A Guide To Choosing A Beginner Sewing Machine For Quilters
Picking thebest beginner sewing machine for quilting is not exactly like choosing one for garment-making or doing general crafts. So to help you navigate through all the extra choices, I gather this list of the criteria you want your future sewing machine to have.
When I first learned to sew, what I used was a 1970’s Kenmore machine. I found it in the attic and to my surprise, it still worked well after all these years no one touched it.
A vintage Kenmore
It has cams that you could add to its peg so that you had a variety of different styles. I did not like making garments with it because the machine made it a lot harder to sew buttonholes. However, it was wonderful for quilting. This is why I am confident that you don’t really need an advanced sewing machine or the one with a wide range of stitch options to make beautiful projects.
It came with a lot of feet that even until now, I have not yet found their uses. However, speaking of feet, what you really need for quilting is a walking foot.
Then came my next sewing machine when the sweet old Kenmore gave up after so many years of working without a single slip.
This one was the best affordable sewing machine for beginners at that time. I did not have much of a choice back then because my budget was tight back then. It was more of a machine for making clothes. Its throat was small and the feet it came with were for garments, not quilting.
So now you know my quilting history. After that, I switched to many other sewing machines so I have gathered decent knowledge about what a quilter needs in a sewing machine.
I am not going to give you a brand name directly because I know different quilters have different preferences and budgets.
My Recommendations For Good Beginner Sewing Machines
1 - Stitch options
Check the sewing machine’s stitch options. The more there are, the more expensive the machine so you want to think carefully. Many experienced quilters never use more than a handful of stitch options on their machine so there is no need to purchase one that offers too many stitches. The most common stitch options are the zigzag, blanket, and straight stitches.
2 - Needle positions
The drop-in bobbin is the easiest to use. It does not need a bobbin case so there are fewer parts to worry about.
You will want to choose thebest cheap sewing machine for beginners with needle positions that can be changed. As you know, the golden ratio for seam allowance in quilting is ¼”. This type of machine will make it a lot less hassle to achieve that allowance.
You have to pivot and turn quite a lot in quilting so you want a good sewing machine that allows you to lift or lower the needle easily. If you can lower the feed dog when quilting, it will make free-motion quilting a lot easier.
3 - Auto-threading function
When you piece and quilt, the project will look a lot neater if your first sewing machine can cut the thread automatically. The machines with auto threading functions will make your life a lot easier. You can thread a machine by hand if you don’t have one like this. However, I still prefer this option because I want to save time for other tasks. I used to have the best sewing machine for beginners making clothes and it can auto-thread.
4 - Large throat & bed
Pick the sewing machine with the largest throat width you can possibly purchase with the money you can pay.
You will need a larger bed for quilting so pay attention to this too. A lightweight machine is good in many ways, but this also means that the actual bed size is not so much. The larger the bed, the easier it is for you to piece and quilt. Some manufacturers offer extended beds so you may consider purchasing them and fixing them to your machine.
5 - Speed control
Speed Control is another thing I love about a sewing machine for quilters. It allows you to slow down when you need to sew intricate patterns or speed up for borders.
A free-arm is a feature that is handy if you need to sew tight spaces often.
You will need a lot of thread for quilting so to save yourself some time, pick a good cheap sewing machine for beginners that can accommodate larger spools.
6 - Sewing feet
A quilter should have the following feet: a darning foot (or some people may call it a quilting foot), a walking foot (I will explain below), and a ¼ foot.
¼” foot
Walking foot has a set of feed dogs on it so your quilts will be fed through the machine at an even pace. The majority of quilting projects have 3 layers so if you don’t use a walking foot, these layers may slide off course.
A ¼ foot is what quilters use to keep the golden ratio for the seam allowance. Not all projects will call for a ¼ allowance but a lot of them do. So if you quilt a lot, think about buying one.
Many sewing machines have most of or all of these feet accompanying the machine. If you can find one like that, it’s wonderful! But if you cannot, the manufacturers do offer them at a decent price. There are many basic sewing machine models that offer a wide array of feet nowadays. If you want to know what they are, this websiteTop Sewing Products CraftsSelection might point you in the right direction.
Final Words
To conclude this guide, I want to repeat something I said earlier. You don’t need an advanced model of sewing machine to start quilting. In fact, my all-time favorite is the 1923 Singer 221 Featherweight. It’s vintage, lightweight, and runs like a dream.
For quilting only, I highly regard the vintage models. But I don’t say that you should bring home one. Sewing machines nowadays can do things that our previous generation could not dream of. So why don’t you take advantage of that and buy a modern one?
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Originally Posted by phill4paul
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