Any sewing machine buffs here?

[wafflycat]

Picking of brains please.

I'm in the market for a new machine. My Singer is finally giving up the ghost - it is about 20 years old. So... of makes Singer, Brother & Janome, which do you prefer & why?

Ta!

 

[colly]

Not sure if Pfaff do domestic machines but they are generally very good.

 

[mistral]

Mrs M makes curtains at home professionally - she has an Elna 3003, it's several years old, it does get an annual service, but has been very reliable.

 

[Brains]

Leave me out of this - you are not picking anything of mine!

And Mrs Brains has a Brother, seems to work well, does that make him my Brother in Law ?

 

[fossyant]

My missus has 3 Janome and a brother. She says go for auto button hole and auto thread. She has 2 computerised sewing and embroidery machines. A janome memorycraft, a brother innovis and two overlockers......lets say they match my bikes for cost......

 

[redshift]

What's bust on the Singer? They're still going, and you can get spare parts for lots of them - does it just need a refurb?

 

[Over The Hill]

Picking of brains please.

I'm in the market for a new machine. My Singer is finally giving up the ghost - it is about 20 years old. So... of makes Singer, Brother & Janome, which do you prefer & why?

Ta!

20 years old is nothing! Mothers is still running after about 45 years and many of them were with it used full time as her job.
Bushes go on the motor with general wear but to repalce is a five minute job. If it is dead then it may just be the cables to/from the foot pedal as they flex about a lot and eventually break down inside. Again a quick fix with repacement cable is easy.
Aside from that they are fairly bomb proof and rather over engineered. Diddnt Singer used to have to smash up the PX ones they took in as they lasted so well.
No one seems to want them now so there may be some around for spares for a pound or two.

 

[Night Train]

My hand cranked Singer is a 1933 and still going wonderfully well. I had to replace a cracked bobbin winder mechanism earlier this year but that was due to accident damage. I use this one most often for small jobs. For example, this morning I put on a new pair of trousers for work and found that the pockets were a little too shallow so that pens and phone kept falling out. I extended the pockets with some old shirt sleeve before going to work.

I also have an industrial Singer from the 1960s. It is wonderfully powerful and not too fast so it is really good for sewing thick fabics and leather.

I did have a Brother industrial which was good but also very fast and was a bit like driving a Porsche with a racing clutch.

There was a really good Ebay seller who had or could get original or reproduction parts for most of the Singer machines and was really easy to talk to about what was needed and what had failed. Unfortunately he has stopped trading due to ill health.

 

[wafflycat]

Ta all.

My old Singer now costs more to service/repair than buying a new machine. Sad but true as I rang the local Singer place yesterday. It still works for basic straight stitch, but for the 'fancy' work, bits are missing. I'll be keeping it as an emergency machine (or getting rid via Freecycle to someone who needs something very basic, or who by getting it free, wants to spend the readies on putting it back to full working order). I did some replacement cushion covers on it yesterday and it's fine for that. MrWC has just gone and ordered me a Brother XR6600, and looking at what it does, it's more than ample for my needs. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Forgot to add... MrWC's grandmother's Singer is in the loft...

 

[jimboalee]

Some trivia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Motor_Company


Some more trivia.

A man on a racing bicycle had a greater power to weight ratio than the 7 hp Swift.
And so, he could climb a 10% faster.

 

[redshift]

My old Singer now costs more to service/repair than buying a new machine.

Gah... modern life is rubbish.

This is exactly why I haven't bought a new camera - an expensive SLR fails after only 3500 shots, and they can't bloody mend it. Then they wonder why I don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on another one...

 

[Campfire]

I've got an Elna. What you have to watch for in cheap machines is the size of motor - I thought they were all the same. My mum got one given to her & she has given up the ghost with it, it's so slow & nowhere near as powerful as her old Singer.

 

[bicyclebelle]

I have a Janone sewing machine and overlocker and I have never had any problems with them. I did a dressmaking course earlier this year and, rather smugly, I can say that mine was the only machine that didn't jam throughout the ten weeks. My dad's an engineer and he bought me the machine and the mechanics of the thing are really interesting to him so he did much research -he reckons it something to do with the bobbin lying flat rather than upright - I'm sure there's a technical way of expressing this but tbh I have to confess I switched off as he was explaining. Sorry dad. Great machine though. And I can recommend a great pattern for cullottes (handy for pootling on the bike in 'normal' clothes.

 

[wafflycat]

Hmm... adverse developments. It seems the place I ordered it from may not be all it makes out. We shall see. The order has now been cancelled. Everything is in writing and phone calls logged. There seems to be a pattern emerging. Plus - the money was taken *twice* by the company...

We are told refunds are made. We shall be checking up on this. Especially as there's been a subsequent phonecall from the company which, sadly, seems to be the start of the adverse patterns of action I've subsequently found out about as regards the organisation.

In all my years of ordering stuff online without hassle, this is the first one where I've had deep reservations and that 'oh no' feeling in the pit of the stomach. The plastic card has been cancelled - just in case...

 

[redshift]

Hmm. Do you have an alternative supplier? My local shop is Hobkirk, and I've never had a problem with them, but I'm usually calling in. Even closer (just around the corner) is a shop which does 'proper' industrial machines as well as some domestic ones, but I don't think they have an online ordering system. M&S sewing machines is the name.