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I am new here and I am looking into buying my 1st sewing machine and I know that the models are different from the states to Australia. I would like to know which one you would recommend and why?
It is on sale for $399
http://www.brother.com.au/homesewing...bCategoryID=11
or this one which is on sale for $1199
http://www.brother.com.au/homesewing...bCategoryID=11
Thanks,
Karleen
Hi Karleen, welcome to Sewing Mamas and Australia. :hithere:
I don't really have any experience with Brother machines so don't know how much help I'd be but I see no one else has answered your question so thought I might just give you my 2c worth. :cheerful:
Those 2 machines you've chosen will probably be like chalk and cheese. There's a big difference between them. If $$ are not really a problem, personally, I'd go for the NV-600. The cheaper one is really just a basic machine. It only has a 1 year warranty where as the more expensive machine has a 5 year warranty.
How long have you been sewing? If you've only just started and not sure that you'll love it, then I guess the cheaper machine will be a better option. Then you can get a good feel for the craft and the machine will probably serve you well for several years before you feel the need to upgrade. If you know you already LOVE sewing, then definitely get the dearer machine. It has SO many more options and will most likely perform better.
The best advise I can really give you is to make sure you go to a machine dealer and not Spotlight to buy your machine. That way you can actually sew on all the machines you are interested in and get a good feel for them. I'm sure if you did this, you would be able to make up your mind what you'd like. Most dealers are very good at narrowing down what machine will truly suit you. Well, a good dealer will. You won't get much, if any, help if you buy from Spotlight. You will also need to take your machine back to *a* dealer to get it serviced at some stage in the future.
Good luck with your decision making. Hopefully someone with "Brother" experience will be able to chime in a bit here too. :yes:
Edited to add: Oh, I wanted to say check http://sewing.patternreview.com/ and see what folks think of these machines but when I looked, neither of them where there. :(
I am a newbie to sewing. I looked at a small shop and they were very helpful, I would not go to Spotlight, they were $200 more for the Brother NS-30.
I am not sure if I will love sewing yet, I am trying my 1st project soon. I don't mind up grading later on if I really enjoy it (even if I buy a new one in a years time, but I would hate to to spend the money and then not use it.
Also I don't want to hear about it from dh if I don't use it.
No one I know sews, so I don't have a machine that I can borrow.
Thanks,
Karleen
Karleen, I had a look at the .pdf brochure on those machines and whilst the dearer one obviously has a lot more features, I must say I was very impressed with what you get on the cheaper model.
If I where you (and obviously I'm not. LOL), I'd test drive that cheapie, have a chat to the dealer a bit and if you like the way it sews, go for it. You can do a lot with that machine. Just make sure it'll happily sew through a variety of fabrics. That's the only thing I'd be worried about with a cheaper model but apart from that, it looks great. It's got a ton of stitches that could see you out for as long as the machine sews. Lots of folks here have just an old straight and zig zag stitch machine and make beautiful creations.
Go for it. It's a great price. As I said, just give it a little test drive.
Good luck!
Dot,
I did try the model and it was very user friendly, I may go for that one to start with and if I really get into quilting or something else I can get a more expensive one and I will also know a bit more as too what options I would use, and Dh won't kill me over the price because he will see that I use it. He gets to upgrade his digital camera every year or two, so I can upgrade sewing machines. I here that it can become addicting.
I wish I knew someone here to sew with. None of my friends here are into crafty stuff.
She did say that I can do small quilting projects on it.
I hope that I will be able to take a quilting class sometime soon.
Thanks,
Karleen
Yeah, go for it Karleen. If you like the way it 'drives', it'll be just great. You'll be able to do pretty much everything the one with all the 'bells and whistles' can do. I have a great new Bernina with lots of bells and whistles and to be honest, 99% of the time, I only use the basic stitches. I had a wonderful old top of the line Pfaff for over 20 years and only ever used the basic stuff on that too. It's kinda like cars really. You can get the wonderful top of line models and yes, they're lovely but they still only get you from point A to point B the same as a little cheapie runaround would.
You'll be able to sew whatever you like. As a beginner sewer, I think the NS-30 will suit you just fine.
Hopefully, when our 'merican friends wake up, they'll be able to put their 2 bobs worth in.
All the best! :)