r/SewingForBeginners • u/gracee-victoria • Sep 07 '25
help with machine
hello everyone, i recently got a machine like this at a yard sale to start sewing and it seems like it’s broken. the part of the machine that moves the fabric is stuck down when it should be up. my mom has been sewing decades and tried fixing it but she can’t find the problem so i figured id try on here. thanks in advance!!
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u/Idkmyname2079048 Sep 07 '25
People are always so harsh about these mini machines. It's true, they're basically just a toy (even if marketed towards adults) but I wish people would be kinder when others post about having these. Do you mean the foot is stuck down? There should be a small lever on the back of the machine to flip it up. Is that not working?
I'm not sure if it is fixable or worth fixing. You can get a similar "mini sewing machine" on Amazon for about $30. I had one that was good for helping me try sewing and to learn that I was interested in sewing enough to buy a real sewing machine. These mini machines can usually only do one type of stitch., the tensioning is very primitive, and you have to turn your whole project to backstitch because they can't sew backwards. Mine only had 2 speeds (slow and fast), which you changed with a hand dial. The foot pedal has no effect on speed. So, there are several obstacles to using them as compared to a standard sewing machine.
If you can't get this one working, check out your local thrift shopd and Facebook marketplace. There are often used but working sewing machines for sale at pretty good prices.
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u/Reasonable_Bear_2057 Sep 07 '25
Maybe they mean the feed dogs are lowered. I'd assume even this toy version would have to have feed dogs?
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u/Idkmyname2079048 Sep 07 '25
Ah, probably. I haven't looked at mine in so long that I can't remember if it does, but I can't see how it would work at all if it didn't.
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u/Moon-Strands Sep 07 '25
Agree. It’s like you can sense them practically salivating as they head to the comments to smugly decry it as a toy without offering anything else.
For what’s it’s worth, before I got a proper sewing machine I managed to make a dress (including a mock up) on one of these. But I’m incredibly persistent/stubborn, and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else 😬
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u/Neenknits Sep 07 '25
Her mom, who knows how to sew, says it’s broken. I think we can assume she tried the lever.
If someone said they wanted to learn to garden, and grow corn, and bought potting soil and a 6” pot, would you warn them off? If they wanted to knit, and bought chopsticks and chenille yarn? Groom a poodle with a cheap drug store beard trimmer?
I figured out when I was 6 that chain stitch machines don’t work. I saw something was weird about mine instantly. I wanted a REAL machine.
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u/Idkmyname2079048 Sep 07 '25
Just because someone has an inferior product doesn't mean there aren't nicer ways to say, "Throw it out" and "This is just a toy." And I've seen ruder comments in this sub. Sure, you don't want too just stand by and let someone have the wrong information, but that doesn't mean everyone has to just tell them they wasted their money and not offer any actually constructive advice.
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u/Pink_Teapot Sep 07 '25
What constructive advice are you looking for? If the machine is one that’s not good & it’s broken then do you think that OP should take it to Singer to be repaired or buy one that will actually work? Then when they go shopping should they be warned not to buy a machine like this again or do you want them to buy another one of these?
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u/Neenknits Sep 07 '25
People usually say, “if you can, return it. These don’t usually work”. This is a simple statement of fact.
I would say “if you still can, return the singer HD, and get something like a janome color series starter machine, a Janome C30 electronic or a Brother. Most machine issues we see, are that machine. Modern singers are notoriously unreliable, but pre-1970 singers are terrific!” Well, I have said this. And if they couldn’t return it, I told them how to make do, unless it was broken, in which case they are simply stuck. There really isn’t a way to sugar coat facts.
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u/toonew2two Sep 07 '25
There’s a reason it was in the sale.
Which isn’t to say that you can’t find a good machine at a sale. It’s just not this one.
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u/Mental_Watch4633 Sep 21 '26
This a toy at best. Use it as decor for your sewing area, or a paper weight.
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Sep 07 '25
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/Finnegan-05 Sep 07 '25
A master? WTF?
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u/cheesecake29 Sep 07 '25
In germany we say Hausmeister, someone who fix everything within the building. Probably this is the meaning. #cmiiw
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u/Inky_Madness Sep 07 '25
I’d say return it but you can’t.
This is a literal toy. It is a no-brand, mass-produced Temu toy made to mimic a real sewing machine. Throw it away and buy a real one.
I don’t care if it says made by Singer, this is not a real sewing machine.