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I am an ex-antiquer and because of that, I was a garage sale and thrift shop hound. I can tell you for a fact if you go to local garage sales you can find Elna’s and Vikings for less than the 300 price range you mentioned. I can remember seeing at least 3 Elna’s but only one Viking. The lady wanted only $26.00 for the Viking. I bought it and sold it using an add in the paper for $250.00. If you try to buy either of these brands brand new, forget it. Oh yes, all of them worked.
If you’re just piecing tops, you may do just fine with a straight stitch only machine — it’s actually more precise than a multifunction machine.
In that price range, I’d probably be looking at Pfaff, Viking, Elna, Janome, maybe Bernina. Juki, Toyota for multifunction machines.
If you intend to machine quilt, instead of just piece, again, a straight stitcher may be exactly what you need. You will also want to pay attention to how much room is to the right of the needle — when you start feeding bulky quilts through, the more room, the better.
Go try machines at the best dealers around. Don’t let them oversell you or undersell you. You might consider a decent used straightstitcher for now and then come back for the machine of your dreams when you know what it is.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:53 am
louise
go to a reputable sewing machine store, do not buy one from walmart or some other discount store, will not do quality work for the most part
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
reilly
My mom sells Viking Huskvarna. I think they are cool.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 pm
martineau
brother – mines lasted along time and is reliable
look at the best quality one with the most stitching styles etc that you can afford
September 4th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
roberta
Check out user reviews about just about anything on
Here’s the link you need
September 6th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
brwhit
I am an ex-antiquer and because of that, I was a garage sale and thrift shop hound. I can tell you for a fact if you go to local garage sales you can find Elna’s and Vikings for less than the 300 price range you mentioned. I can remember seeing at least 3 Elna’s but only one Viking. The lady wanted only $26.00 for the Viking. I bought it and sold it using an add in the paper for $250.00. If you try to buy either of these brands brand new, forget it. Oh yes, all of them worked.
September 7th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
gashep
Best advice I can give you.
If you’re just piecing tops, you may do just fine with a straight stitch only machine — it’s actually more precise than a multifunction machine.
In that price range, I’d probably be looking at Pfaff, Viking, Elna, Janome, maybe Bernina. Juki, Toyota for multifunction machines.
If you intend to machine quilt, instead of just piece, again, a straight stitcher may be exactly what you need. You will also want to pay attention to how much room is to the right of the needle — when you start feeding bulky quilts through, the more room, the better.
Go try machines at the best dealers around. Don’t let them oversell you or undersell you. You might consider a decent used straightstitcher for now and then come back for the machine of your dreams when you know what it is.