Get an old black Singer sewing machine, one that does straight stitch. Cheap, and you can't kill it. A model 201 or 15-91, or 301 slant stitch. Most couture sewing is only straight stitch with hand finishing - you don't need fancy stitches unless you want them. This way you can continue to sew while deciding what features you may want on a modern one. I specialize in fixing up old treadles, which may be older than you want, but if you do serious costuming, you want something that can handle heavy fabrics, and the old ones can do that beautifully. Sewing a tent on a modern machine can get you a huge repair bill! And feet exist that let you do piping. So, look around carefully. Go to a real sewing machine dealer and try some new ones. But don't let them sell you more machine than you need/want to pay for. Nobody NEEDS a multi-thousand dollar machine - but you may WANT one for some special feature/stitch that you in particular love to do! Do your research - you can do far better than the plastic wonders at the local Walmart, for less money if needed.Just my 2c, -Megan owner of a ton (literally) of old Singers, Whites, and a few specialty machines.
On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 1:55 AM, Don Eisele <[email protected]>wrote: > So, the short story is that I'm getting a divorce, and her sewing > machines are not going to be accessible to me anymore (or her sewing > skills for that matter). > > So, I am looking at buying a machine, and would like some opinions > on what I should get. > > Currently, my wife has a nice Bernina Artista 180e, which does > about everything. Basically, I haven't done anything more than > be an assistant for a long time, so I'm not sure how much of the > extra feature set I'm actually going to need. > > A couple of options I see: > > 1) Go to walmart, buy something like the Brother CE-5000PRW, which > has every basic thing I think I'd need, and appears to do automatic > buttonholes. > > a) pros - cheap enough to buy another if it has problems > b) cons - not as expandable with features, no local repair > > 2) Buy a Bernina > > a) pros - local repair, an attachment exists for everything > b) cons - costly > > > My areas of interest change often, so I can't say I'll be only > doing one period of clothing. > > One thing the Bernina has is a piping foot to actually make > piping out of whatever fabric. I don't see such a beasty on > the Brother, but I just am not sure I am well enough informed > on that. > > Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice everyone has, and please forgive > me if I'm acting too much like a newb... because I am one :) > > -- > Don Quixote -- Takeda Kiyoteru -- [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
