Compact sewing machine suggestion

Melinda, My younger DS lives near Greenville, SC and I sew for the DD, my
youngest DGD. When I fly there, I gate- check one of my sewing machines(not
the embroidery one) and/or laptop. I have a soft-side case that holds both
of them.
I also gate-check them when I go to FL to visit the DD and MS to visit
relatives and have never had any problems.
Are you going over to visit sometime, perhaps you could take one to her.
Emily

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
Pat in Virginia wrote:

... to say nothing of studying. So, I too suspect the college freshman
will have little or no time to sew.

She doesn't want to sew -- she wants to make sure that she keeps her
clothing in good repair.

I have not finished reading all the messages... but when I went to college,
the dorm had a sewing machine available to the residents for just that kind
of thing. Which is what I used the first year of college.

Then I bought the simplest, and most basic machine used I could afford (an
old Singer black machine for $25).

Perhaps BJU has in their living quarters or in some activity area a sewing
area for the use of their students. Also, with luck she may find someone
who has a machine there for her to borrow.

Since I had a machine during my second year in the dorm, it did get borrowed
a couple of times.

Later during my junior year of college after working at an internship where
I got paid a decent wage (enough in 6 months to pay for the last two years
of college) I bought a more serious but lightweight machine. It was a
Viking Vanessa (Husqvaran 3610, 5610, whatever)... something I have seen a
few times on the used machine shelf at a couple of sewing machine stores.
That worked quite well for over a dozen years until I discovered Cordura.

CySew wrote:
Melinda, My younger DS lives near Greenville, SC and I sew for the DD, my
youngest DGD. When I fly there, I gate- check one of my sewing machines(not
the embroidery one) and/or laptop. I have a soft-side case that holds both
of them.
I also gate-check them when I go to FL to visit the DD and MS to visit
relatives and have never had any problems.
Are you going over to visit sometime, perhaps you could take one to her.

I doubt I will be going over there any time in the near future, but if I
do, I will keep this in mind.

Melinda, my youngest is attending a military academy next year for
college, and we thought THAT was going to be strict! But compared to
BJU, it's a whole different kind of strictness.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply wrote:


Not only is it a Christian college, but it's an old-school fundamental
separatist college and has some of the strictest rules around -- as an
underclass female under age 23, I think the age limit is, she's not
allowed off campus without either an upperclass female, a faculty/staff
member of the college, or an adult immediate relative (parent,
grandparent, aunt, uncle -- not a sibling) to accompany her. That is
for her own protection and for the sake of the University maintaining
the reputation that she went there for. Not your typical college
experience. She has a "campus parent" who wil take her on errands, but
this campus parent has two "campus daughters" (and, I understand, an
adorable Miniature Schnauzer) and they all go places all at the same time.

Have you seen the Kenmore baby blue mini machine? It is a basic machine with
limited stitches but it did them OK when I test-drove the one my Sis got her
DD#3 for Christmas. It was under $100, not too heavy, and Sears would ship
it straight to her. At last year's quilting retreat the machine was very
popular as a take-along machine for classes. It might be worth a look.
Jane in NE Ohio- cold & foggy

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
I am trying to figure out what kind of compact-sized sewing machine to send
my daughter at college and thought I would take suggestions here. I doubt
she is going to be doing a lot of sewing over there, but she does split
seams, rip pockets, and tear out hems a lot, and she might sew a skirt or
two if she really got desperate. The following issues are pertinent:

* I am a single parent (she is paying for her own college education
herself, BTW), and the most I have ever spent on a sewing machine for
myself was about $300, so please don't suggest a $1000 machine, because
I'll never be able to afford it.

* She was not interested in taking my Featherweight, which I would have
been willing to give up for her to take. (I don't think I can afford to
buy one just for her on my budget.)

* She also was not interested in taking her own sewing machine. I am not
sure if it's because it is too big, because she never really liked it
after we got it (although she liked it perfectly well before we got it),
because there's something wrong with it that she doesn't want to tell me
about, or because she is not happy that I didn't pass my lovely 70s or 80s
era New Home (which I am *VERY* emotionally attached to) down to her once
I got my Singer 500A -- or maybe it's a combination of all of the above.

* I live in California. She is in South Carolina. The postal charges to
there are pretty steep from what I have mailed her, so I don't want to
have to mail anything terribly heavy to her.

* It's got to be something noticeably smaller than a full-sized machine,
because she's living in a dorm room and doesn't have a lot of space.

* We have a Singer 99 here, but I suspect it's too heavy to ship (see
distance and shipping cost comments below).

* Ditto for a Singer 66 that my son never converted to a handcrank model
and I might be able to talk him out of, but I think that might be a
full-sized machine anyway.

* I also have a Singer 301, but not only am I moderately attached to it,
but I think it's bigger than the 99 in size by the time you include its
carrying case, so I'm not sure if she would want that or not, but then
again, if there is a soft-sided case somewhere that would fit it, I could
probably afford to buy one for her off of Ebay or somewhere similar
(sew-rite.com?).

* I am pretty sure a Singer 400 or 500 series machine is out due to size.

* I also have a Singer 185K in a nice hard plastic case that may or may
not weigh less than the 99, but I haven't ever compared their weights. I
rescued it from a thrift store and it runs perfectly except that it needs
a new belt, which a local sewing machine store can provide. I have no
emotional attachment to this machine, so apart from possible weight issues
it is a good candidate.

* I see Singer Genies -- those "flower power" machines from the 70s or 80s
or so -- on Ebay off and on, and I could try to convince a seller to pack
it well and send it directly to her instead of to me, and the price would
be right.

