Brother XL2600I Sew Advance Sew Affordable 25-Stitch Free-Arm Sewing Machine
|
List Price: Our Price: $83.99 You Save: $66.00 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $72.75 (click here) Category: Art and Craft Supply See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Brother XL2600I Sew Advance Sew Affordable 25-Stitch Free-Arm Sewing Machine
Customer Review: Don't waste your time.
Summary: 1 Stars
I decided to take up sewing again, after many years. Everyone said to obviously get a Singer. I thought for the price, and because of the mostly 5 star reviews, I would try out Brother anyway. I sewed on a couple buttons to try the button foot and I was pleased. I went out and spent a lot of money creating a sewing kit and picking out fabric for my first project on my new machine. 75% of the way through the project (and after an hour of sewing) the machine stopped working correctly. I re-threaded the bobbin multiple times, everything was good. After taking off the top plate, I saw that the top thread was no longer catching where it should. After research on fixing and consulting my grandma (a lifelong sewer), I determined that even if this is a fixable problem, no machine should break that soon. To save myself countless hours of headaches in the future, I decided to return it immediately and purchased a Singer instead. My grandma said that her Singer was doing the same thing last year and she finally had to repurchase one - AFTER 40 YEARS OF PERFECT USE. Sorry Brother, your printer and fax machine that's sitting in our home office is okay, but I'm sticking with the pros (Singer) on this one.Customer Review: Great Machine for Beginners
Summary: 5 Stars
We have a gool ol' singer---sturdy, steady and sure. However, we couldn't carry it to a sewing class for my nine year old daughter. So I bought this. When it first arrived, we couldn't get the tension to work. Our sewing instructor told us that with all machines the foot needs to be in the lower position in order to change the tension. Works perfect!
Also, we couldn't figure out why the thread kept getting caught in the bobbin area when we finished a line of stictching. Found out that it was because we were not finishing the stitch completely. Needed to turn the dial toward us until the needle was fully raised. This completes the stitch and you can pull the thread nice and easy at that point. This is something I was never taught before.
My daughter uses this machine on a daily basis and loves it. The stitches are nice, it runs smoothly, and works perfectly. Haven't tried using it with thick material, but from what I have read, I will use a stronger needle for that purpose and it should work well.
I bought the machine for $79 on Amazon. Two weeks later it was priced at $99. Free shipping. It arrived in a about a week's time and in great condition.
Customer Review: Decent, inexpensive machine
Summary: 3 Stars
I've had this machine for two years, and I use it on a weekly basis for small projects: baby clothes, household linens, basic mending and alterations. It's inexpensive and reliable--I've had no major problems with it, and replacement parts are easy to locate. It's easy to thread and easy to operate.
However, it's a very basic, not too sturdy machine. Yes, it has the extra stitches, but the type of sewing you can do on this machine probably isn't going to call for much in the way of fancy stitches. As another reviewer noted, it does not handle heavy fabrics well, and it doesn't handle knits very well, either. Fabric often feeds a little unevenly through the foot, leading to the occasional loose stitch or bunched fabric. The straight stitch is, to be honest, not quite as straight as it could be. If I were to do adult garment sewing or anything requiring a heavy fabric, I would probably invest in a more expensive machine.
Overall: For basic sewing, this machine is fine. I'm not sure if you can find a better machine at this price point, but affordable mediocrity is still mediocrity.
Customer Review: So far, so good
Summary: 4 Stars
I think Amazon should wait longer before soliciting reviews because, for one thing, a month isn't long enough to know if the product is going to last. The other is that we bought this machine as a birthday gift for our 8 year old twin granddaughters and just gave it to them yesterday! That being said, I spent some time playing with it beforehand so I can teach them how to use it and it seems like a good machine. People have criticized the instruction manual. It seems fine to me, but maybe that's because I'm an experienced sewer. The other criticism I've read is that the foot pedal is hard to control - that the machine goes too fast for a beginner. That's true, so I had my husband rig up a temporary "stopper" that would make it impossible to press the pedal down all the way. It worked great! The girls were able to control the machine without any problem. They were able to stitch in a fairly straight line almost immediately. The XL2600i has a good variety of stitches and the stitch quality is very nice. Assuming it holds up well, it should be all the girls will need for years to come.Customer Review: I love my new sewing machine!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a complete newbie when it comes to sewing - I wanted to be able to perform simple repairs/alterations on my clothes and create things for my home, such as pillow covers, curtains, etc.
After careful research I selected this machine - and could not be happier!! It is SO easy to use!! The directions are exceptionally clear; I had it out of the box, set up and was testing out all the stitches within 30 minutes.
The step by step instructions for how to thread the bobbin and the needle were so simple to follow, I didn't have any of the troubles that other reviewers ran into. (Side note - the automatic threading feature is DIVINE!!)
I also haven't had any problems with the tension, as indicated in other reviews. I did have to modify it when I used a thicker thread, but didn't experience any problems making those adjustments.
I would recommend this machine to ANYONE who wants to teach themselves to sew. The ease of use of this machine has really allowed me to make progress on the projects I've started, which feels great!