I have to amend my previous 5-star review on this machine.  I jumped the gun thinking that it was going to last me...wrong.  I've had the machine for nearly two years, but do not use it all that regularly.  I completed many projects on it when I first started using it, but in time found that my problems with it started to occur more frequently.

To the defense of the machine, I've put quite a few miles on it with basic repairs and several projects (My guess would be I've done about 75+ things on here from basic pants-hemming to quilts) .  Through most of the projects, I had few problems with the machine itself.  These were the days when it was a five-star machine and I was learning the ropes of sewing.  Now that I'm picking up sewing again, I'm finding this thing to be a complete nightmare.  As I've seen other people mention, the thread tension is a HUGE problem.  I get puckering of the thread on the underside when I used certain threads.  I can sit there and fiddle with the thread tension or the bobbin tension all day and nothing helps.  It seems to happen more frequently with Guterman thread, but not the cheapy Coats and Clark stuff.  Rather disappointing.  I also have a lot of issues with jamming up, and creating huge, tangled messes on the things I'm sewing.  Honestly, these days, my seam ripper is seeing as much action as this machine.

I've been researching the cost to have basic machine servicing and it looks like it might cost close to, if not slightly more than it would be to buy this machine new!  Ugh.

Word of advice...if you're wanting a machine to do a few basic repairs on or small, basic projects from time to time, then this machine should work just fine for you.  If you're looking to sew as more of a hobby or producing things fairly regularly, then you're going to have to put more money into a machine.  I'm already looking for a replacement for this machine, unfortunately.  I'm just tired of fiddling around with it to try to get it to work properly and am hesitant to put money into servicing it if it's not going to fix the problems anyway (based on what I've researched it sounds like it won't).
I have to amend my previous 5-star review on this machine. I jumped the gun thinking that it was going to last me... wrong. I've had the machine for nearly two years, but do not use it all that regularly. I completed many projects on it when I first started using it, but in time found that my problems with it started to occur more frequently. To the defense of the machine, I've put quite a few miles on it with basic repairs and several projects (My guess would be I've done about 75+ things on here from basic pants-hemming to quilts). Through most of the projects, I had few problems with the machine itself. These were the days when it was a five-star machine and I was learning the ropes of sewing. Now that I'm picking up sewing again, I'm finding this thing to be a complete nightmare. As I've seen other people mention, the thread tension is a HUGE problem. I get puckering of the thread on the underside when I used certain threads. I can sit there and fiddle with the thread tension or the bobbin tension all day and nothing helps. It seems to happen more frequently with Guterman thread, but not the cheapy Coats and Clark stuff. Rather disappointing. I also have a lot of issues with jamming up, and creating huge, tangled messes on the things I'm sewing. Honestly, these days, my seam ripper is seeing as much action as this machine. I've been researching the cost to have basic machine servicing and it looks like it might cost close to, if not slightly more than it would be to buy this machine new! Ugh. Word of advice... if you're wanting a machine to do a few basic repairs on or small, basic projects from time to time, then this machine should work just fine for you. If you're looking to sew as more of a hobby or producing things fairly regularly, then you're going to have to put more money into a machine. I'm already looking for a replacement for this machine, unfortunately. I'm just tired of fiddling around with it to try to get it to work properly and am hesitant to put money into servicing it if it's not going to fix the problems anyway (based on what I've researched it sounds like it won't).