Need advice on purchase of new machine

HI, All, I just tried to wind a bobbin on my 30-year-old Sears sewing machine and the winder will not turn. I took the thing apart and can't see what might be wrong. The local repair place says it will probably cast $60-$70 to fix. I'm wondering if I should just go buy a new machine. So here's my question to all of you: what do you recommend for someone who uses a sewing machine for repairs/minor alterations? I don't need a huge number of stitches. The only thing I'd like to have is a bobbin that is not underneath the machine. Do you have any advice for me as to brand, cost, and where to purchase? I need to fix a skirt for a party in early January.

Thanks much, Myrna

Reply to
Myrna
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Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

I'm very surprised to hear you say this. I always felt that my Kenmore machine left a lot to be desired. The bobbin is underneath and very hard to insert. There is no way to sew a sleeve or other narrow area and I always missed this feature. When the bobbin is wound, the needle assembly is not supposed to move. After servicing the machine 3 times, I gave up and used it the way it was with the needle going up and down when I made a bobbin. So I guess I'd disagree on this particular machine. I want a free-arm, with standard stitches with a bobbin that is easy to reach. All that I have been missing for a long time.

I was looking at an inexpensive Brother online but it seems to indicate that the stitch width and length are not adjustable. I must have this.

Anyone else have suggestions?

Myrna

Reply to
Myrna

I don't usually like any Singer built after 1964, but I bought one of these for my mum recently, and was very impressed:

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Not up to the type or volume of sewing I do* (and you wouldn't want to make jeans or curtains or do much quilting on it), but a neat bit of kit for the price. I bought it after trying LOTS of different lower priced (under £400) machines, and this was the best of them all.

If you DO want to sew heavy duty stuff, look seriously at this:

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quite happily sew through tin cans!

*I have one of these:
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...but then I work as a dress and costume maker! This is NOT my machine - I've still got mine, and it's been hard at work almost every day since 1999!
Reply to
Kate Dicey

Somewhere there's a gear or lever that's not being disengaged. (altho, IIRC, my mom's old machine did that.) The rest of it is all opinion, but it doesn't detract from the general usability/reliability of the machine

Go to a dealer and ask to look at their trade ins. If you've been sewing on a mechanically sound machine, you *will* *not* be happy with a cheap machine.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

Reply to
Jenn Ridley

I guess so.

Well, I bought a newer low-end machine about 7 or 8 years ago for my son and it would never hold its tension, and we ended up giving up and getting a 50s era machine for him. Not having a free-arm but having a machine that ran like a Swiss watch was well worth the trade-off.

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

I have a couple of old, all-metal, mechanical machines with lots of stitches and a free-arm. Mine are a Pfaff 230 and an Elna Supernova. I bought both second-hand, and paid less than $100 for each of them. If I can find them in Reno, I have to suspect that they can be found almost anywhere. These are not the only ones out there, but both of these are good solid machines that run like a watch.

Reply to
Pogonip

We sell a lot of Huskystar machines. They can be purchased from most Husqvarna dealers. Of the hundreds we have sold in the last 4 years, we have seen practically none come back for repair. Two of these machines have top load drop in bobbins and automatic buttonholers.

Roger.

Reply to
Yarn Forward

Kate, how did you try all of those machines? I wonder if there's a place near me in NJ where I can try some out. The Bernina looks very nice as does the Singer you mention. I don't do heavy sewing so it's hard to decide if a light weight is good enough or if I should go for more. Thanks for your help. Myrna

Reply to
Myrna

I've never heard of Huskystar. Are they sold in the US?

The general opinion here seems unanimous that the newer machines should be avoided. That's sad. I was thinking it'd be nice to have a machine that has a free arm and is easier to use. This is discouraging. Myrna

Reply to
Myrna

No, you have misunderstood. The newer *low-end* machines should be avoided, because their quality is very poor. If you think of the machine you bought in the 70s -- if it was low-end, it cost about $100-150. Take inflation into consideration and the price of the same machine today, since mechanical technology has not improved, would be $400-500 to get a machine of hte same quality and durability. But if I recall correctly, that sounded like it was over your budget (wondering if $60 would be better spent toward a new machine rather than repairs on an existing one), so if you really don't want to spend more than about $100 on a machine, you will have more bang for the buck with a used machine than a new one. And they made free-arm machines in the 70s and

80s, and there are good, solid machines out there that you can find that will last you forever.

Now, if you aren't planning on ever doing anything heavy and can live with their limitations, the Janome Gem and the Singer machine Kate talked about might do you well, but one thing I know of is that the Janome Gem has several fixed-width zigzag settings, and I can promise you that you can just about forget sewing on buttons with a zigzag setting that is not infinitely variable. But they would be durable and have a free arm. Of course, you could always get your machine fixed later and then have the durable machine for everything you didn't want a free-arm machine for.

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

You are right...I really missed what everyone was trying to tell me. Now I understand. I don't remember what my machine cost back then, but I now realize what it would take to get the same quality. I have to rethink the whole idea of having this one fixed. Thanks so much for your patience. And yes, the Singer might be a possible choice for me.

