The new Singers at Target look like toys. My mom's old machine weighed about the same as a Jetta.
Marco: Do we look reasonable to you? Mal: Well. Looks can be deceiving. Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down dirty... deceiver.
'Out Of Gas'
The Minearverse 4: Support Group for Clumsy People
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
Allyson - Apr 30, 2006 7:41:16 pm PDT #9748 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
Spidra Webster - Apr 30, 2006 7:45:14 pm PDT #9749 of 10001
I wish I could just go somewhere to get flensed but none of the whaling ships near me take Medicare.
Folks on the sewing lists I'm on generally recommend good old machines over the new stuff. Singer Featherweights and others are tanks that will keep going for a really long time. No cheap plastic parts to break, no computerized stuff that can only be repaired certain places. Mine is a Sears Kenmore from 1965 or 66. Very basic, but indestructable.
What does your mom want out of a new machine? That's the place to start.
WindSparrow - Apr 30, 2006 8:05:13 pm PDT #9750 of 10001
Love is stronger than death and harder than sorrow. Those who practice it are fierce like the light of stars traveling eons to pierce the night.
Allyson, when I was looking to buy my sewing machine, a friend of mine - rocket scientist for the Navy, whose real calling in life is sewing and designing clothes - said that Brother manufactures the mechanisms for many of the top-dollar brands, and when the mechanisms go through quality control testing, the best ones get put in machines with the Brother name. So there is a thought, if you go with a new machine.
aurelia - Apr 30, 2006 8:06:31 pm PDT #9751 of 10001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.
Bernina is popular in costume shops and with quilters. I have a really old Singer and a newish Singer. I always pull out the old one when I need to sew something.
WindSparrow - Apr 30, 2006 8:09:57 pm PDT #9752 of 10001
Love is stronger than death and harder than sorrow. Those who practice it are fierce like the light of stars traveling eons to pierce the night.
Bernina is one of the brands made by Brother. Elna and Pfaff, too. I think there are some others.
Crafty link: [link] Clean or Dirty?
P.M. Marc - Apr 30, 2006 8:23:22 pm PDT #9753 of 10001
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
My mother loves her Bernina, which has got to be 25 at least by now.
She's cheating on it with her serger, but I think she'll keep going back to the Bernina.
DavidS - Apr 30, 2006 8:25:13 pm PDT #9754 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Any suggestions?
Aha! I just researched this because I was going to buy JZ one for xmas.
You don't want one that's computerized. You can buy refurbished ones at specialty shops that still have long warranties and will last forever. (20 years) The older metal ones last longer than the newer plastic ones.
Generally speaking the European ones are going to last longer. Folks like Viking and Elna models.
There are some really good deals to be had online, especially when they're closing out a model. You can find $800 machines for $350 if you shop around.
A lot of specialty shops will let you try the used ones in store, or take them home for a month to see if you like it.
eta: Yeah, I also heard Bernina and Pfaff were good. (Note the euro names.)
DavidS - Apr 30, 2006 8:30:23 pm PDT #9755 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Polter-Cow - Apr 30, 2006 9:31:01 pm PDT #9756 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
You know Tim's reading and now wondering how he can kill someone with a sewing machine.
Kristen - Apr 30, 2006 9:34:11 pm PDT #9757 of 10001
I bet you could kill someone with one of those industrial sized ones. At the very least, I'm sure you could maim them.