What is the best sewing machine for a design student?

Question

I am an apparel design student and want to get a machine for home. At school we have industrial machines that we use. What kind of machine would be best for me at home? Price doesn't matter I want something that's going to be useful to me for a long time.

Answer 1

If you're used to industrials, most home machines will be horribly slow, and you'll also find you can't use many of the binders and other attachments you're used to, it won't have a knee lift for the presser foot, and it won't have a thread cutter (though the last two are creeping into some home machine lines).

You might want to look at the portable "commercial" or "semi-industrials" put out by companies like Juki or Toyota or Bernina -- they are fast, though not as fast as a true industrial,  have their own motors so they don't need stands and oil baths, will take standard industrial feet (which are dirt cheap compared to home sewing machine feet).  Prices I've seen are up around $2K new, but the folks who are used to industrials all tell me they're the best thing for sewing at home for them.

I'm pretty fast for someone who uses home machines, and I can use a friend's Juki portable industrial without terrifying myself (not so with a true industrial!), but they're still too much machine for the way I work.  Nevertheless, if I were going to be doing any sort of light production work or had a garment that had to be done by a deadline, I'd be thinking strongly of th  e semi-industrials.

Another route to consider is to pick up a couple of sergers, particularly if you're interested in knits.  A good 5 thread serger and a separate coverstitch machine will be good workhorses for you.  Pick up any used home sewing machine  that does decent buttonholes for the things sergers won't do.

Ask around your school -- there's often a discount offered for students by either the manufacturers or the dealers.

Answer 2

You're a student -- price has to matter somehow!

Seriously, I think you're saying you want to find a quality machine that will work fine, not give you any trouble, have the features you'll need, and will last a while.  You're right in that you'll have to pay more than you would for a BoxMart special.

If you're looking for a new machine, then Bernina and Viking should top your list.  You'll spend more for a Bernina -- but I don't think you get more machine.  Lots of the extra cost of high-end machines is for the embroidery functions -- which you may not need.  You'll find really good deals (as in under $1000) on the Viking Platinum 750 and 775 machines right now -- new models are coming in and the dealer's are clearing out these machines.

If you want to look for a used machine, then I'd look for a Bernina 830 or 930.  Mechanical machines, some of the best ever made, plenty of stitches, lots of parts available.  You'll spend somewhere between $300 and $500 for and 830; a 930 (basically same machine) will run you a few hundred more.

Answer 3

Bernina