Personally, I love computerized machines. Yes they may be more expensive, more complicated and harder to repair or with a shorter life span but you will never get all the amazing features and smoothness of sewing as well as quietness and stitch variety with mechanical machines. I tried different mechanical machines and I just couldn’t love them once I had sewn with a computerized Brother machine for 8 years. Features like “needle up-needle down or a one step buttonhole, the needle not getting unthreaded when starting to sew or a button instead of a lever for backstitching are very important features and make a difference. For me, it’s computerized machines that win at how pleasant the whole sewing process is. I will use one for as long as It will work having also taken care of it as well as I can and then replace it with another computerized amazingness :)) I understood that I will never like mechanical ones and it is what it is. My old Brother has not died after 8 years, it was still working perfectly but I gifted it to someone dear to me. I don’t really know how much it would have lasted me if I kept using it. I don’t have any experience with a machine being old and dying on me :) but when it happens it happens and I have to love sewing with a machine first of all.
I'm team mechanical, but not team *cheaply made* mechanical and this is after using a high end electronic machine for a decade. The three picks I would, and have, gone for are the Brother Strong and Tough, the Singer XX11, and the high-end (for mechanical) Pfaff select 3/4 with idt. Like I actively look at my machines and reject the one with auto-tension and automatic thread cutter unless I'm going to embroider an edge, because the mechanicals have more power, a much much nicer straight sitch and are quieter. What I'm saying is don't worry about it if you are using your mother's 1970s machine, there is a good chance that you won't be able to replace it with anything which sews better.
Thank you for such insightful comment and sharing your experience! I was always leaning more towards mechanical machines myself, but after trying computerised machine, I noticed that I’m reaching for it more and more, especially if I have limited time for sewing and project requires switching between different stitches - preset stitch settings makes it so much faster. I also agree with your note regarding straight stitch - this is always the first thing to look at when choosing sewing machine💯🙌
Huge thanks for the Brother recommendation. I have an industrial machine, but wanted an inexpensive hobby machine. I think the Tough and Strong will be ideal!
I'm team mechanical, but with all metal parts inside. And it's mostly because I can fix mechanical machine myself, and I don't have any sewing machine repair shop in my city that services or repairs domestic machines, closest is 100 km away. I had 2005-ish Singer 4210 (that was overall terrible machine) and I fixed it from breaking needles every single time and not feeding the fabric to sewing kinda okay, my mum has it now. Few months ago I bought Minerva Next 532A because I needed it to have all metal parts, and it sews beautifully (It was also very affordable machine). I also prefer to have it mechanical because, while I finished school as IT tech, all computers hate me and they freeze 😂
Thank you for the time and effort. That was a very comprehensive comparison for anyone new and not sure what to buy. One of my favourite things about my computerised machine, is the needle down function. So useful. As was taught to start with the needle in the fafbric, i just use it now each time i start.
I’m still getting familiar with needle down function, as none of my previous sewing machines had it. Needle down is definitely very handy when sewing details that needs lots of pivoting!🤗
Thank you for this video, it helped me understand computerized machines more. I have a mechanical Brother XR3774 as my beginner sewing machine. It does have a 1-step automatic buttonhole function, stretch stitches, and decorative stitches. My biggest challenge with it as a beginner is that it does not have a way to slow down the speed that a computerized machine does. However, I learned from an old video of a channel called Jack Creek Road that we can slow down a mechanical machine by taping a piece of lego, cardboard, etc. to the front of the foot pedal/controller so that the pedal cannot be pressed down very far. This has helped me a lot and is removable once I get more comfortable and want to start going faster.
@@Julija_Gobere Yes, it is such an easy help to use. Unfortunately, beginner that I am, I messed up when I originally wrote my above comment and accidentally wrote "presser foot" when I meant "foot pedal/foot controller". The lego piece (or any other hard object) should be taped to the foot controller. Hopefully, I didn't confuse anyone reading the comments.😅
I have 2 brother sewing machines. One is mechanical & one is computerized. I use my manual for our extended trips to Florida. I’m actually in Florida right now. I enjoy sewing on it and once I got used to 4 step button hole I didn’t mind it at all. I was tickled pink when my brother side cutter foot fit & worked on my manual machine. A side cutter foot is similar to a overlock foot. However it has a blade to cut off excess fabric like a serger. So I can travel with just a small prefer foot to finish off my seams.
I saw a commercial from local sewing supply store, showing the foot you mention - I haven’t tried it myself (yet), but I always wondered how well it cuts fabric (and how it compares to serger)🤔 I also agree about travelling with manual machine - I was thinking that if I needed to travel somewhere, it’s small and lightweight, so it would not be a big issue to travel with it🤗
A significant issue with "computerized" sewing machines is that your expensive control board can be damaged by power surges - lightning strikes, transformer explosions, etc. A mechanical machine has a few susceptible components, but they can be easily replaced. Use a GOOD surge protector for your machine.
I totally agree. Upon using, I always plug my computerized machine into a good quality power surge protector, however, when not using my machine I ALWAYS un plug it. Never had issues doing it this way. Thanks
Thank-you for the clear explanations. You have confirmed my thoughts that a computerised machine would not suit me . I agree about mechanical being intuitive as all your selections are clearly visible on the dials. I moved from hand-wheel Singer to a Lidl (rre-badged Singer 3232?) 6 months ago. So much fun I now spend an afternoon most weeks sewing different projects.
Having fun is the most important part about sewing!🙌 Also glad to see we shop at the same grocery store chain😅 Have you tried any sewing accessories (like threads) from Lidl?🤔 I see those quite often in store, but haven’t tried🤗
@@Julija_Gobere I have a cone of their black thread that I use for hand sewing which is fine. I wasn't as impressed with their small spools of different colours. I prefer to pay for Guttermans from my local shop. I did buy a card with several accessories as it had pricking wheel I wanted to help my granddaughter space her hand stitches evenly. It came with ball end and standard machine needles. Good value for money.
Treadle for me but i do have eyes for computerized ones with lots of deco stitches. Currently obsessed with vintage chainstitches machine, but they aren't available in my country so i'll go for the stepler sewing machine or get unlazy and handstitch my project
I have gotten to where I hate the sound of modern machines. My vintage Singers are so much quieter. My daily driver is a 1960s Singer 500a and it does everything I need since it has so many stitches, and it does twin needle sewing with two single needles so no special twin needle is needed. I wasted so much money on a computerized machine 20 years ago and it died, so I learned my lesson there.
The loudest machine I ever had was also the loudest - it was made in 1990, but stored in box, unused until 2008. It was SO loud, I could’t sew late in the evening, not to wake the neighbours up😅 Compared to that machine, all other (and newer) machines I had were very silent😁
How long did you use that computerized machine, may I ask? Becouse if it lasted for 20 years, that is a lot of life for a computerized machine! Also, when you buy a computerized machine, you pay for all the features and how it makes your sewing life much easier and pleasant, and not necessarily for a machine that will last forever.
@@luciatat4084 It started acting up at three years, then sat for a long time, then lasted a couple more. I wanted forever out of a $1000 machine. My granny’s machine is still going and she bought it used in the 1920s (1907 Singer 27).
The Brother machine here that is called computerized is only a bottom line electronic machine. Evidently this person is not able to afford a real computerized sewing machine for comparison.
