Speed control, not just with the foot pedal, which is difficult to control especially when starting a line of stitching, or stitching in gathers. Look for a button or a lever that allows you to tailor the machine’s speed.

Stitch controls, both for Zigzag and Straight stitches. Lower end machines have pre-sets. Look for ones that allow you the most control over the width and length of your stitches.

Decorative Stitches. 99% of the time we use the straight stitch and zigzag stitch for garment sewing, so don’t focus on those decorative stitches. It’s like the 50 apps on your phone that we never use. A blind hem stitch, and an overcast stitch is nice to have.

Buttonholes Eventually you will need to have the ability to make a buttonhole. Some machines have a system to manually create a buttonhole. It’s a 4 step system, zigzag up, zigzag right, zigzag down, zigzag left. Takes some practice but doable and as reliable as the zigzag stitch. An automatic buttonholer is more consistent with size, but they can be finicky. My favorite is one that plugs into the machine and has the ability to hold the material while being sewn. It’s nice to have many 3-4 varieties of buttonhole types.

Different feet options. Be sure to look for a zipper foot as a must, and an edge stitcher. Other feet are nice, but the two above are a must.

If you have the ability to find a mechanical machine with metal parts, go for it, this will last you longer than electronic machines, as long as it has our must haves..

Here are some nice features, but these will cost more: needle up/down function, a warning beep if the presser foot is up and a thread cutting function.

Other tips: be sure of where you can have your machine serviced. If possible, visit, or at least call the different machine dealers in your town. They should be willing to talk you through the features and hopefully you can see the machine online.

You are welcome to contact us at studio@sewinghive.com with any questions pre-purchase. We have an instructor very knowledgable on machines, and her fee is $30 to consult…..would be money well spent to have the correct machine.

Best,

The ladies that sew.