How to Buy a Sewing Machine

It’s the perfect time of the year to be shopping for a new sewing machine, but what machine is the best? How do you purchase a new machine with confidence, knowing you’re buying the very best machine for you? And how do you eliminate the risk of winding up with a lemon – a machine that just doesn’t do what you want?

I recently did the math and realized I’ve owned 15 different machines in the last 15 years and I’ve purchased several from dealers, online from big sewing machine sites, and on Ebay, and I’ve finally sat down and shared my top 10 tips for buying a new sewing machine. Watch it all in this free video:

Yes, I am a bit of a foot junkie! I realized a few years ago that 99% of my attitude to a specific machine had to do with the feet – how they attached, how secure they fit on the machine, and how accurately they measured the seam.

Wobbly feet make me crazy, and this is one of the main reasons I’ve steered clear of certain sewing machine brands. If I touch the foot and it wiggles, I usually keep looking for another machine.

Click Here to read more about buying a new sewing machine. 

Are you planning to buy a new machine this year? What are you specifically looking for and do you plan to trade in or keep the machine you have now? Have you ever purchased a machine you regretted? Did you keep it or trade it in for something better?

Buying a new machine is really fun and exciting, and I hope this video has helped you understand the buying process and how to make sure you’re buying the perfect machine for you.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

2 Responses

  1. I think the first step is to analyze what you like to do. No point in buying features you won't use. I love my Bernina because of the snap on feet, it's the bottom of the range, but I don't do embroidery, so it does everything I want. The more I did FMQ the more I liked it, so I've just bought a Handi Quilter Sweet 16 and am swooning over it. I'm blogging about my first month with it here, and include a special shout out to you, because you taught me to FMQ!
    http://liveanddyecolor.blogspot.com/2015/12/handi-quilter-sweet-sixteen-day-4.html

  2. Jen Barnard says:

    I bought a previous sewing machine on the internet and it was good at first, but soon became a nightmare. I took it to my local shop to see if they could fix it for me, but they said they didn't touch that line because once they broke they were almost impossible to fix – they didn't have to say that, they could have made money from me though. What impressed me most was that they didn't then try to sell me another machine. I went back a few months later to buy a new machine and they did all the things you said, teaching me how to use it and showing me all of the features and were very friendly and helpful. They also gave me a reduced rate on my first service because it was only a year old. Customer service like that really is worth a great deal.

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