.

When my mom sent me my sewing machine, I had never really sewn anything more than a couple of hems in flannel spit up rags and a matching set of night shirts for my newborn son and my 6'4" husband. Yes, I said matching. And I never sewed anything before. It was laughable, but we do have a photo somewhere with both of them wearing the garments. Briefly.

Mom bought a machine for me that was way beyond my capacity or ability or anything. Granted, I was approaching 50, but age doesn't imply ability. Mom knew I didn't know how to thread a machine. She had discovered the benefits of a really fine machine and just passed that on when she had the chance. I'm grateful to her. If I'd had a a machine that required struggle or frustration, I wouldn't have persevered. My Janome 5700 was fun and easy and a really good introduction to sewing for me, even if I never became the seamstress my mom hoped I would. I will never make my own clothes.

This is my long way of saying that the aunt did a wonderful thing. If the girl has a chance of learning to sew on a really good machine, at least she won't mistake sewing machine malfunction for her own ineptitude. I would also say that in this day and age, $800 is not that much for a sewing machine. Think how long we keep sewing machine. Ten years? Well that turns out to about $80 a year on that machine. And if she's still using it 20 years from now? Even better. I know thrift is important. I also know that you do get what you pay for and quality isn't cheap. Better she get a good one at the start and learn how it feels to use a good sewing machine.

Sunny

I'm coming late to this thread and think all of the relevant points have already been made. That said, I will say this. I got my Juki TL98Q yesterday. In the hour I played with it, I went from hating machine quilting to loving it. Yep, that's the difference a good machine can make.

I will still continue to quilt some quilts by hand, but I am glad to be able to expand my repertoire with the machine quilting. I've got quilt tops in the closet needing to be quilted and I've just been stalled on them until now.

If I hadn't had the patience for hand-piecing and quilting, I might have given up as I've never had a really good machine for quilting, and while I've got two good (but inexpensive) machines for piecing, I've also had a real loser in that category too. Frustration can surely take the joy out of even the most lovely quilt top.

So I guess, I think there's a lot wisdom in a new quilter having as much machine as she can afford.

Best regards, Michelle in Nevada

Howdy!

If we had a button ala Facebook, I'd mark this w/ a "Like", Taria. Once I had a better machine than that p.o.s. at jr.high school, I discovered I really could sew. And Mom discovered I could use her ca.1965 Singer well enough to teach her a few steps. ;-) Btw, if that auntie would like to adopt a few more nieces, I reckon some of us would be appreciative of gifts like that.

R/Sandy - whose 16-yr-old did learn to drive in a Mercedes-Benz ;-D

Howdy!

Congrats on your new machine, Michelle.

Please let us know what you quilt > I'm coming late to this thread and think all of the relevant points have

I don't necessarily think that $800 is too much to spend for a sewing machine. TOL machines cost over 10 times more.

I'm like Sunny. If I had been less anxious to sew, I would have given it up as a bad job.

I think it's great the Aunt can do this for her niece. Sounds like the kid has other people to fill in the parenting stuff.

Some people have more money than time to spend. She probably doesn't have a lot of time to search out a great used machine.

I think she did a nice thing. She wasn't obligated to do anything at all.

Just my 2 cents and that's about all it's worth. Cindy