Old sewing maching broke down. Kindly recommend me a new one please?

[Cesar Valdez]

Getting more and more into MYOG projects after finishing up El Saco Rojo. I just ordered some Argon to play around with. Anyhow, wife and I are not sure what to get, as our machine was a hand-me-down from her grandmother literally from the 60s. What's not too expensive but built to last, and can handle sewing fine, UL fabrics? In the future we'd also like to make sleeping bags for our kids (thinking M90 and 5.0 Apex) sometime soon, so a one time investment in a solid machine would be nice. I noticed that IKEA has a very cheap sewing machine, but read mixed reviews, and does not exactly seem like a built to last option.

There is a place that sells used machines that I will check out sometime this week. It would be nice to know some good options before I go in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Tim Marshall]

For years all EE products were seen on my emerald 116. I upgraded to Juki last year but mostly for more speed. Hard to go wrong with a Viking.

-Tim

[peter vacco]

sewing machines of the 60's kind that are made of metal and work great have no actual cash value. they are found best if asked about and normally GIVEN to you. no need to spend money. but do spend some time asking about.
there are zillions of them out there. avoid (i am told) the horizontal bobbin units.
as for light weight fabrics, they all don't do them very well. is an "acquired taste" sewing that stuff.

once you have your new-old machine, open it up, spray it clean with brake cleaner, and re-oil … adjust to suit.

i am about 10 blocks from a Huge sewing center here in sacramento, and drop by from time to time, but in all those trips, i am not seeing anything really better for single seam work in light materials than my old singer 223 ( $ value = zero).

do i own $pendy machines ? oh for sure yes. several. ( i even got a thing that just presses grommets, cost me over 500 bucks)
but for sil and pertex … the old free singer is the tool of choice.

now .. if i was going in big, i think i'd look at a needle feed unit for ultra light stuff.
ask around.
get something from your friends for nought but a decent bottle of wine.

cheers,
v.

[David Adair]

Did you check to see if your old machine was repairable? My wife has an old Phaff 130 we have been using for ages. We order and install a new part here and there and have it professionally cleaned every 10 years whether it needs it or not. You will have to service and maintain a new machine after a few years anyway.

[Roger Caffin]

The machine I use for tents (Elna) is not much newer than that. It works fine on all my tents.
The machine I use for packs (old black Singer) is probably from the 50s. Mind you, I have also sewn silnylon and silk on it.

The point I am making is that old machines of that vintage rarely 'break down' – they just need some maintenance and adjustment. Clean out the fluff and the old oil!

I will stick my neck out and warn strongly against cheap modern plastic electronic machines: they do not last! I have done some repairs …

Oh – do NOT use cheap cotton thread: it does cause all sorts of problems. Good poly-cotton is the best for home sewing.

I agree with asking around elderly relatives for an old machine. Then learn the very simplest of basics for maintenance and tension adjustment. You will get a LOT more joy from the machine that way. And no, you will NOT need the 1001 stitch variants found on the modern (digital) machines. Most of those stitches are either fancy embroidery or the programmer gone mad. All you really need is straight stitch (>90% of work) and 3-step zigzag (the rest). Single-step zigzag is not good with light fabrics.

The horizontal bobbin in the ELNA works just fine, btw. No problems at all.

Cheers

[Bob Gross]

"You will have to service and maintain a new machine after a few years anyway."

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

I have a Brother that is several years old now. As long as I don't try to sew through leather or layers of heavy denim, it works fine. I put a new needle in it once in a while, and that's all.

–B.G.–

[Ken Thompson]

Let's see a photo and tell us what your machine is not doing correctly.

[peter vacco]

more …

if your machine has just lost the function of say.. the foot control, you can nab perfectly good brand new foot controls off ebay for about zilch.
the belts are quite reasonable as well.
a new tensioner assy can be challenging to find, but it can be done, especially if not too picky about it color matching your EXact model.
ebay sells new motors too.
Roger is all good on this, the older units are just fine for what we do.

i have a perfectly decent 30 yr old bicycle. it does not have finger grip one touch shifters. but, if i go out and bonk on a long ride, i would imagine that it's not the bicycle's fault. just like new sewing machines, it's got literally 18 gears, and of them … i use 2.

[Cesar Valdez]

Thanks all for the feedback. Based on it, here is my plan:

Try and get the old machine fixed up. If it costs more to get it fixed than half the price of buying a new one, sell it to the sewing machine shop and buy a new one. I looked up the model that Tim recommended (emerald 116), and it is in the range of affordable for us.

From what I gather from my wife, it's a good machine, but some parts need to be replaced and it needs to be serviced in general.

Really looking forward to learning how to sew myself. I have a lot of gear that I'd like to make in the future. Been thinking a lot about rather than replacing certain gear by buying new, going MYOG. My windshirt, for example, gets a lot of use and I already fixed a few small holes on it. That's first on my list after I run it into the ground.

The Argon I bought, however, I am going to use for my 2nd summer sleeping bag. I just couldn't leave good enough alone with the M90. Should drop the weight from 311g to around 280g, and I am even thinking about doing a mummy cut to try and squeeze off a bit more weight. But I digress…

I hope that fixing up the old machine is the solution. If old machines can handle sewing silnylon and silk like Roger says, then this seems like the best choice. I have to remember to buy finer needles too.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Cesar

Yes, fine needles – I use #60.
Also try to buy some Amann Rasant 120 thread – it is excellent stuff.

Cheers

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