So there you are a helpless babe in the woods. You have just walked into a sewing machine shop (please don’t buy your machine at a big box store) and are confronted with too many machines to count with too many functions, bells, whistles and more that while a bit exciting are also cash drains on your possibly tight little budget.
So what to do, what to do???… the fact is that good machines come at all price points and depending on what you want to do with it even the simplest machine can be your dream machine if it does what you need it to do and do it well!
I know what I personally love in a machine but took my question to the virtual streets of Facebook as well and gathered the skinny on what others think are the most important features.
THREAD CUTTER – This is one of the most mentioned features and some would never do without one again so do try it out on all machines you look at. I agree that I love this feature but the one on my machine is S O S L O W that it drives me nuts! Now in all truth it takes maybe 4 -6 seconds but when doing lots of short bits that need to be cut this time really adds up. – Take away lesson – Wicked fast is better!
NEEDLE UP/DOWN FUNCTION – Just about tied with thread cutting is the needle up and down function. And while not a “sexy” feature it is one that you will never walk away from after you have had it. For those who piece, or need precision sewing this is a MUST HAVE. Being able to indicate that you always want the machine to stop with the needle in your fabric or not seems like such a trite deal but let me tell you… it is like the vibrator of the sewing machine world – you did not think you needed it and after you have had it you never want to be without out it… enough said?? – Take away lesson – Telling your machine where to put it rocks!
KNEE LIFT – For those who have not had a machine with a knee lift it can be an awkward adjustment but there are SO many reasons to love this feature if given a chance. The knee lift will raise and lower your presser foot so that your hands do not need to leave the fabric when doing the more fiddly parts of sewing when everything has to be just so! Down side to the knee lift is that is not always in the best place for each person especially if your machine has a large harp area like mine. In that case there are some retrofits and adjustments that can help ( more on that in another post) but if this feature is an option I say go for it! – Take away lesson – Sometimes you have make it fit!
SPEED CONTROL – Many of today’s machines can sew like a bat out of hell and while that is great there are times that you need to throttle it back a bit Speed Racer! Like when you are using a walking foot. Use a walking-foot at full speed and see why I say you need to go a bit slower… actually don’t try that .. it is a great way to break your walking foot. Speed control is also great for teaching kids and newbies to sew, it lessens the jack-rabbit starts and stops that are the hallmark of those new to machine sewing. Take away lesson – There are many times in life when slower is better!
Feature a lot of people thought they would love and is sadly under-used at best.
FANCY STITCHES – Yep, my machine has over 1,000 fancy-dancy stitches… I could use three of them a day and it would still take near a year to try them all! And while some LOVE all those choices a bunch of us have found that the extra money was wasted, so think twice before you are swayed by a sexy serpentine stitch! Take away lesson, that money might be better spent on say.. a new “other toy”… ahem!
BIGGEST THING ON EVERYONE’S WISH LIST –
BIGGER BOBBIN! – Take away Lesson – bigger is always better!
So what say you… What do you LOVE about your sewing machine, what could go away and what do you yearn for???
I agree with earlier comment, all you need is a good quality straight stitch, a zig-zag stitch and a reverse capability – everything else is fine as added extras, but not strictly necessary. I have used a sewing machine since age 5 and eventually undertook a textiles/art degree and taught textile/fashion design and production. I have had 5 machines over a lifetime, and only one computerized one, my latest. The thing that really bugs me, no one talks about quality – are the internal parts metal or plastic? That has so much to do with how it will run or cause problems and how long it will last. Also, the hook type is so important, is it rotary or oscillating – again this makes so much more difference than needle up/down, cutters, knee lifts, stitches and all the rest put together! I would always have oscillating, and vertical bobbin insert by preferance.
I went from a bernina to a pfaff at work, I am a seamstress as well as a quilter.
The feed dogs are so wide apart it doesn’t sew narrow seams at all. It just sews in one place and laughes at me. Who thought that would make a difference! Yes it has a zillion different stitches, all nice and wide, which I will never use. Needle up down is important, reverse button is great,thread cutter is slow,low bobbin alarm drives me crazy. And all the new machines are beyond plastic. But bernina has stopped supplying parts for machines older than 20 years, so what is out there that is durable?
I can’t live without needle up and down! Two features came on my machine that I never even thought about, but now absolutely love, are the thread cutter and the needle threader. In order to get the harp space I wanted I ended up with many more stitches than I really will ever use. One of these days, maybe I’ll learn how to make quilt labels with the alphabet feature 🙂
I’m fortunate in that my latest machine has all the aforementioned features – but I’d NEVER a want to do without a dual feed function and am loving having a stitch regulator, too!
