Sewing Machine For Sale

Which sewing machine should I buy?

I'm buying a sewing machine for my girlfriend for Christmas and can't decide which of the following to get. I'm looking at the Brother XL-2600i and the Brother XL-2610. She is a beginner and wants to make clothes of store-bought quality, not cheap thin stuff like Halloween costumes. Ignore the price of these, but based on everything else, which one would be best? Also, what are the major differences in the two? I know nothing about sewing but there has to be a reason one costs $50 more on Amazon.

Public Comments

1. I have a brother cs-6000. computerized. I got mine for x-mas 2 years ago and I love it. I'm not a pro but not a beginner either and this machine is perfect. It has like 200 stitches and a million different computerized settings for thread tension and spacing, which I love because on my old one, I couldn't get thread tension right and it just kept messing up my clothes. just get a decent one that's computerized for her to make it easy. eta: I checked them both out and both are cute. But if she wants to make clothes with sleeves and pantlegs, splurge and get the Brother XL-2610. Also buy a sewing book, so she can learn all of the different stitching techniques and how to make a solid peice of clothing. It doesn't even have to be a new book, just find one at a local thrift store. You can give that to her first with a cheap spool of thread and a cheap pack of needles, then give her the real thing after she's all disappointed. lol.
2. Can I vote for neither? See my answer to your other question. Machines in this price range are pretty much throwaway -- and often very difficult for beginners to use. I've had local kids bring in their machines to see if I can make them sew -- and they were so frustrated -- and I let them sew on one of my ancient Singers or my electronic Viking -- and they discovered sewing wasn't necessarily frustrating...