What Is The Best Sewing Machine For Beginners?
You don’t need a machine with lots of bells and whistles.
People and businesses sell sewing machines and sergers on eBay, online auctions, Facebook Marketplace, and garage sales. We want to share some tips on what to look for in a sewing machine. Often, beginners bring machines that make learning harder. Based on input from our instructors, here’s a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves:
We thought it would be helpful to give some tips on what features to look for in a sewing machine. Many times, new sewers come into the Studio with machines that make their new sewing journey difficult.
With all the instructors weighing in, here is the list of must-haves.
Stitch controls, both for Zigzag and Straight stitches. Look for ones that allow you the most control over the width and length of your stitches.
Decorative Stitches. 99% of the time, we use the straight stitch and zigzag stitch for garment sewing, so don’t focus on those decorative stitches. It’s like the 50 apps on your phone that we never use. A blind hem stitch and an overcast stitch are often included with most machines and are nice to have.
Buttonholes. Eventually, you will need to be able to make a buttonhole. Some machines have a system that allows for the manual creation of a buttonhole. It’s a 4 step system, zigzag up, zigzag right, zigzag down, zigzag left. Takes some practice, but doable and as reliable as the zigzag stitch. Sometimes, the automatic buttonhole features can wear out and may not always function consistently.
Different feet options. Be sure to look for a zipper foot as a must, and an edge stitcher. Other feet are nice, but the two above are a must.
If you can find a mechanical machine with metal parts, go for it. This will last you longer than electronic machines, as long as it has our must-haves..
Other tips: Be sure of where you can have your machine serviced. If possible, visit or at least call the different machine dealers in your town. They should be willing to talk you through the features and know where repair services are offered for their machines.
Janome produces reliable sewing machines and has been a favorite company for some time. The Brother Machine is a nice one, too, and these can be found online.