How to Buy a Sewing Machine – Expert Experience and Useful Tips

With so many items that can be made from scratch or modified, whether it be clothing or soft furnishings, buying a sewing machine is perhaps one of the best investments you will make. An easy to use tool, once you get the hang of it, ideally no home should be without one.
However, when it comes to purchasing a sewing machine, with so many on the market, ranging from all sizes, shapes, types, and prices, it can be difficult making sure you select the right machine for your specific needs.

Here are a few helpful tips to guide you through the process and ensure you select the right type of sewing machine, which should hopefully serve you well for many years to come.

How Much Are You Looking at Spending on Your Sewing Machine?

When you first start to search the market for a new sewing machine, you do need to have an idea of a minimum and maximum price in mind that you’re prepared to pay for your new product. This is because sewing machines can vary greatly in price, mainly so you if you’re hoping to purchase some of the more top range and favorite of products which offer the highest specs, such as a Janome 2212, for example.

The most basic of sewing machines can be purchased at many a discount price these days, with many such models appearing in high street stores and malls, and even furniture giants such as Ikea now stocking a simple sewing machine type!

However, those sewing machines aimed at specialist embroidery sewing will naturally be at the top of the price range. So too will those devices that perform specific jobs such as threading a selection of colors simultaneously, downloading additional stitch programs or adding fancy decorative stitches and embellishments.

What Type of Sewer Are You?

The sewing machine type you choose can play a vast part in how well you will get on with it once you set in up in your home. For example, if you’ve never used a sewing machine before now or have minimal sewing experience overall, both with hand sewing and machine sewing, you’ll be better suited at this point to a more basic of models which will be practical for your skill level at this early stage.

The basic sewing machines types do much of the prep work for you, such as automatic needle threading and have in place just a couple of sewing tensions and categories, allowing you to begin almost immediately with no previous experience needed.

For the more experienced of sewers, that is those who have worked on sewing machines before and have a broader range of sewing technique knowledge, you may want to be slightly more ambitious, choosing something to match your expertise. Look at machines offering additional sewing features including extra stitches and combined foot accessories, making this a more detailed purchase.

What Should I Look at Using a Sewing Machine?

Finally, before you make that final purchase, you may want to consider if there are any jobs which you will be specifically intending to work on when you get your new sewing machine.

Most sewing machines can handle many clothing types, as well as a selection of soft furnishings. But, if you’re looking at sewing more robust material types on a regular basis, you will want to ensure that your sewing machine can cope with such work. For example, denim often needs a different plate on the device to deal with its durability, but not every sewing machine produces this with your purchase.

The more complex both your material and your garment type is, the more you’ll need a machine which offers several additional features to cope with this increased workload. You can also look at the computerized models here, especially if you plan to be working on much repetitive work over a more extended period.

What Does Your Chosen Sewing Machine Offer You as Standard and as Additional?

With an influx of all types of sewing machines on the market, it has become a very competitive product indeed these days. This is great though when considering how many additional features as standard manufacturers will now offer with their product to gain better sales!

If your machine doesn’t offer what you consider those essential of items, which you know you will need straight away to get started, do a quick estimate of how much buying these extra items will cost you when totaling up your purchase.

You may just discover that this value for money element of your purchase will also play a massive part in the deciding factor if you find out you’ll have to pay more just to get your sewing machine up and running!