For days I have been on a sewing kick and wanting to do some sewing. Now, I do have 2 sewing machines in storage (yes, Mom I know they are at your house) but if I remember right one is a big machine and the other is a very old heavy model. So, I went looking for something portable and compact that could travel with us in the motor home. Did you know there isn't such a thing. I did all kinds of Google searches and the best I could find was either a Brother or a Kenmore. Okay, both good brand names but finding them was key. First off I went to Joanne Fabric. They had nothing in the $150 or lower price range that was a smaller unit except for the small White pictured below, which by the way I did purchase for $39.99. I'll get to the review in a minute. Sears did have a Kenmore on sale for $89.99 that was lightweight, but was still a good size machine. Next I went to Walmart as they carry the Brother brand. They had a lot of spots where sewing machines were supposed to be but only two in stock and neither were the model number that received the good reviews. Next up was the Husqvarna/Viking Sewing Center....nothing there small and compact, but the owner indicated that she would sell me a Singer Pixie for $29.99, hummm it didn't get good reviews at all, I think I'll pass.
Okay now back to the White Sew E-Z sewing machine. You do get what you pay for. It is a cute little machine as you can see in the photo and seemly had all the necessary information and parts. It has a two speeds, does only straight stitches, forward and backward and will wind a bobbin (not that I could get that to work). As you can see, I don't have a lot of room on my crafting table. I had to move my jewelry stuff over to make room for this so I really do need something small. So, after reading the required manual and attempting to wind the bobbin and thread the darn thing, I decided to sew something simple.
The result was a small drawstring baggie, smaller than I wanted, but gave me a good indication that this isn't the machine for me. The thread broke about every 10 stitches and no amount of adjusting the tension or rethreading the machine helped. The best thing about the machine is it's size and weight, oh and it takes batteries so you can sew without electricity which I thought would come in handy on the road when we are dry camping and we aren't running the generator. This machine is going back, already packed in it's box. Maybe someone else will have better luck with it, but I doubt it.
What's next, well I called my mother to see if she could remember where the sewing machines were and she does, so I'll be picking up the smaller of the two and attempt to get it to work for me. Wish me luck and if you know of a small compact, lightweight sewing machine that will do basic stitches, then please let me know, I may still be in the market for one.
To be continued........
