Monday, April 01, 2013

Sewing Machines

I'm looking for some advice on sewing machines.  I'd really like to get a new sewing machine, but I'm not sure what to buy.  I want to get a good quality machine, but I don't want to pay for a lot of features that I don't really think I will use. 
Here are the features I'm really looking for in a machine:
A good 1/4 inch foot that will sew a good straight seam.  (The one I have now tends to veer to the side pretty badly, especially when I cross a seam.)
Sews well on paper, because I do a lot of paper piecing.  (The machine I have now seems to have tension issues/inconsistencies with paper piecing.) 
Sews well over thick seams.  (My current machine likes to just stop and sew in place when it gets to a seam of practically any thickness.)
A good walking foot for attaching binding or simple straight line quilting.  (My current walking foot doesn't even rest evenly on the fabric for some reason)

Nice but not necessary features:
Needle Up/Down feature
Auto thread cutting
Auto stitch lock feature

Features I don't need:
Free-motion quilt - don't do it, don't plan to start
Lots of fancy stitches

My current machine is a Singer 5830C (I think, that's the only thing on the machine that looked like a model number). 

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

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