So what do I think a beginner should do in the vintage sewing machine vs new debate? It pained me to stop using my handmedown Kenmore, but I think my Grandma would be happier that I’ve truly learned how to love sewing, by letting go of her machine. If I hadn’t grown up around sewing, I surely would have given up! While vintage machines might be heavier, sturdier, more well made, they can also be finicky and expensive to fix at a shop (emphasis on the can! I know they can also be wonderful and well made and totally worth it). I wasted months of stopping & starting, frustrated at the machine’s limitations, and not knowledgeable enough to understand when it was me or the machine. The salesperson showed me all the bells and whistles, with a stop/start button, automatic threading, but I couldn’t stop smiling because it just. I visited the local Janome & Brother dealers to see what they had, was absolutely repelled by the Janome salesperson, and cringed my way through a $400 machine purchase at Brother. My baby wouldn’t sleep, my sewing machine wouldn’t cooperate, the hobby that I thought would be “me time” was just as frustrating as the rest of my day! Finally, I’d had enough. I spent hours of time, trying to rethread, replace, tweak so it would behave. I took it in, sunk in $100 for a cleaning and a tension knob replacement, was thrilled for a week until… the knob was wonky again. The tension knob was temperamental, leading to constant fiddling and fixing. Looking back, a few of the projects I failed on were user error like choosing the wrong fabric (bulky home dec for a roll-up shopping bag) or too difficult for a beginner (alphabet shaped pillows) BUT even more of the projects that frustrated me, were beyond my control. I read the manual, I cleaned it carefully, and I dove in.Įxcept it was more like a bellyflop! I stopped and started so many times, because I’d get frustrated with the process or the results. I’m not a particularly sentimental person, but I loved the idea of making things for my son, on a machine that made things for my Mom. She sewed, my Mom sewed, and once I got pregnant with my first child, I finally learned to sew. This is the vintage Kenmore sewing machine that I inherited from my Grandma when she died. I’d love to hear your experiences with vintage sewing machines vs new, in the comments, too! Their parts are made from metal! They are more reliable! They are better quality! I always chime in with my experience, and decided to write it out into a full blog post instead. The debate of vintage sewing machine vs new can get heated! Often found in Facebook sewing groups, someone innocently asks “I’m looking for a beginner machine, any suggestions?”, not 5 seconds later, people swoop in to clamor about how vintage machines are the best.
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