I’m guessing that this Brother sewing machine does everything except the dishes, but I’m not convinced it doesn’t actually do the dishes when you’re not looking. With over 1,600 reviews it’s rated at 4.5 stars, and right now the price is just $136. It slices! It dices! It makes perfect julienned fries! Okay, not really. But it does come with a zillion accessories (quilting table! 9 different presser feet!), does automatic buttonholes, and has an LCD screen to choose from the eighty gazillion stitch options.
It’s fancy, is my point.
It also has an automatic needle threader, so please don’t tell my kid about that, because when I bought her a sewing machine last year she became convinced it was a cruel exercise in needle threading. If you’re in the market for a machine, this one has all the bells and whistles, for sure.
It is not a bad starter machine. I had one VERY similar to it when I started out a few years ago. If you are making small things, it is fine…..if you are planning a queen sized quilt, you might want something with a larger space from needle to machine.
All in all, I loved my first Brother sewing machine — 1000 of times better than the old Kenmore from the 70’s I had before it (when I decided I couldn’t sew because I hated fighting the machine).
When I upgraded to a better machine, I offered my Brother to my mom. She’ll love it as much as I did, I’m sure.
And if auto-threading needles would get your kid excited — I bet she’d flip out for warnings when the bobbin is running out OR auto-tension OR if she gets REALLY fancy — integrated walking foot (where the fabric is pulled through the machine with the feeddogs from the top and bottom — great for thick things like quilts and flannels). My machine even has a touch screen and scroll wheel….like an iPod. Fancy 😉
I have that machine, and love it. It’s not the fanciest, and the plastic chassis makes me worry sometimes that it’s going to fly away in a good breeze, but it’s easy to use and communicates when it’s not happy – something I seriously need from a machine.
I also snapped up that machine when it was on sale just before Christmas (this current price is lower!!!) and I love it. Super easy to thread, even easier bobbin switching. I don’t use the needle threader (because I can still see well enough to jab it through the hole). It is light, but I’ve gotten used to that. I think my favorite feature, though, is the speed control. With it, I’ve been able to get my 7 year old sewing. She can set it to the lowest speed and work the pedal herself (sometimes we’ll bump it to the middle for long straight stretches). Definitely recommended!
Yay for good reviews from Wantnot readers. I bought this machine earlier today and am hoping to have hours of fun with it!
I have this machine and LOVE it!
This looks very much like the one I have–just used it last night, in fact. Since I hadn’t done any sewing since home ec, way back in the 80s, I needed something simple that would be good for someone that knew enough to thread the thing and press the pedal, and that’s about it. This thing does way more than I’ll ever need to ask from it, but enough so that I’m very pleasantly surprised that it can do a fancy little hidden hem when I need to tweak a pair of pants or something.