I read this this morning and thought- Maddie is an awesome writer! I loved it! A thread cutter would not be mandatory on my list of must-haves, but a knee lift would. I like to design and make bags and a knee lift would work well when turning certain corners. I have a needle-down button on both my new Singers, and if I tap the knee lever just right on my 128, the needle will go right down and stay. I have to say I do love to use my decorative stitches. I’m teaching myself to maneuver them around as if I was fmquilting. And a little more harp space on my Quilter would certainly be nice, but oh, well. I found, after reading all the comments, that we all have different preferences when it comes to sewing, and those most likely come from experience. Some of my preferences come from working in sewing shops. There, I loved the speed and the knee lift, not to mention the ruggedness of the machines.
Love that you did this survey — helps me appreciate what I have and calms me down from machine envy!! Hey, shout-out to the Janome MemoryCraft 6600 — I have this one too and you DO have the needle down feature; whenever you stop it will stay down for pivoting etc if you just have the button pushed on the front panel (circle within circle one I think.) I use it all the time.
I agree with your survey results but like the others, I wish for better lighting and for an even bigger throat/harp for FMQ and the Janome has a lot already.
The one thing I don’t see mentioned is perhaps new technology for increased precision in seam widths. We are always being told to use a “scant 1/4 inch” and it’s so hard even with my many years of practice to always get it right. I see ads for Brother and a laser that you can align and that sounds really, really cool! I would DEF buy a new machine if it had everything you listed here in your survey and in our comments along with the better seam technology and better lighting directly above the sewing area.
Ha, you made me giggle this morning. Anyhow, I don’t know if it is standard on machines now, but what I would not want to live without is the needle threader – the little dongle that comes down and puts that wee hook through the eye of the needle and grabs the thread for you. I agree on speed control, and needle up and down, although I don’t have knee control. My thread cutter is the old fashioned on the side of the machine, but I am so used to it, not a big deal.
You don’t need a knee lift on my Husqvarna Sapphire- it auto lower and raises the foot as you sew, which means you can’t accidentally sew without lowering the foot either.
I have one computerized Brother- I call it “Hater”. I LOVE my vintage sewing machines. No needle up & down, no thread cutter. Just a sweet treadle, I go my rhythm and love the perfect stitches. I have 12 different VSM, a few have zig-zag stitches like my Singer 405 and I love it. I look at the newer ones- but just don’t see a need in my life.
I will keep all these in mind if I do decide to break down and get something new… but I doubt it.
Most excellent post! Absolutely loved reading it and all of the comments! I’m an older Bernina 440 middle of the road kind of girl. All of the new and improved bells and whistles are way cool, but I’m not tempted in the least to upgrade. My favorite feature, hands down, is needle down! 😛 Maddie, you rock and I love your total badassness! 😀
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if you could build your own machine? Needle down, stitch regulator, thread cutter, bigger bobbin, straight, back, zig zag, blanket and button hole stitches are all I need and of course a wider harp!!:)
Would love it if someone invented a bobbin that hooked to a spool/cone of thread instead of having to wind the bobbin. Just thread it like we thread the rest of the machine, probably some sort of reason can’t be done or someone would have done it already. I agree, rarely use many of the special stitches, love the thread up and down feature.
Top Side feed dog. Kind of like a built in walking foot…
I could not do without my needle threader! That, along with needle down, is what I use the most.
I sew on vintage machines and I love them. So one of these days I will get a new fancy dancy sewing machine with all kinds of options and will use the notes that others have posted to choose what I need.
Gene black what kind /name machine do you have? Thanks
I love the needle up/down setting, the thread cutter and speed control. I would like better lighting (and thus have an “add on” light) Being a free motion quilter, I love the wider harp space I have – not the biggest in the industry, but sufficient. I think I have a knee lift but have never used it. The fast bobbin winder is a delight – and I think it will wind while sewing – but those are just gravy.
I will say that in my free motion quilting, I do NOT drop the feed dogs. But I do have an easy switch to drop them if I desire to lower them.
Being able to adjust the blind hem stitch length and width is an absolute must of you want to do invisible machine Applique. The knee lift and needle down are also important to me and I would not buy a machine without these features. I also like my push button start and stop and adjustable sped buttons which means I don’t need my foot controller most of the time. One last feature I love on my Bernina is that it remembers the stitch length and width of each stitch if I switch up stitch patterns without needing to turn the machine off. Keeps things consistent. I only wish the bobbins were as big as my Long arm!
