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List Price: $549.00
Sale Price: $209.99
Today's Bonus: 62% Off
This machine has a lot of features, stitches and feet for a reasonable price. The general feeling among people I know who sew is that the Brothers are not as durable or trouble-free as other makes (and I can say, my Brother had problems out of the box--missing parts) but for the money, this is quite the machine. If you have a beginner sewist at home, this machine could really encourage creativity. Or if you yourself sew small projects and kids' clothes, there is a lot here to like.
Stitches: there are 160 different stitches, including many embroidery, quilting and so-called "heirloom" stitches. These can be used to create the effect of handsewn clothes or dress up simple patterns by putting these small ornamental stitches along seams and across plain parts of clothes. For machine quilters, the feather stitch or other decorative stitches can be used over seams or to applique along edges. Your student sewist could even use the stitches to personalize ready-made clothes or vintage clothes. If you are on a budget, you could shop at thrift stores, find some great clothes with good "bones" (a nice blouse, some jeans, a jacket) and then use the embroidery to add a monogram, designs or other embellishments. If you own a "Bedazzler" or are handy with beads and sequins and fabric paint, you can really have some fun with thrift clothes and fabric remnants. If you go on Youtube or other sites, there are many sewists who take vintage clothes and create amazing designs. (One person made a dress a day out of thrift shop finds and created a wardrobe of fashionable dresses. If your budget is smaller than your fashion yearnings, this really could be a way to stretch the clothes dollars.)
For quilters, there is a DROP FEED: this is where you drop the feed dogs and move the fabric freely under the needle. Many inexpensive machines only accomplish this by covering the feed dogs; a drop feed is really what quilters want. Also, you can adjust sewing speed by moving a lever on the front of the machine. In addition, it has the ability to run without the foot pedal; buttons are on the front to control start-stop and reverse. This is very handy when coordinating your foot and hand motions is challenging. But you can attach the foot control if you want to. I find for certain projects, the foot control good, for other projects, I want to use my hands to control the machine speed and start-stop.
There are six different buttonholes, which is unusual in a machine at this price point. You can do measured buttonholes with a foot that holds your button to adjust the size of the opening to fit perfectly. Most attractive of all, the ability to do simple monogramming with a single font. You can't adjust the font, nor add decorative letters but again, the simple ability to add a child's name or initials to a garment or bag is very handy. If you are "crafty", you will find that you can make cute handbags from the many patterns that are available in quilt stores, and then monogram it for a very welcome gift.
The stitches are available to view in a flip-down panel on the front. A good-sized LCD screen shows the stitch and length chosen in front. This is an ELECTRONIC machine, meaning the stitches are set via an onboard computer. That makes for quick changes of stitch and length, but if the onboard computer goes, the machine is not usable.
As to feet, there are the basics: Zigzag foot, Overcasting foot, Monogramming foot, Zipper foot, Zigzag foot, Blind stitch foot, Buttonhole foot, Button fitting foot, and Quilting foot. These are probably all you need, unless you want to add a walking foot to be able to sew on layers that shift (the walking foot moves with the fabric and prevents bunching.) An extended table is included for sewing larger pieces of fabric or quilting.
I usually find the Brother bobbin is not as clog-free as the Janome, but it's acceptable. If you take good care of the machine, change your needles frequently (machine needles get barbed and blunted on fabric and should be changed to stay sharp), if you keep it clear of thread nests and dust, and do not push it through huge wads of material, you will have a very functional machine. For the casual sewist who wants to make children's clothes, small quilts and crafts, this is quite the machine. If you are a production home sewist or are going to do heavy materials and want to expand embroidery to motifs and adjustable designs, this is probably not for you.
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