Myrna

Reply to
Myrna

My Kenmore is the Model 1310 Zig Zag machine. Does anyone know if this was a bottom, mid, or better machine?

Reply to
Myrna

Myrna wrote:

I took several months, after finding out what mum thought she wanted... She'd had a go of Big Sis's Viking a few years back (and she's played with mine - a Lily 550), when it was quite new, so she knew a few things she'd like that her old Singer 99 didn't have, like sewing backwards! Buttonholes and blind hems were on the list too, as were zigzags and a free-arm. As she's developing cateracts (no surgery until she stops taking steroids for polymialgia rheumatica), I thought she might find the threader useful as well, but like me, it's the only thing on the machine she hates! She also needed a light weight machine so she could move it herself: she lives alone, and uses her desk for her secretarial work for the housing trust she lives in, so cannot leave the machine up all the time, and didn't want to have to call bro over specially to shift it for her. Rheumatic thumbs mean she wanted easy to move dials. She didn't want spectacularly tough, as she can no longer make curtains (neither the space nor the strength in her hands, and, like me, she only ever made them of necessity), and doesn't sew quilts or denim. I took her requirements to my local dealers* and asked their advice. Both recommended this Singer, and I tried it, other Singers the same sort of price, Janome, Silver, Toyota, Brother (yekk! Horrid machines!)... I loved the LOOK of the Brother, but ease of use, stitch quality, and solidity were all far better on the little Singer. I do keep my eyes (and paws!) on the various machines, especially in this price range, as students and parents of kids I teach are often after something like this. I found it easy to use, stitch quality was excellent, the range of stitches good, and the general feel of it was good and solid for such a light machine.

As for the Bernina... Well, it's not a 'latest model' - they have made it for years, and it's one we see all over the UK in schools and colleges. It's as tough as those old black Singers! I've used several when teaching, both brand spanking new out of the box yesterday, and abused by kids for 5 years and never serviced (some schools need their ears rattling on this issue!), and they all seem just to take it in their stride and keep on sailing serenely into the future... If you want a tough machine without bells and whistles but don't have space for a true industrial, this is a very good machine to look at. But while it is 'portable', it's no lightweight!

*I have two independent dealers less than an hour away by car: JEMs in Canterbury, and World of Sewing (a branch of Bromley Sewing machines). Both are excellent, give real customer service, and have sold me used and new machines and servicing for about 20 years.
Reply to
Kate Dicey

No - certain new CHEAP machines should be poked off a tall pier into deep water asap! But some new machines are wonderful (anyone want to give me a new Designer I+? I'd give it a loving home... ) BUT you WILL get more bang for your buck buying a well loved and well serviced older machine that one careful owner has upgraded from.

Once you drop below $500, older but cheaper machines are usually better and more likely to last than newer machines full of electronic gizmos that will be out of date and unreplaceable withing 5 years, should they go... And just do a little research on Brother backlights for some of their machine screens to see what I mean!

Older doesn't mean free of a free arm, either. Take a look at some of the older Viking and Elna, or Bernina and Necchi machines on ebay - plenty of free arms there! Domestic machines of one sort and another have had them since the '50's!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

absolutely. try your neighborhood husqvarna viking store. the huskystar is, i think, made in china. and while you are there, look also at the scandinavia machines from vking which are made in sweden. i think the scandinavia machines are on the 'low' price side but i can't speak to capabilities of each look at

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for viking machine info

imho, that means cheap [not to be confused with inexopensive] machines of dubious source or brand name

klh in VA

Reply to
klh

Yup! That's it, mate! My beloved FIL sews too, occasionally. Made all his own trousers and several suits and pairs of trousers for my late MIL.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

My wife's initial machine was a sears kenmore machine. i really can't comment on the machine because the instructions were not comprehensible by her [or me, then] so it was returned and replaced by a husqvarna viking platinum 770 which came with a much bigger price tag but 3 training sessions and lots of help when we went in the store with dumb questions that could have been answered reading the manual [well, reading the manual after the fact was much easier]. i did complain to the sears manager about the lack of support but that was it. box machine; training in the box by reading manual; not even a videotape like the Vikings

klh in va i'm a guy so i have the serger, a viking huskylock 936 .... just think of a serger as a powertool with thread.

Reply to
klh

Looks like a upper low-range to lower mid-range model for those times. I had one quite similar to that from the same era (and paid $115 for it), and honestly, they are real work horses. My oldest son has it now and it was still going strong when I gave it to him.

But see, even the low-end Kenmores back then were wonderful, durable machines.

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

There is a free-arm version of the Singer 401--sorry, don't remember the model number. The free-arm 401 I saw was produced in a Singer factory in Germany. My other machine is a 401 and it was made when engineers were supported in producing excellent comsumer machinery of all types. In the world of planned obsolescence, it doesn't do to make things too durable. I have my 401 mostly because I like using the old-style mechanical buttonholer. I can hand sew a buttonhole or eyelet but they're never as neat looking as the machine stitched ones. My mechanical Viking can actually do heavier work than the Singer but it's also young enough to be the Singer's granchild.

Max

Max

Reply to
Max Penn

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