* I could also save my money for a few months and get her a Janome Gem
($249 USD new or I also see them occasionally on Ebay) and have it sent
directly to her.

* I've been off the beaten path on older machines -- if anybody could
point me to a list of which Singers were more compact in size, that might
help me select one from Ebay or somewhere.

* I really would like to send her a machine that has ZZ on it without
needing an attachment, but that's not a 100% requirement, just a strong
hope.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Karen Maslowski wrote:
Melinda, my youngest is attending a military academy next year for
college, and we thought THAT was going to be strict! But compared to
BJU, it's a whole different kind of strictness.

Yeah, I bet. But the nice thing about that strictness is that you can
send your daughter to BJU and be as confident as is possible (nothing's
ever 100% certain, you know) that she will return with the same values
and morals she went there with. And if a parent doesn't like that,
well, the University's reputation is well enough known that they don't
have to let their child go there.

This is the only school my daughter ever wanted to go to and is her
choice, whereas I know of a few other schools she could have considered
but didn't want to.

Once she is a junior she will have a lot more freedom.

Kay Roy wrote:
Have you seen the Kenmore baby blue mini machine? It is a basic machine with
limited stitches but it did them OK when I test-drove the one my Sis got her
DD#3 for Christmas. It was under $100, not too heavy, and Sears would ship
it straight to her. At last year's quilting retreat the machine was very
popular as a take-along machine for classes. It might be worth a look.

Thank you; you are the second person to suggest this machine.

I have a Janome Mystyle 2028. A basic machine which cost AU $249. My mum
contacted a sewing machine store (attached to Spotlight - our version of
Joannes) which was near me, paid over the phone by credit card with the
proviso I could upgrade if I wanted to the amount of $100 (I didn't). All I
had to do was go in, show ID and walk out with my machine.

I love my Jammin' Janome. It's basic no frills - exactly what I wanted.

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia
Queen of Down Under
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)
**********************
"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
I am trying to figure out what kind of compact-sized sewing machine to
send my daughter at college and thought I would take suggestions here.
I doubt she is going to be doing a lot of sewing over there, but she
does split seams, rip pockets, and tear out hems a lot, and she might
sew a skirt or two if she really got desperate. The following issues
are pertinent:

* I am a single parent (she is paying for her own college education
herself, BTW), and the most I have ever spent on a sewing machine for
myself was about $300, so please don't suggest a $1000 machine, because
I'll never be able to afford it.

* She was not interested in taking my Featherweight, which I would have
been willing to give up for her to take. (I don't think I can afford to
buy one just for her on my budget.)

* She also was not interested in taking her own sewing machine. I am
not sure if it's because it is too big, because she never really liked
it after we got it (although she liked it perfectly well before we got
it), because there's something wrong with it that she doesn't want to
tell me about, or because she is not happy that I didn't pass my lovely
70s or 80s era New Home (which I am *VERY* emotionally attached to) down
to her once I got my Singer 500A -- or maybe it's a combination of all
of the above.

* I live in California. She is in South Carolina. The postal charges
to there are pretty steep from what I have mailed her, so I don't want
to have to mail anything terribly heavy to her.

* It's got to be something noticeably smaller than a full-sized machine,
because she's living in a dorm room and doesn't have a lot of space.

* We have a Singer 99 here, but I suspect it's too heavy to ship (see
distance and shipping cost comments below).

* Ditto for a Singer 66 that my son never converted to a handcrank
model and I might be able to talk him out of, but I think that might be
a full-sized machine anyway.

* I also have a Singer 301, but not only am I moderately attached to it,
but I think it's bigger than the 99 in size by the time you include its
carrying case, so I'm not sure if she would want that or not, but then
again, if there is a soft-sided case somewhere that would fit it, I
could probably afford to buy one for her off of Ebay or somewhere
similar (sew-rite.com?).

* I am pretty sure a Singer 400 or 500 series machine is out due to size.

* I also have a Singer 185K in a nice hard plastic case that may or may
not weigh less than the 99, but I haven't ever compared their weights.
I rescued it from a thrift store and it runs perfectly except that it
needs a new belt, which a local sewing machine store can provide. I
have no emotional attachment to this machine, so apart from possible
weight issues it is a good candidate.

* I see Singer Genies -- those "flower power" machines from the 70s or
80s or so -- on Ebay off and on, and I could try to convince a seller to
pack it well and send it directly to her instead of to me, and the price
would be right.

* I could also save my money for a few months and get her a Janome Gem
($249 USD new or I also see them occasionally on Ebay) and have it sent
directly to her.

* I've been off the beaten path on older machines -- if anybody could
point me to a list of which Singers were more compact in size, that
might help me select one from Ebay or somewhere.

* I really would like to send her a machine that has ZZ on it without
needing an attachment, but that's not a 100% requirement, just a strong
hope.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

I was able to wrap in a box very solidly packed my machine as checked
luggage. The drawback was I was not allowed to buy added insurance in case
of it's demise.
Michelle
Italy

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
Kate Dicey wrote:

Let her do a term without a machine as she chose not to take one. If she
rants about needing one, THEN think about what to let her take.

It would have cost her $80 to take it on the airplane, and we agreed that
I would find her an appropriate one and send it to her.

She might want to think about the sort of use she'd put it to before
thinking about the model...

I suppose I ought to ask her how important zigzag is to her. I'm sure I
could find her a 301 somewhere if she can't arrange to use the schools
machines when needed.

I have heard several quilting teachers who travel love the Elna Lotus
machine. Lightweight and durable. I see that there are several up on
E-bay currently. Perhaps something like this and have it shipped to
your daughter?

marcella