Sewing Machines?

Any machinists out there??? I'm thinking of buying another sewing machine cos I have lots of curtains I want to take up for the caravans and it would make life so much easier. I noticed Dunelm Mills have them really cheap under £100 and just wondered if these would be any good for what I want to do, i.e. hemming and lots of it? I've always had the Singers in the past, but don't really want to go big, bulky and heavy again cos that's the reason I got rid of them all over the years, but these Dunelms ones look neat and small and light?

Just wondrin'....... Any suggestions welcome please cos I will buy one unless somebody tells me otherwise. Maybe a 2nd hand Singer in the local rag might be better? Thanks.

Seamstress Extraordinaire at your service m'dear!

If all you want to do is sew straight hems, take up clothes that are too long or take them in a bit and so on

Any bog standard electric machine will serve you well.

See what's going on eBay mate.

The more fancy things they do they more they 'go wrong'.

I got a bargain second hander this year and even that has features I will NEVER use.

Most of 'em made in China these days anyway whatever the brand badge says.

If you see one that takes your fancy you can run it past me if you like.

This one's got an hour or so to go before bidding closes

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Decorpro-D...item565b3f8546

Bidding currently at £38 I'd whack a 50 bid on that. You only pay 50 if someone else bids up to 49. Otherwise you get it for 39.

One hour left to go on this at similar price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cooper-Pro...item58a49fe48c

I sold a really GOOD one for 25 just before I left UK. There are bargains to be had.

Honestly if you don't want it for tailoring, jeans, buttonholing, embroidery and all that jazz just go for a decent used one. I've owned sewing machines for more than 40 yrs and to be honest not much goes wrong with them.

Oh thanks for that Pat, I'm liking the idea of taking all my clothes IN here, do you want to borrow it to let yours OUT???!!!!

I totally agree, my last one would do all that zig zagging and gawd knows what when I put a little disk up the top, but what would drive me even more nuts is if I ever forgot how to thread the darn thing it wouldn't stitch properly, the needle would go all heavy, the cotton all tight, I always had a problem with that one you loop the cotton around with the spring (don't know what that part's called?).

Anyway, I shall investigate further knowing I can call on you to give me the go ahead or not then, so thanks for that Pat, much appreciated.

Let's deal with this bit first you old bat. What I was rather hoping was that you would bundle up all your now REDUNDANT bigger clobber and send it to me.

Now I've done the REAL post I will do the POLITE one!

One - there's no hurry - no shortage of used s/machines out there.

Two even if you don't get the INSTRUCTIONS book with it (for dummies who don't know how to thread up a s/m) I guarantee you I would be able to find one on the WWW for you! With pictorial step by step!

Those are the kind of ones I've seen in Dunelms, so, so different to the ones I used to have with the covers going over the top of them. I think I'll pop into Dunelms tomorrow on the pretence that I'm going to actually purchase one, get the nice girl in the linens department to demonstrate it for me, find the one I like and then come home and get on e-Bay then? Seems like a good idea to me. I will let you know which one I decide on tomorrow and see if it'll suit my needs then. Thanks for all the help Pat. I was machine sewing at the age of 4 according to my mum, so there ya go, I missed my vocation in life, cos I ended up working in offices for most of it!

Same here mate. Spent my working life in boring Barristers' chambers, Law Courts and solicitors offices when I should really have been CREATING things on my s/m or at the least working in a Garden Centre or a Dog's home!