SINGER 4411 Heavy Duty Sewing Machine with Metal Frame and Stainless Steel Bedplate

I have a Pfaff quilters machine that died and needs parts. It is going to cost about double the cost of this machine to repair it. So I figured what the heck. I've been sewing since grade school in the 1960s and have used all sorts of machines. I also worked at a fabric store for a number of years. I have some advice for the beginner. Various reviews of this machine complain about some problems I thought I'd speak to here.

This is a nice little machine. Initially even I had trouble with it. Discovered that the threading instruction picture in the instruction book is a bit tricky. Don't forget to thread the little bracket that is above the needle. It is step 7 in the book, but not obvious in the picture and not obvious on the machine. The thread first goes through the fairly obvious metal holder in step six, then it needs to go in that little tiny bracket, a small piece of metal that is laying on top of the needle mount. If you don't thread that, the thread will ball up underneath and mess up your sewing and lock up. I suggest stopping at a Joann Fabrics where they sell this machine and ask someone to show you if you can't find it. that's what I ended up doing.

Also for the beginner, Singer machines in particular can also tangle the thread if you don't gently hold the ends at the beginning of a seam. Sometimes, it will pull the thread down into the bobbin area and lock up. This is solved simply by holding the ends for the first couple of stitches. Eventually, after you've had to rip out a few balled up seams, you remember.

I made a heavy vinyl pouch with it as my first project, and it handled the vinyl really well. The feeddogs struggled a bit with the weight of the fabric, pulling it out of line, so I had to put the weight of the fabric on a chair so it didn't pull. Another tip for the beginner, always stop the machine with the needle in the fabric. You do this by stopping and quickly turning the wheel to get that needle back in the fabric.

Another tip here to any new sewer. First take the original needle out of that machine and throw it away. You have no idea what kind of shape it is in. Open the packet of needles that are in the little door in the free arm and use a fresh needle. Sharp needles are critical to any project. And they only stay sharp for a few projects at most.

When you are working with heavy fabric like vinyl or denim, you need to use a heavy duty needle, especially if you are going through four layers of denim. Check them out at the fabric store. Get the type of needle that matches your type of fabric. If you are not sure, ask. And sew through the thick parts very slowly, sometimes you may need to manually insert the needle and pull it up to get through a lot of layers properly to get the machine going. Take your time.

Knits need different needles, sometimes, a ballpoint needle that passes between fibers instead of splitting them as you sew. Fine fabrics also need different needles and they must be very sharp.

Whenever the stitching balls up under your piece, it is likely because the top or bobbin is threaded wrong. Make sure the thread is coming off the bobbin with the loose thread pointing to the left. It can be a bad needle. It can be a tension problem or a bad match between needle and fabric. If the stitches seem really tight, the tension can be turned a half number either way and solve the problem, but only after you have ruled out the other problems. IT happens to the best of us so don't get discouraged. Imagine me going into my old store to have them show me how to thread a machine. : )

Beyond all that, I liked sewing with this machine. it is relatively quiet, and does sew fast. This will be great for doing piecing for quilts. It isn't the quality of my Pfaff, which is all metal (the skin of this machine is plastic) and doesn't have a lot of fancy stitches, but it is a great value for what it does do and does execute well for all I've done so far. And perfect for a beginner sewer, or someone who only needs a machine once in awhile to hem pants or take care of odd little projects or someone like me who was going through withdrawal when her machine dies and is going to take some time to get fixed.

I am a self employed seamstress and I am very hard on machines, especially with hemming blue jeans and zippers in carhart coats and many other things. One thing I was looking for was an affordable product that was heavy duty. Singer is always a great brand and I watched videos on what this product can do, so I ordered it. Much to my dismay, I found that it wasn't any different than any other machine. Heavy Duty on this machine means nothing. It does do some of the things that they say but it does not go through all the layers of material that it says. Overall it is a fine machine, but it is not Heavy duty.

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Have been sewing since I was 8 years old and have owned Singer sewing machines. Purchased this new for my mom, who is 90 years young. Love this machine because it is heavy duty, sews 1100 stitches per minute and is easy for her to operate. I own tnree Singer sewing machines, and two sergers. My mom loves hers and quilts on it almost every day. Shopped around and found that Amazon offered the best price for this product. If you are looking for a great machine..easy to operate, has weight to it, suggest you purchase this one from AMAZON, of course. I definitely will be purchasing from them again...

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I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. So, my expectations were not very high when I made this purchase. I purchased this machine for a specific purpose....to take to the multiple sewing groups that I participate in. I needed the machine to do one thing....sew a good quality straight stitch, and I was not disappointed. I already own two electronic sewing machines that do everything I need them to do, but I did not want to keep putting my good machines at risk by constantly moving them and subjecting them to the elements when traveling to and from the many groups I sew with.

This machine reminds me of my first machine I received when I was in the 7th grade from Montgomery Ward. This machine does exactly what I wanted it to do. The stitches are even, the tension is perfect right out of the box and setup was fairly simple. The machine is not very heavy which is good for transport, but is heavy enough that it doesn't bounce around the table when you're sewing, even at full speed.

I have had the machine for about a week and have already pieced a twin sized quilt with no problem. The machine is louder than I expected it to be but I guess I'm just used to quieter electronic machines. As long as it continues sewing a straight stitch without any problems, I will be a happy camper. Amazon had the best price and I am completely satisfied with the purchase so far. However, I'm glad I didn't pay the regular price or sales price that JoAnn's sells it for. The Amazon price was perfect.

Bottom line is that this is a great beginner machine and I have no doubt that it will give me years of good service.

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I bought this little guy as a back up for my Singer Quantum 7350. I'm sew a lot of unusual fabrics and am more than a little hard on sewing machines. My daily sewing projects include costuming (vinyl, fur, etc); household uses (curtains, bedding); and formal wear. It never fails that when I'm approaching a deadline on a big project my sewing machine decides it needs to pay a visit to my friendly neighborhood sewing repair shop for a tuneup. It's about 10 years old now and if you saw what I put it through, you'd understand why. I've also dropped it twice.

I will admit, I don't actually expect this Singer to be a 'heavy-duty' machine. Not my definition of heavy-duty anyway. Not for this price. What I do expect is something that will be reliable, no frills, and hold up to my abuse. I think that's what I've got. It has only been three days and I have already made a monk's robe and caught up on my minor repair work. The needle had to be changed immediately. I don't know why, but sewing machines always seem to come with sub par, blunt needles. Once I had, it was humming along smoothly in minutes. It threads just like the other two Singers I've owned and sews a nice straight, tight stitch. It's also not as loud as some of the other reviews have said, but that may be just because I've always tended to go for the more basic, utilitarian models rather than fancy electronics and 100 stitch patterns that I'll never use and am used to a little noise when I sew.

All in all, I'm very pleased so far. I'll update this review if that changes! Happy sewing ladies and gents.

UPDATE (August 29th 2011): I might have to eat my words about this not really being 'heavy duty.' I sewed quite a bit of light to medium weight leather this past weekend and it didn't so much as hiccup. Bravo Singer!

(Be sure to use the right type of needles if you plan on doing this. Universal needles will not perform well with leather no matter how tough the machine. :))

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