Good sewing machine for beginner mama

[Om Girl]

I've been wanting to learn to sew for so long...finally I think I'm going to get a sewing machine for my birthday. I asked DH for one and I think he's going to oblige.

I have no relatives that sew and no one to teach me so I'm learning on my own. I need a good suggestion for a beginning sewing machine that will be relatively easy to learn on and take me into un-complicated sewing territory.

Also any suggestions for books/websites/blogs would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

[Think of Winter]

I see that you haven't gotten any replies, and there's another very similar thread up that also hasn't had replies. I just wanted to let you know that this topic comes up often here, and you can probably find lots of information in a search. It's a very individual thing, although most agree that the $100-200 machines are generally very poor quality. I love my vintage machine (that cost less than $200 including a trip to the repair shop), but some people prefer new. Consumer reports recently reviewed sewing machines, and I think the cheapest one they recommend is a $300ish Kenmore. You may be able to find that review on their free-access web pages, but I have a subscription so I'm not sure.

ETA: If you have anyplace local that offers beginner classes, I highly recommend them. I also like the book Sew U and the Readers Digest Guide to Sewing for basic how-to.

[saphire]

I had a post all done up, and accidentally erased it.
I second a vintage or Kenmore machine. You can always upgrade later.
Sewing magazines are very helpful when learning to sew. Libraries will often carry multiple years issues. Also sewing videos and books.
Some great resources:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/
http://www.sewnews.com/index.html
http://www.sewingwithnancytv.com/
http://sewing.patternreview.com/
http://www.burdastyle.com/
http://www.ottobredesign.com/
http://www.sewingmamas.com/

[Om Girl]

Thank you mamas!

[MittensKittens]

Has any machine caught your attention yet? I'm with the PP about getting a vintage machine - unless you can afford a more expensive one. Have you thought about what you want to be doing with the machine? What if you find that you learn really quickly but your machine won't do all you want it to, and you have no money to buy a more expensive one ? Do you want to quilt? Please don't get any cheapo singers, they are really, really not any good now.

[saphire]

A machine with good tension that sews only a straight stitch and zig zag, and with enough power to sew through several layers of material is preferable to a machine that may have a lot of decorative stitches but is so fussy that you end up fighting threads all the time. It's not fun sewing if you're fighting with your machine all the time.
Vintage is desirable because of the metal construction, and they're generally considered to be workhorses. Craigslist is an excellent place to search for one, and people often get lucky at goodwill and yard sales. Last year I found my Necchi SuperNova on craigslist.
My sis got a Kenmore when she wanted to learn. It's a nice machine, easy to use, easy to thread.

[Om Girl]

No quilting here...at least not complicated quilting. I'm thinking about sewing and mending some simple projects. It'll be more of a hobby than anything else. Since I asked DH for one as a gift he went out and got me one. It's a Brother XL-375. The reviews on it aren't stupendous, but it seems like it's a simple machine that will let me do what I want with it. He did keep the receipt and all the packaging so I can return it if I want. It's all the machine we can afford right now though. ($150 cost) So I'm hoping it works great for me and I'm excited to get started on learning how to run it and for my first project.
If it doesn't perform well though, it's going right back. I'd rather know sooner than later that it's not going to work for me.
I'll keep you posted!