Light weight sewing machine
08-13-2015, 03:38 AM
#21
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 159
I have 2 of these machines - one at my summer place and one I use heavily the rest of the year. I also recommended this machine to 2 friends who wanted a lightweight machine for classes/home use. Great little machine that serves me well. I bought the first one that I use most the of the year in February 2009 when my lifetime Kenmore 'died' and could not be repaired when I was in the middle of my first official quilting class. Never a complaint about my 'little brother.'
I had a very inexpensive Brother CS6000i that is a good machine with 60 different stitches. My niece and nephew own it now, and despite their youthful enthusiasm and experimental tendencies the machine is going strong after being in their "care" for over a year. Periodically they abuse it enough that it errors out and stops but they've discovered if they turn it off for a few hours it'll self-correct when they turn it back on. My sister tells me they've even sewn through cardboard with it. Amazing. For an inexpensive modern plastic machine it's a pretty good workhorse!
My only gripe with it was its size (too small to quilt large quilts) and that it's so light it tends to scoot away unless you have some grippy mat stuff underneath. But other than that it served me well as my primary quilting machine, I quilted an oversized twin in it, no problem, and for piecing it was great. I'd still have it except that I wanted to encourage my niece and nephew to sew.
They sell on Amazon for around $140-150. It comes with an extension table and a quarter-inch foot (and a bunch of other feet), and it has a needle up/down button. The case is the kind that's just a cover, but it is a hard shell and the built-in handle on the machine itself makes it very easy to port around.
My only gripe with it was its size (too small to quilt large quilts) and that it's so light it tends to scoot away unless you have some grippy mat stuff underneath. But other than that it served me well as my primary quilting machine, I quilted an oversized twin in it, no problem, and for piecing it was great. I'd still have it except that I wanted to encourage my niece and nephew to sew.
They sell on Amazon for around $140-150. It comes with an extension table and a quarter-inch foot (and a bunch of other feet), and it has a needle up/down button. The case is the kind that's just a cover, but it is a hard shell and the built-in handle on the machine itself makes it very easy to port around.
08-13-2015, 03:59 AM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 2,103
Janome Jem 760 is a great machine and very lightweight. That is what I use for classes now, I think it has 50 or 60 stitches and only weighs about 11-12 pounds. Love it!
I used to have a Brother cs6000i that I loved except for the fact the needle was left homing and I kept breaking needles when I forgot I had a straight stitch foot on. I understand the next model up was center homing. If the cs6000i had been center homing, I would never had gotten rid of it, because it had tons of stitches and weighed 11 pounds.
I used to have a Brother cs6000i that I loved except for the fact the needle was left homing and I kept breaking needles when I forgot I had a straight stitch foot on. I understand the next model up was center homing. If the cs6000i had been center homing, I would never had gotten rid of it, because it had tons of stitches and weighed 11 pounds.
08-13-2015, 08:17 AM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 847
The Pfaff Passport is ideal for all of your requirements you mentioned. Has 70 design stitches. Has IDT, a built in walking foot, a Pfaff trademark that even Bernina tried to copy. Check out this link:
http://www.pfaff.com/en-US/Machines/passport-2-0
http://www.pfaff.com/en-US/Machines/passport-2-0
08-13-2015, 08:43 AM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Live Oak, Texas
Posts: 6,133
I have a brother that has the walking foot and other feet you need for quilting and a large number of stitches. I bought it at Walmart for around 170,00 and I love it. It is very light and easy to carry around.
08-13-2015, 10:36 AM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: East Arkansas
Posts: 2,534
I have a Brother too, bought at Walmart and it has the embroidery unit. Really like the machine, don't use the embroidery unit like I thought I would so could have saved me some money. Brothers rock!!
08-13-2015, 01:16 PM
#30
Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: illinois
Posts: 27
I have the babylock Grace. it is light weight and I like the way it sews. Use it for most of my piecing as it has a needle placement for 1/4 inch. The only drawback I found is that it doesn't sew over heavy materials very good.
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