Sewing Machine Purchase Advice

[Nifty-Chicken]

GF and I have been interested to dip our toes into sewing. We don't expect to do it often, so we don't need anything fancy.

We were at a thrift store and saw these models below.

I was going to get the Brother since it seems like a great deal (assuming it works)... but I'm worried that there may be something wrong with it, and since I have no sewing machine experience, might not know what problems are from the machine or user-error.

Any suggestions?

 

[Theorrin]

singer and brother are both amazing brands. parts are also easy to find for them

 

[nuthatched]

The brother looks new and singers quality has degraded over the years.
I've had both, I prefer my new brother, very user friendly.
Alot of people buy machines for special projects and never actually start them or its very likely it was bought for something to do during covid and never used. $25 is a great price.
Both look to be good machines. I've never had a computerized one so I can't advise you on that.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Thanks!

I figured for $25 if it doesn't work, I'm not going to be at a huge loss... and if it's missing a few bits/bobs, I'm sure I could find them on Amazon.

Maybe I can find someone local that is an expert and they can help me set it up and learn the basics

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I wish I had looked more closely while I was there to see if the Brother had the power cord, and other "necessary" parts.

... that said, a replacement cord seems to only be like $8 on Amazon.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Personally my Brother machines have been far superior to the singer.
Very old singers were great but the newer ones are loaded with issues in my experience.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Ok, my impulsiveness kicked in!

We had rode our bikes to the thrift-store originally, so either-way we would need to go back. The GF mentioned that her grandma is an expert at sewing and could probably help us figure it out, so we drove back down just now.

I plugged it in at the store and it powered up fine, so I brought it home.

Closer inspection:

• A weird oily grime / stain on the top plate
• Missing the large "extension" tray that usually comes with it (no big deal)
• A bunch of the bits/bobs were in the compartment (shown in pic)
• BEST OF ALL: It seems all the original blue packing-tape is on the needle, etc., so I'm assuming it's pretty much brand-new!!!

I spent about 10 mins cleaning it up as best I could and removed all the grime, tape, sticker, etc. and it looks pretty good!

Here it is showing the blue tape and the "factory inspected" sticker still on the plate:

 

[nuthatched]

New sewing machines are fun. My latest one is a 1950's Brother-made in Japan, I pulled it out of a dumpster, it works great, just needs a belt.
What are you going to make?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

What are you going to make?

Me: Mostly fixing stuff (like the car cover that just tore in the wind)
GF: Adjusting clothing

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Ok, a bit of a snag

The cord that "came" with the printer is a double-barrel "shotgun" type female connector...
like this:

...but the sewing machine wants a female plug that is square one side and round on the other, like this:

So, at the thrift-store, either:

1) Hot/Neutral doesn't matter for this machine
2) I got SUPER lucky and inserted it just right when testing (50/50 chance)

I'm nervous to plug it in again

Does anybody have one of the ROUND/SQUARE plugs, especially for their sewing maching?

Can you tell me if the "ribbed" part of the cord goes into the square or round part of the female side of the plug?

On most cords:
Smooth = hot
Ribbing = neutral

... I just need to know which side (square or round) is hot vs. neutral.