Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

EDIT: Biggest piece of crap ever! It's broken 3 needles, jammed countless times per project since I've written my earlier review. Today, I'm about ready to order a sledgehammer to get my aggression out on this hell of a machine! I might try throwing it from my roof (twice) first for extra satisfaction. It was actually less stressful to hand-sew my project... which defeats the purpose of having a machine. WRONG! EVERYTHING I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE IS WRONG>>>> This is a great first sewing machine. If you've never used a sewing machine before it can be extremely intimidating and this make/model is no different, however there ARE some things that make it easier such as the "automatic" threader. While it's not really "automatic" as it is manual, but it's definitely useful! It will take you a few times to get comfortable with it, but once you do, you'll be threading that needle (and machine) like a pro. Just keep the needle AND presser foot in their up-most positions while threading the machine and/or using the auto-threader and you shouldn't have any problems. Other tips learned the hard way from this newbie: - make sure the needle is raised above the fabric before changing the width setting. - before changing the bobbin tension-screw (only do that if its absolutely necessary), jot down the factory-adjusted settings somewhere. - jot down any adjustment screw changes you made, fabric and thread used, etc... and use it for future reference. - reset the bobbin back to factory before readjusting for a new material and/or thread-type so every "jotted down" setting has the same exact starting reference point. I had to return the first machine I received due to some issues I was experiencing -- hand-wheel was kind of grinding, I couldn't loosen the top-thread tension no matter what I tried, and the bobbin door kept slapping shut instead of staying open. Replacement model was perfect! (edit to add.. for about one or two projects, then it started acting up and I'll never buy another singer again).