How do I Choose a Home Sewing Machine?

I don't do very much what I'd call domestic sewing. Of some of those projects -- cuffing jeans and making book packs and tote bags -- I've used my industrial machine. The only other domestic projects have been letting out the waist of dress pants, and I've used my wife's home sewing machine, a Janome purchased from Costco. She not infrequently prefers to use the industrial machine for some of her projects, but prefers her machine for light fabrics and for making button-holes, etc.

We selected a somewhat more expensive Janome with the relatively fewer basic built-in features versus a cheaper machine with a huge number of feature she'd never use.

In any case, unless you really know what you're buying, I'd avoid most machines made in China -- there are exceptions of course -- and favor machines made in Japan or Bernina which apparently still makes some machines in Switzerland but mostly in Thailand.

As for suggestions, a less targeted forum than Sailrite might be more productive, and you might want to be a bit more specific about objectives. I follow two forums more oriented to domestic sewing:

http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php

http://www.thesewingforum.co.uk/search.php?searchid=1649747&photoplog_searchinfo=1

Home sewing machines often list a huge number of stitches. I'd be more interested in usability -- space under the foot, space under the arm, flat-bed and pedestal capability ....

Try Phaff 130, Sailrite Yachtsman, Reads Sailmaker, or look for used Ultrafeeds for my best recommendations. Or if you could find a used Sailrite Sailmaker at a bargain price that would be fantastic. Good luck hunting.

I know I am a little late to this party but I would like to recommend the Janome HD1000. This machine is around $300.00 and is a great basic sewing machine for home use. It has some 14 stitches that will cover 99% of your sewing needs. The other 1% is strictly decorative. I also strongly recommend that you try this machine or any machine out at your local sewing center. They should gladly allow you to do this so bring some material and thread and have at it.

Two resources for home sewing machine reviews are of course Amazon.com and also:

http://www.erinsayssew.com/

that has a price range selection.

Hey i am new here and i wanted to help you and for the other people. For the sewing machines there is not so much review out there you may go amazon and read the reviews. Either i can suggest you this page ;