sewing machine

[miyanc]

whats the going rate for a working machine for an idiot? Used or new.

[Jimbo3b]

Got a 30-year old Kenmore off Craig's list for $50.00, along with a sewing lesson. It's solid (lots of metal).

You want one that does straight and zigzag, and a buttonhole maker is nice.

The important point here is the sewing lesson--you need to know how to wind a bobbin, thread it through the machine, and set tension. So either get a used one from someone who knows sewing but doesn't need it anymore, or go to a real sewing machine store and get a lower cost machine that does simple things well.

Jim

[cwciwatch]

I paid 11.00 at a tag sale

[Ramblinrev]

prices are going to be different everywhere and any where. Check the "guidelines" post in my sig for what to look for. Others have found it helpful.

[miyanc]

prices are going to be different everywhere and any where. Check the "guidelines" post in my sig for what to look for. Others have found it helpful.

i will check it out.

[miyanc]

i was looking on amazon and felt lost. 400 or 40 and I wasnt so sure why. I will start trying to look out for stuff. straight and zigzag and buttons. got it.

[Ramblinrev]

If you have an adjustable width zigzag you can do buttonholes. The only thing a button hole feature does is compress the action into self described steps. You dan't have to do everything manually. For the amount of button holes I make in gear making I could live without it easily. Now "sewing" is a whole different thing. I just finished a full length Inverness cloak. I needed to make 8 buttonholes for that. The feature was nice to have. But that is "sewing" not "making gear".

[miyanc]

my mom just told me she has a hand held something. How bad is it going to be?

[DemostiX]

Got a 30-year old Kenmore off Craig's list for $50.00, along with a sewing lesson. It's solid (lots of metal).

You want one that does straight and zigzag, and a buttonhole maker is nice.

The important point here is the sewing lesson--you need to know how to wind a bobbin, thread it through the machine, and set tension. So either get a used one from someone who knows sewing but doesn't need it anymore, or go to a real sewing machine store and get a lower cost machine that does simple things well.

Jim

Or you could spend hours and hours figuring out yourself, including the time correcting elementary errors, like failing to re-thread correctly and completely after breaking the thread. <smile>

So, seriously, you got a fine deal with that lesson. Part of the high price of sewing machines in constant $ in the old days was the support from the seller, instruction, and lessons, sometimes for months or even a year. (Same, today for 'spensive sergers, especially.) Repairers, from Elna for example, were trained to watch the owner try and fail to accomplish something, and then to show the owner how to do the operation correctly, since most of the time, from their QC charts, it was operator error, not machine error that was the problem. I agree with RR on a button hole attachment as a rarely used feature. But, to have someone show you how to use time saving attachments, demonstrating that they really can save lots of time? I'd take that over a hard-to-rewind Youtube lesson.

Further, the seller can not be selling you a lemon / turkey, something which will fail to perform with a skilled-enough operator, which you are not (yet).

Finally, the advantage of buying from a specialist store or a long time owner-operator is that the seller doesn't have ignorance or arm-length agency as an excuse to sell something that may be broken, left to the buyer to confirm.

[Ramblinrev]

my mom just told me she has a hand held something. How bad is it going to be?

worse than you can possibly imagine.