Friday, May 24, 2013

Out with the Old, in with the New

Otherwise known as, "out with the broken, in with the hopefully longer-lasting and fully functioning."

Otherwise known as my freaking Singer is dying a horrible, loud, metallic yet squeaky, non-buttonhole forming death and I have headed her demise off at the pass and replaced her with a Brother CS6000i.

It'll be my first Brother machine.

I started out on my mom's Kenmore, affectionately known as the "gut buster" because you had to get its 20 plus all metal pounds from the upper reaches of the bedroom closet to even start sewing.  When I started sewing heavily in high school, it stayed set up on a trunk at the foot of my bed and I sat on the floor and sewed.  Hey, it worked - there was nowhere in my room for a table and I couldn't sew in the rest of the house.

When I moved out, I tried to take the Kenmore with me, on the logic that I was the only one who used it.  But it was not to be.  Mom visited my apartment and repo'd the machine, and I ended up with some crappy plastic job from a local chain store that lasted about 2 years.  The best thing about that machine was the store credit card - the interest was horrific, but at least I had credit.  And a sewing machine.

After that, there was a secondhand Necchi that I got from a friend of a friend.  That sewed like a dream until one evening greasy smoke started billowing from its innards.  Mr. Necchi left in a hurry.

That was followed by a Singer that lasted me at least 10 years; that was replaced by an old boyfriend (who was gratified that my kind of shiny gift objects were power tools or sewing machines) with another Singer.  That lasted until shortly after I bought my house; it was replaced by the predecessor to the currently deathbed machine.  When it kicked, I tried to have it repaired but the repair would have cost more than the machine was worth.

My sense of thrift is offended that it costs more to fix things than replace them, but I'm also no fool with my money.  If I can replace for less, or close to it, then I will.

The current Singer has lasted for about 2.5 years of daily sewing, sometimes for several hours a day, on any and every type of fabric.  It was about $129 new.

I think I got my money's worth, but it still irks me.  I also think it was having problems before this happened.  That just seemed to exacerbate it.

I read reviews on Patternreview; I looked at machines at SewVac Direct and Ken's Sewing; I asked my sewing friends on Facebook.  I eventually looked at Amazon.  The machine I'm getting had 28 reviews on PR, mostly all positive.  There were 1,612 reviews on Amazon, giving it 4.5 stars.

And despite wanting to buy the machine from SewVac or Ken's, I ended up going with Amazon because it was more than $30 cheaper.  Again, I'm no fool with my money, especially when there's less of it coming in.

Brother will be here soon.  I'm expecting great things, but really, I'll settle for no squeaks, no thumps, no metallic grinding noises and really good buttonholes.

10 comments:

Kimberly said...

I love my Brother. I also started out sewing on the floor because I had no money (or space) for a table in my senior year of high school.

cidell said...

At the quilting and sew expo I went to a few weeks ago, a multi brand dealer told me that the new brothers are on par with Janome and some of the computerized Berninas.

I just replaced my serger and I'm waiting a few more months before I replace my Kenmore.

Hope you enjoy your new machine!

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Karen, may I ask why you're not looking for an industrial machine? For the type of sewing you're now doing, it would probably handle it better and the machine would be able to do the every day sewing. While the brother has good reviews it won't hold up to the sewing you're going to use it for, IMHO.

meredithp said...

It would be interesting to compare the life of one machine that was more expensive (and lasted a long time) vs. the series of less expensive ones. Hope you are happy with the Brother. It's always fun to get new equipment!

SEWN said...

Wow, you work fast! Enjoy!

Unknown said...

I have that machine and LOVE it. It was my first Brother as well, and now has two siblings keeping it company (serger and embroidery machine) ;)

Rose said...

Good luck with your new machine! You certainly did get your money's worth with your old machine. With the amount of sewing that you do, you may have to replace it more frequently than those of us who just plod along.

Anonymous said...

We're machine twins now! I'm taking it out of the box FINALLY today to test drive it.

T. Sedai said...

That was my first machine! I also got it from Amazon, and it lasted me well for about 3 years. I really enjoyed sewing on it and I think it is a great deal for the money. Mine did break eventually, but only after a rather abusive bout of sewing through sequins. I found it cheaper to replace than repair, so I totally understand your logic. I hope you like it when you get it. The buttonholes were nice when I used mine.

Lisa and Robin said...

I will be watching for updates. I have a Janome and it's fine. But I'm now working it too hard and have had to fix it twice. I won't do it again. So I'm in the market for a new machine. Also, I have, officially, retired. I just haven't stopped going in (at least for the next two weeks).