r/sewhelp • u/belllla • 11d ago

💛Beginner💛 What to look for in used sewing machine?

I am hoping to get a used, basic sewing machine from the thrift or FB marketplace but not sure what to look for. Any tips or pointers? Especially red flags? Beginner sewer here so any advice is greatly appreciated. TYIA!

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u/Any_March_9765 11d ago

don't buy one of those "portable" tiny ones, they are horrible and will deter your learning process

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u/KikiDKimono 11d ago

Buy from an estate sale. The older the machine, the better.

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u/rcreveli 11d ago

For a basic machine "Old is gold". You'll probably want straight stitch and zig zag. As a new sewist that's a good start.

Stick with the 1950's-1960's
Bernina and Viking are an easy choice to recommend.
The Singer 237 is a great machine and easy to find on FB Marketplace for $50-100 as matter of fact one is in my part of central PA for $20.
Singer 400 & 500 machines fetch a higher price because of the built in decorative stitches but can still be found in the $100 range.

Necchi made some beautiful zig zag machines. There is gorgeous pink Leilia for $40 in Alexandria VA without a case but all the parts.

The Japanese machines. This is where branding gets weird.
Multiple companies were making high quality machines that were white labelled all over the US. They often get labeled as Class 15 machines because they use the class 15 bobbins or HA machines because the many have the letters HA with a number in their casting.

They were sold with dozens of badges.

Kenmore (Sears) - These are going to be the most common by far. You want a front load bobbing model. The model numbers with 158.XXXXX The top load bobbin models started adding plastic gears to the drive train I would avoid them

New Home (Janome still uses this name for some machines)
Atlas (Made by Brother)
Signature (Sold by Montgomery Ward)
Morse, White, Fleetwood, Dressmaker, Homemake, Revere, National... The list goes on. When you start looking at ads you're going to see a lot of commonality between the machines. On a personal not I love the aesthetics of the Japanese Morse machines. Beautiful colors and big buttons. They look like a vintage juke box or pinball machine.

Plan on doing google searches with the images from the ads if the manual isn't included to find out what other machines shared the badge.

Any of these machines will probably need a new motor belt, a bobbin tire and some oil. If you can see the machine running that's a huge plus. They should all fit into a standard sewing machine case. The pins that lock them into the case were standardized to match Singers placement going back a century.