Basic sewing machine recommendations?

[silibran]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

The machine here with the nicest plain stitch is the '83 (that's 1883) White treadle. The next favorite machine is a Kenmore from around '77 or so. Mostly because it does zig-zag and has a couple of useful stitches on it. There's a half dozen more, but if I were to just keep two machines, those would probably be the two.

You can usually find a nice sturdy fully functional sewing machine at thrift shops, Craig's List, garage sales, etc., for around $10 - $50. Or ask your local sewing machine repair folks if they have any used machines available.

For new machines, just about everyone at quilting group swears by (not at) their Janome, but I couldn't tell you model numbers.

I liked my old Pfaff bought in early 1970s for its straight stitching, and its abiity to stitch straight. I remember seeing a demo at the Singer dealer back then, and noticing the Singer stitch was all over the place.

However my newer Babylock stitches better and straighter than my old Pfaff.

[patgreer]

Originally Posted by patgreer

I have a Brother CS6000i - It may seem more than basic but it is so simple to use and so cheap I can't understand why you would want to pay more for a machine that does less. It is computerized which might make it sound beyond what you want but this is the 20th century and we also gave up our iceboxes You can always use fewer features and you might surprise yourself when you slowly use more of the features.
I went to fix a blanket cover and simply added button holes and even sewed on the buttons!!
As someone who has sewed for 30 years I really didn't think I needed such a machine -
Now I'm "addicted" to it!!
Take a Look at this site Brother CS6000i - There's a video that really shows it all in action

Still thrilled with this machine but just noticed that the site I quoted seemed to have moved you can see it here now Brother CS6000i