what sewing machine should i buy? what should I look for in a

>>1229993
Straight stitch? A Singer 301 or before. Really, anything Singer from the mid 50's or before is bulletproof. Singer 404 is also good but they are rare as hell.

Zig-Zag? Singer 401 and 403 are the best zig zag machines they ever made. The 500/503 were also good but the previous series was the peak. 600 is okay. Avoid anything Touch & Sew or later.

>>1230004
i think just straight stitch. i just need to be able to do alterations. are 60 year old sewing machines really reliable? does buying used make sense?

>>1230044
Yeah. Sewing machines are a mess of horrible clockwork but 99% of them in existence are the same design of Singer that's existed for a century so parts and labor are cheap. Any fabric store will usually also service machines, if you don't want to do it yourself (which is understandable since they're mostly non-adjustable steel parts that either work or don't)

>>1230044
Absolutely. Post your local Craig's List and I will have a look at what is available in your area. Chances are there will be a decent machine in the $50-$75 realm available.

I bought a pretty awesome one from Joann (Singer Confidence Stylist) half off and have never had problems with it during the last four years I've been using it. As someone else suggested, if you're comfortable with it, you could always buy one used on Craigslist or somewhere similar. My first sewing machine was a Shark and it was ok for a starter "seamstress."

>>1230064
Does the Confidence have serious advantages over Singer's more basic models?

OP, I hope you will pardon me but I would prefer to not make another thread:

How difficult is learning to sew? I would like to learn but I feel a bit overwhelmed by looking at tutorials and the like.

>>1230597
Easy as fuck to learn. Especially if you have a decent machine. Hard to master.

>>1230597
If Indian children can do it, so can you.

>>1230597
It's pretty painstaking, but the theory of it is not very complex.

+1 for an ancient Craigslist singer.

>>1230597
>I read the manual of the sewing machine my wife had.
>googled some videos here n there.
>bought some, what I though was a durable looking material. About two yards and made a backpack.

Dont be afraid to fuck up is the best advice I can provide.

File: DSC_8236-L.jpg (104KB, 800x532px) Image search: [Google]

104KB, 800x532px

>>1229993
>Be me, a few years ago
>Tired of paying a local seamstress to repair my gear all the time
>$20 here, $50 there
>Wonder how much a sewing machine is, they can't be that hard to use
>look on craigslist
>no fucking idea what's good or not
>obviously no support post-sale if I do fuck something up
>go to local sew/vac shop
>"Hi, I ... uh, i'm looking for a sewing machine."
>guy reminded me of a used car salesman
>"This is the one for you! It'll suit you perfectly! Metal gears! Combobulator! Stringo-pneumatic-lifting mechanism version 3! Just what you've been looking for!!!!1!!@"
>... what? "How much is it."
>"You can take it home today for $799!! It's a great deal!!!!@@"
>lolnope.jpg
>"Hold on- wait--- for you, how about $699!!!!!@one!!!"
>later nerd

cont'd

File: IMG_20150530_184117111_HDR-L.jpg (77KB, 800x451px) Image search: [Google]

77KB, 800x451px

>>1231121 cont'd
>Go to another sew/vac shop
>walk in, lady greets me "Hi, how can I help you?"
>"I... i'm looking for a sewing machine. Not really sure what I want, but i'm mostly looking to repair my gear - nylon, velcro, mesh, those sorts of materials."
>"Hmm, so what budget did you have in mind?"
>"About $200, give or take. Not real sure what I need."
>"So a basic machine. This one over here does this, that, has these features. It's $399."
>"If you're willing to go without the upper feed foot, you'll probably be able to still do what you want but these machines might not feed as well. This one over here's $250, and if you want this add-on you can get it later for $60."
>"And ... you know, over here... we've got these reconditioned machines for $180. Doesn't have this, that, but it's a great starter machine."
>"We also offer a 1-year pro-rated trade-in if you decide to go with something different."
>"Also, we have free classes on how to use these machines"
>hands me catalog
>"Here's the dates, it's the "Sewing 101" classes, got one coming up in two weeks."
>Night and day difference from the used-car salesman I had before
>lady, you just sold me a sewing machine

Stopped by a goodwill on the way home to pick up a table for it.
Got it home, set it up, went through the manual... I was able to put a few stitches in some old fabric, but I still had no idea what I was doing and wasn't about to go fucking up $300+ motorcycle pants.

