Is it too late?

My daughter has a Janome - it's a real workhorse .
Her only criticism it sews slowly.

Luckygirl3

If your main aim is to be able to hem your clothes then it is best to do this by hand.

Just turned up my jeans on the machine and I have other trousers which I shall shorten by machine too.
I'm shrinking ☹

I can sew by hand, of course, remember the embroidery stitches we learnt at school and have been sewing by machine since I was about 12 but turning up some trousers by machine is fine and much speedier.

Who knows - Cossy might discover a love for sewing and start making all kinds of things!

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions.

Luckygirl3

If your main aim is to be able to hem your clothes then it is best to do this by hand.

Arthritis in both hands.

Luckygirl3

If your main aim is to be able to hem your clothes then it is best to do this by hand.

This!
I do often wonder how dds, who had a compulsory year of ‘needlework’ at school, apparently weren’t taught a few basics, like turning up a hem properly* (i.e. with minimal showing on the right side) and stitching on a button - properly!

*IIRC it’s what is (or was) called a herringbone stitch (someone will know, which involves (going to R to L on the wrong sides) taking a small stitch from the top layer of the fold, followed by a tiny stitch from the single layer above, rinse and repeat all the way along.
Sounds a lot more complicated than it is!

If anyone wants to see a demonstration, I’m sure there will be one on YouTube. To which I am still grateful for showing me how to purl 2 TBL (through back of loops) - which I could not for the life of me work out!

Luckygirl3

If your main aim is to be able to hem your clothes then it is best to do this by hand.

I was thinking the same.

If your main aim is to be able to hem your clothes then it is best to do this by hand.

Another vote for Janome. . I have had my basic one for about 30 years, never had it serviced ( I do remove the fluff that gathers)and it chugs on quite happily.

Another vote here for Janome. They are very reliable and well-built. Brother also make some good entry-level machines with threaders. I also have Singer machines, but they are not of the same standard and reliability that they were back when my Mum used them. Have a look at the Janome J3-18 online. It's £229 on the Janome web site but can be bought cheaper from other places.

The basic Janome that I bought when I retired is perfect. It doesn’t thread itself, but is easy to thread. I mainly use it to shorten trousers or do other minor alterations. I also only really started sewing in my 70s.

Good luck.

Do you have a sewing machine shop or outlet near you?

I did some research and decided on a Janome fairly basic machine about five years ago. Singer make a basic one as well and I'd had a Singer for over 40 years.

If you decide, don't get talked out of it or persuaded by 'special offers' as I was and bought a more expensive Brother machine which I find too complicated!!

I bought quite a simple Japanese make machine from Tesco a few years ago with my Tesco vouchers. It doesn’t thread itself though.