For Christmas, along with a very cute gift of mittens, my husband gave me the go ahead to purchase a new sewing machine. I had been leaning towards a viking for a while (there is a store within a local Joanns), but in hunting for competitive pricing I found a Brother dealer. My husband drove me out there yesterday and I spent a long time chatting with the owner and playing with her machines. She sold me on a Brother NX-450, and when Andy came to pick me up, he was able to bargain with her down to a lower price. It never hurts to ask for a lower price.
So this is actually my second project on it , a “comestic bag” that I will use for holding all the awesome gadgets my machine goes with. (The first project was a cushion for my daughter’s wooden booster seat, but it didn’t turn out so well. I’ll post pictures once I make a better one.)
I used this Craftster Tutorial. I hate zippers and found them close to impossible on my old Bernette 50. So I thought I would give it a try now. Over all, it was a lot easier to sew, but I still don’t feel confident in my sewing of zippers. As for the tutorial, I don’t think it was the clearest. Although if you read through it a couple times it starts to become clear and she didn’t mention any seam allowances. I assumed 1/4″ and it worked out OK. Also, I used a 7″ zipper and it was a pain to work around because it was too long. A shorter zipper would have made for simpler construction. Despite those frustrations, it came out beautifully.
Before all this sewing, I had to clear off my sewing table of Christmas mess, but once I started cleaning this morning I couldn’t stop. I ended up working most of the day (the kids were so cooperative!) and cleaning out about half of our basement. Then, I took pictures of my nicely set up sewing area.
Oh… and I think I might have named her already… “Tabitha” which means “gazelle” and she appears in Acts 9. She was very much loved by those she made clothing for.
Welcome home, Tabby! 🙂
Wow, that is so cute and really nicely made! Impressive.
You could make one too! The interfacing is what really does it. It gives it a lot of shape.
Awesome! I love my Brother too! 🙂
It was your hearty recommendation helped me in my decision. I have been really happy with it so far. Worlds better than my old machine and much more reasonably priced than the vikings I was looking at.
Hi Jodi,
My trusty old singer that was my dad’s wedding present to my mom in 1980 has needed fixing to the tune of $80 a pop twice in the past year. Not bad, but I’m wondering if I’d better start looking in case it craps out completely. When I look though, I get overwhelmed! Any recommendations for a sturdy but not too complicated machine? Help please!
Laura,
My recommendation is to find a local sewing shop and try out the machines there. Just don’t let them talk you into extra stitches or the like, if all you want is a basic machine.