cont'd

File: IMG_20150628_161301405-L.jpg (94KB, 800x451px) Image search: [Google]

94KB, 800x451px

>>1231125 cont'd
>Go online, register for class
>Day comes, I pack up the sewing machine, scissors, bobbins/thread, etc that I have for it and throw some of my riding gear that's got holes in it into the truck
>get to the store, lady that sold me the machine greets me and asks "oh no did you break it already??!"
>"Nah, i'm here for the class."
>"Oh great! Tables are set up in the back for you."
>Everyone else there is at least twice my age, all female
>"Hello class, i'm melissa, i've been working here for 9 years, professional seamstress for 35 years, let's introduce ourselves and what we want to do with the sewing machine."
>"I'm ethel, and I want to get into quilting."
>"i'm brenda, and I want to sew a wedding dress for my daughter."
>gets around to me
>"I ... i'm anon, and I want to fix all the motorcycle and snowmobile gear I wreck."
>Melissa shows us how to thread a bobbin, set up the machine, do a few basic stitches
>Goes over some other tips/tricks, here's how you change the foot, use this foot for this material, or if you want to do this type of stitch
>Here's some other tools/materials that'll come in handy with various projects, and here's how you use them
>Here's how you clean/service/maintain the machine
>This is how you do button holes
>learned so much in two hours
>"Thank you all for coming, if you have any questions i'll be around for a while"
>grabbed my riding pants, "This is the sort of stuff I want to fix, how do I set this up in the machine?"
>she looks at the hole in the pants, looks at the machine, looks at the other side of the pants, "Hmm."
>"So I'd take a piece of cordura, trim it about this big, shove it inside here so it's covering the hole. Take this part off the machine and set it up this way, do a straight stitch around the hole to tack the patch in, then a zig-zag to pin down around the hole."
>brilliant.png
>i can do this
>Get home, set up machine, get everything threaded, and in go my pants
>Just like she said

>>1230597
It'll be hours and hours of adjusting tension screws and then it just kinda werks.

That said, the style of sewing that machines produce is fucking awful and loose and pulls out like nothing.

I still vastly prefer sewing by hand and while I don't regret getting my machine (it was only 40$ at a yard sale) I'm probably only going to use it for big things that I don't want to sit and sew for an hour by hand, or on stitches that will end up being visible and have to be even

File: IMG_20170203_133733448_HDR.jpg (186KB, 676x1200px) Image search: [Google]

186KB, 676x1200px

>>1231128 cont'd 4/4
After you figure out the basics, the rest of it's pretty easy.

Fucked up the zipper on my sleeping bag. Threw it in the dryer to fluff it up/dry it out after a trip and the zipper melted against the rear drum. $20 for a new zipper (better one with bigger teeth), half an hour with a seam ripper to remove the old zipper and pin in the new one, and probably another 30mins under the needle to stitch the new one in.

Clip on the bottom of my snow pants ripped off. Common issue, my rep at the company said it happens a lot with a certain lot/style. They'd fix it for me, but it'd be a month before I had my pants back, and it's middle of the season.
Used some 3/4" web, bought a pack of snaps and the setting tool... under an hour I was able to have a working clip that hooks to my boots on my snow pants.

I've built pouches to organize/contain equipment in my pack. Just kinda eyeball/freehand, trim the corners, flip it inside-out. Looks and works great.

Velcro on my jacket/gloves gets a ton of abuse. The gear's fine, just the velcro's fucked up. That shit's real easy to replace with the right tools. Machine made some real unpleasant noises with my heavy adventure jacket.

Started racing XC again. Needed a race number on my back, which is standard fare but I'll be wearing a pack for these races (Sno-X I don't, and the numbers on my vest are fine).
Bought some orange packcloth, cut to size, fold/stitch. Meets race req's for size/color (visibility).
Cut out my #'s in black packcloth, pin down and measure to make sure they're level/spaced evenly. Light zig-zag stitch to keep the black numbers on the orange material.
Punched some grommets through the corners, safety-pin to my pack... and i'm race-legal with my pack on.

That sewing machine is well worth what I paid for it, and I wish I bought one much earlier.

File: 1503030110434.jpg (208KB, 980x571px) Image search: [Google]

208KB, 980x571px

>>1230597
Let me set you up chum.
http://pastebin.com/hnXtzTk7