I'm getting a little frustrated with the old Singer machine I have and it'll cost enough to have it serviced that I'm not sure it's worth it (it was not well-cared for and has some corrosion on internals). I've seen advice that older machines are better, but are there any basic contemporary machines that merit a recommendation? Brother machine for ~ $150 seems to have good reviews, and that's about the range I'd tend to have in mind. Mostly, I'm going to be sewing ripstop, silnylon, mesh, and other light stuff, but will want to be able to sew through light webbing for tarp tie-offs, e.g. And of course, I want something that has reasonable durability, but it'll be more like a couple projects a year than a couple projects a week. Recommendations?

THanks much!

Best,

Bill

You will find all kinds of suggestions if you just put in sewing machine into the search box to your right.

This question comes up a lot.

Edited by kthompson on 04/02/2012 06:27:15 MDT.

A lot of Pfaff's have IDT (integrated dual transport), which is basically a built in walking foot. Very handy for light and/or slippery stuff. Their 1200 series are really top of the line machines and you might even be able to find one in your price range (although they sometimes cost more than double as well).