Does anyone have any recommendations for sewing machines, i'm looking on spending between $40 and $60 as a Christmas present for my girlfriend. right now i'm looking at getting her this one.
Seriously? Does she know how to sew? How old is she? That's a toy, and would likely offend any costumer. Like buying a chef an Easy Bake Oven. Read the user reviews, especially the bad ones. You're going to have to up your budget to at least $100-$150 to get anything respectable. Or try Goodwill, Salvation Army, pawn shops for something pre-owned.
just to clear something up this is a present for personal use, not for use by a professional seamstress, and she knows the basics of sewing with a machine that's it, any brands you might recommend.
I think it's been 30+ since I've touched a sewing machine, but Husqvarna, Viking (I guess they merged at some point? Nope they've always been the same.) Of course Singer (once parent/parallel company to Century Lighting!). Brother seems to have some models that look okay and not too expensive. Too bad we don't have more stitcher s on CB.
I'd go to a store like JoAnn Fabrics and see what they recommend. Look for a good, solid machine, not all plastic, if that's even possible these days. Just like choosing a power tool. You don't need a zillion stitch types or embroidery or bells and whistles, auto button holers or zipper inserters.
My wife bought a Brother brand a few years ago. I think it was $99 at Target. It's actually a GREAT machine. has the oomph to keep up all sorts of craft projects, has a few of those silly bells and whistles < only 80% of which are completely useless>.
Now, it's no Juki straight stitch, and it sure as hell isn't my Walking foot industrial Zig-Zag, but it was also only $99.
You might find this thread (forgive the pun) from another forum I frequent helpful. The fellows over there think the term "thread injector" sounds more like a power tool than "sewing machine".
I'd look in thrift shops before buying a new machine - everything "domestic" or "portable" in the past 10 years that I've bought out of the new lines (Juki/Bernette/Bernina, Pfaff {this one was particularly disappointing, given the cost}, Singer, Viking) has been absolute drek. I keep going back to my semiportable (the dang thing weighs about 50 lbs) Riccar, which is ancient but still the most reliable thing I've ever used.