'Never Leave Me'
[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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.)
You know Tim's reading and now wondering how he can kill someone with a sewing machine.
I bet you could kill someone with one of those industrial sized ones. At the very least, I'm sure you could maim them.
Janome is another brand I researched a lot and had a good rep.
A friend who I really trust and who is not trying to sell me a sewing machine (because she's too busy drooling over my mom's old Singer Featherlight that I have now) sells Janome and swears by them. Plus, some of the fancy ones that she has do really nifty embroidery. Although it makes them not last as long, there is something to be said for the computerization.