12 Best Sewing Machine for Beginners

Compare these machines to find the best sewing machine for beginners. These are all great sewing machines for starting out!

When you are making clothes or costumes the most important stitches you need are a straight stitch and a zigzag stitch. All the other fancier stitches are great to have, but they are not essential. If you are learning how to sew, you can start with sewing 101 for beginners!

I have not sewn on all of these machines I talk about in this post, but I have sewn on some. Do your research instead of relying solely on my advice to find the best Sewing Machine for Beginners!

Where to buy a beginner sewing machine

There are lots of places to find good Sewing Machine for Beginners. If you are okay with buying used I would check thrift stores, yard sales, and facebook marketplace. The machine might need a tune up, but vintage machines usually work very well.

Buy the best machine you can afford at the time, even if it’s used, so that when you want to upgrade you will be able to use it for a trade in.
Heather Paulsen – Heather Handmade

Next, check you local dealer for any used machines they might be selling. They get used machines which they tune up, and then they resell for a good price. This is a great way to get a more expensive brand for cheap.

If you are really set on buying a new machine, I would check your local dealer and Amazon. The prices at your local dealer are more expensive than Amazon, but when you buy from a dealer the parts inside are metal instead of plastic which is better quality.

Even if you don’t buy a machine from a dealer, you should know where a local dealer is so that you know where to get your machine cleaned or fixed.

It really depends on your budget and how much you will be using the sewing machine. If you need a place to ask for advice I would ask in one of these sewing facebook groups. I bought my machine from a dealer, but it was a used older model.

Mechanical vs Computerized

There’s a debate about whether a mechanical sewing machine is bettern than a computerized sewing machine.

A mechanical sewing machine is one that uses electricity but only uses buttons and knobs. A computerized sewing machine is one that uses electricity, but it has a screen with options.

The really expensive computerized sewing machines essentially have a small touch screen tablet on the front of it.

In all the research I’ve done, it seems like the computerized part of a sewing machine can fail making your sewing machine stop working even though all the parts are in good condition.

All of the expensive machines are computerized so you can’t really get away from it.

You can start sewing knit fabric without a serger. You can sew lightweight fabric on a beginner sewing machine. You can even use a twin needle on a beginner sewing machine.