Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have never used a sewing machine in my life until I bought this. To put that in perspective, I'm 42 years old and a father of 2. When I told my wife I was going to buy a sewing machine, she looked at me like I was nuts. Which, to be fair, might be totally accurate, but I have no regrets about this purchase. I bought this because I hate throwing stuff away: pants that could be hemmed, knees that can be patched, whatever. Clothes are expensive, and sewing by hand is tedious. This machine comes with a great DVD that I watched once and promptly threw away. I threw it away because basically you can watch the same video on youtube without having to fiddle with a remote. I found it a lot easier to just search for "Brother sewing machine instruction video" and watch Brother's video on a tablet sitting right next to my machine. And let me say this, at first, I was pretty worried. Bobbins? What's a bobbin? Feet? Sewing machines are pretty complicated, but the instructional video was very good. I didn't know *why* I was threading the thread the places I was, but once I got it done, I sewed my first stitch! I won't say it was the cleanest job in the world, but I hemmed a pair of pants in a totally serviceable manner. After my second pair, I was rolling. I changed the thread without even looking at the video: new bobbin and all. That's how simple this device is: a totally non-sewing 42 year old can learn it in under 30 minutes. The stuff I sewed held strong and eventually even got to the point where it looked sharp (which is more a reflection on my lack of skill than any problem with the machine). I know, I'm not doing anything complicated here. I'm not making my own clothes or using really complicated stitches, but I think this machine will work for the overwhelming majority of the tasks I'll see in my household. I get that this machine wasn't made for me (the purple floral pattern is a pretty good hint), but I don't think any guy should be afraid of learning to sew. It's a great skill, and this is a great machine to start with.