I could never have another machine without a needle threader…and everything you mentioned as well 🙂
I have to admit that I love love love my Janome 7700 QCP! It has every function my heart desires! BUT the one thing I would love to have is more/better lighting! What good are all the features we love if we can’t see what we’re doing?!!! I’ve seen the super expensive LED LIGHTS that can be added however the extra money always goes for more fabric!!! What’s a girl to do?
Love all the features on my Janome 7700 qcp, that you mentioned. My absolute favorite is the needle up/down. It stays down when you need it! Especially when using knee lift. Took me awhile to get used to the knee lift but now love it, but want to learn how to retrofit it so it fits my leg and chair position better..
I agree with all of the above, and now that I have a super-amazing industrial Juki 9000 machine, I would have a hard time without the “presser foot lifting/back stitching/ thread cutting” controls all being in the pedal!!! Seriously, I am sure this sounds nuts to people who haven’t tried it, but I never have to lift my hands from the fabric and it saves a oodles (technical term) of time when you sew all. day. long. You have your whole foot on the giant pedal, press back a little bit for presser foot up, and all the way back to back stitch & cut. It’s awesome.
best feature for me not otherwise listed is the ability to move the needle. My Pfaff has little notes on top telling me where to place the needle and the edge of the fabric to make a 1/4 inch seam, 1/2 inch seam, and scant 1/4 seam.
Love/hate: my machine (Janome Mastercraft 6600P) is very heavy – 27 or 29 lbs, and comes with a huge extended (removable) table. When I need to machine quilt a big quilt, or work on a bouncy retreat table, I’m in love! Toting said machine around my house or to the retreat, not so much. One of the big points I wanted was it has a large harp for lots of bunching of the quilt on the right which is great, but that adds to the weight, so make sure you are prepared to lift your beast. This goes to the “bigger is better” consideration!
Obviously the machine has to do a good job on straight stitching, for piecing. The scant quarter inch foot is a true scant quarter inch. I understand on a lot of machines it is not, and that will make for a lot of sadness when piecing.
I agree that the fancy stiches are over sold. You won’t use them nearly enough. I love that my Janome has a speed control, so I don’t get the surges when I’m over-caffeinated and if I’m working on something intricate, I can make it really slow. I wish I could figure out how to keep the needle in the “down” position all the time, it is great for pivoting and keeping things still, but I’m glad I have the choice. Love my thread cutter and self-threader. I have drop in bobbin, so I can see it from the top, but obviously not when the work is covering it up. I’ve whined about wanting a low bobbin alert, but people who have them say it usually alerts too soon, and will drive you crazy. I absolutely love my integrated walking foot for straight-stitch quilting. Also, if you are going to free motion quilt, make sure you invest in a second bobbin case to play with the tension, then you can pop your “original” back in without having to reset the tension.
It is funny that almost every machine description/enticement will go on and on about zipper and button capability, but how many zippers and buttons do quilters honestly make? I think that is a red herring when machine shopping, unless you are going to sew a lot of garments. I did a lot of research and am very happy with my choice. It cost more than my car at the time (about $1700 5 years or so ago), but not nearly as much as a really fancy quilting machines. Sometimes I wish I had saved up for one, such as a Bernina with a stitch regulator, but mostly I am happy. It has also made me practice my FMQing and get better technically. Go to retreats and ask to try peoples’ machines!
I’ve nearly always had a knee lift…necessary. My needle stops up but if I tap the foot pedal it goes down, I’d rather be able to make the choice. Thread cutter? never got in the habit.
Previous model I could wind a bobbin while sewing, I really miss that. Fancy stitches? Nah very seldom use them and when I do am not satisfied with the look.
I once had a sewing teacher, who said you only needed a machine that sewed a straight stitch, reverse, and a zigzag stitch. That was it. All the rest was just extra. If you think about it, that is the basic. Those little featherweights everybody loves, they don’t even go in reverse. LOL Or the one I grew up sewing with didn’t .
While my favorite machine is my older than me Singer 301 straight stitch machine I would most definitely add needle up/needle down and a presser foot knee lift if I could. My also very old Bernina 930 would be perfect if only she had needle up/needle down. As you can see, my favorite feature is to be an old all metal moving parts machine. They just don’t make them like that anymore.
All that you mentioned plus the feature to drop the feed dog. A must have for free motion quilting!
I totally agree… Telling your machine where to put it rocks! I don’t think I will buy another machine without the up down function if buying new. My one machine has this and I love to finish down and another always finishes up, no matter what… no choice! It drives me nuts! I still love my old machines that are like tanks, nothing fancy but gets the job done right 😉