Sewing, Repairing and Reducing Waste

I absolutely agree with everyone who recommends an older machine and a good service centre. But I've gone against that advice for myself and have a newer computerised machine for myself, simply because it has a needle threader and my eyesight is not great these days - I was starting to struggle to thread the needle on the older machine.

Anything that's not the cheapest machine will generally be ok. Most of the fancy options that make machines expensive are not really necessary, as long as the machine can sew straight and zig-zag you have nearly everything covered.

Hi!

Do you have a relative or friend looking to get rid of theirs? They might be happy to show you a thing or two while handing it over, and it's hard to beat free!

If that's not an option, charity/thrift shops or estate sales are great for finding older, inexpensive machines that are often in surprisingly good shape. Keep an eye out for major brands like Singer, Babylock, Husqvarna, etc.

If you're not sure about one, skip it, but if you find one you like, take it down to a sewing repair shop and they should be able to give it a good look and recommend anything it needs as well as show you the basics. If you don't have a repair shop near you and you're comfortable putting photos of the machine online, places like this are handy. Happy sewing!

Hello, not the wrong place to ask at all.

The Singer Heavy Duty sewing machine is one of your best choices if you decide to get a more recent model. Newer sewing machines are notoriously built like crap (which i personally think is done on purpose to try to screw us over so that we will give up and buy retail clothing), and the Singer Heavy Duty just works like a proper sewing machine. You can sew thick materials. For example if you wanted to repair a hole in your backpack, you could do it with this. I tried using a cheaper "beginners" sewing machine and it lasted about a month before the needle got messed up. I'd been using pretty light material too. It was in 2020 and I was attempting to make masks at home. Managed to make two before the stupid machine gave out. The Singer Heavy Duty machine is easy to use, it's just more sturdy.

Make sure you know of a machine service centre before buying a thrift machine. I went through three thrift machines that all failed me before I bought a simple $100 machine new on sale. It's done everything I need, straight and zigzag stitch. I need to go slow through denim or anything heavy, but it's been great.