sewing machine buying guide

March 4, 2010October 18, 2018Reviews

Sewing Machines for Under $100

After much searching, noting, and head scratching, I have assembled the Official WhatTheCraft Sewing Machine Recommendation List!

How did I choose the machines on this list? Online consumer ratings, my favorite shopping buddy.

These machines were selected because they not only had good ratings… they also had a lot of ratings and were at least decently rated at more than one of the review sites. A 5 star machine with 1 reviewer could be a fluke. Likewise, a 5 star machine on Amazon that has 2 stars on Ebay reviews is not a machine I’d gamble on.

*I should mention that unless otherwise noted, I have not personally tested these machines.*

The recommendations have been broken up into several groups by price.

Under $100

Janome 11574 / Kenmore 16221 – $99 refurbished on Overstock

(Kenmore and Janome are made by the same manufacturer & sold under different brand names)

Sears rating: 5 stars, 30 reviews

PatternReview rating: 5 would recommend, 0 might recommend, 0 would not recommend

Overstock rating: 4.8 stars, 36 reviews

Specs: 74 stitch functions, presser foot adjustment, buttonholer, zipper foot, free arm capability, drop-in bobbin

Brother XL2600I – $90 on Amazon

Amazon rating: 4 stars, 68 reviews

PatternReview rating: 1 would recommend, 1 might recommend, 0 would not recommend

Ebay rating: 4 stars, 9 reviews

Overstock rating: 4.6 stars, 147 reviews

Specs: 59 stitch functions, buttonholer, zipper foot, free arm capability, drop-in bobbin, electronic speed control, 25 year limited warranty

Which Sewing Machine Should I Buy?

And by I, I mean you.

It’s one of the most common questions in the sewing world, heard from beginners and seasoned seamstresses alike.

A few notes about what to expect from your sewing machine:

If you are buying new, you should not expect a machine under about $150 to be able to handle heavy duty work, i.e. several layers of fabric, denim, fleece, etc. I really wouldn’t expect any new machine under about $300 to be able to handle heavy duty work, at least not very well, though some machines will claim to be heavy duty anyway.

I must advise against buying sewing machines at Walmart. Walmart contracts (and often forces) companies to outsource the manufacturing of their machines to Walmart’s cheaper factories. The result is a machine with the same brand name and model number as sold in other stores, but of lesser quality (thus the lower price). I learned this fact the hard way.