The Journey to Sewing My Own Clothes Began With This Surprisingly Affordable Machine.

A polaroid picture of a sewing machine being used.

For many years, my sewing machine languished.

It was an elegant vintage Singer that came attached to its own sewing table. It looked great in my apartment, and crucially, it was free. I used it to make cute little fabric baskets and pouches, but even though I was curious about sewing clothes, I could never quite commit to something more complex.

The first time I tried my mom’s more modern Brother sewing machine, I immediately understood why I had hit a wall.

Sewing on my vintage Singer machine was a little like driving Henry Ford’s Model A, I surmised: Sure, you could ride it around town, but did you really want to take it on a road trip? The sewing was slow, threads frequently got stuck in the machine, and I once managed to sew through my fingernail.

Two comparison photos, one of a vintage Singer sewing machine and one of a modern Brother CS7000x sewing machine.
I started sewing on a vintage Singer machine but eventually hit a wall. I leveled-up my sewing once I started using the intuitive and versatile Brother CS7000X. Maria Adelmann/NYT Wirecutter

I know, I know — my ancestors sewed their wedding dresses on machines just like my old Singer. They may have even sewn hides together with needles made of bone. But I believe that they too would have preferred a Brother. Things moved faster. I made fewer mistakes. My thread almost never got caught in the machine. It had stitching options galore — on a digital screen. I was sure I wouldn’t sew through my fingernail.



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