FEATURE
The sewing machine reviews don’t just stop here. Keep up with the latest sewing machine reviews and profiles on the CRAFT blog ( craftzine.com/blog).
Try ebay.com, about $350
By Arwen O’Reilly, Staff Editor
My parents got me this portable Singer at an antique store when I graduated from college because I was moving around so much. It drops right into a little carrying case with all the attachments and the original instruction booklet. I love it because it’s absolutely gorgeous (who wouldn’t love the gleaming black metal with gold lettering?), but also because it’s so old-fashioned. It’s electric, but otherwise so simple I’ve been able to figure out how to fix it every time something’s gone wrong (which isn’t often). Plus I like the idea that I’m somehow connected to the people who owned it before me.
berninausa.com, $800
By Hope Meng, co-author of Sew Subversive and co-owner of Stitch ( stitchlounge.com)
Everyone knows that Berninas are the Rolls Royce of sewing machines — luxurious, high-quality machines at luxurious, high-quality prices. Our need for beginner machines at Stitch (and my bias toward vintage machines at home) made me shy away from Berninas for a long time, but when I finally used one, I fell in love.
I was using a standard machine to work on a Burning Man costume made out of stretch vinyl and chiffon (um, could I have chosen two more difficult fabrics to put together?), and I was getting very frustrated ripping out stitches because my machine couldn’t handle the fabrics.
Then I turned to the Bernina. It ate that fabric up like it was buttered toast, creating beautiful, even stitches in a perfect, straight line. I had spent a full hour trying to sew one straight seam, and the Bernina just churned it out like nobody’s business. But you pay for that privilege. The good news: you won’t ever need to buy another machine.
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