Brother Sewing and Quilting Machine, CS6000i, 60 Built-in Stitches, 2.0" LCD Display, Wide Table, 9 Included Sewing Feet

I have actually bought three of these machines - the first was for me - after not having had a sewing machine for years, I missed sewing, but I didn't have a budget for my dream machine. This one had great reviews and the price was crazy low for all the features, so I took a chance. It turned out to be smooth and reliable, so easy to operate! I loved the buttonholes that it made and the overedge stitches for seam finishing.I loved it so much that I bought another one for my mother in law, and another one for my best friend.They're quite sturdy, considering all the plastic in the housing. Very easy to work with and advanced enough that a new sewist will not outgrow its capabilities quickly.Nice stitch quality with a lot of decorative and utility stitches built in.I like the speed control and a Stop/Start button on the front of the machine so that you don't have to use the foot control. This was necessary for my friend who is a paraplegic.I don't recall it being particularly noisy, even when sewing heavier fabrics like "cork leather" or waterproof canvas. It handled all the fabrics I use most often though I did have to hand crank through the heaviest seam junctions.I eventually gave mine away, so I don't know how it's doing, but the other two are still functioning just fine at about 10 and 12 years old.Amazing amount of versatility and reliability for this price. For the beginning hobby sewist, I would consider this a starter machine - use it and upgrade when it dies - at this price, it's almost disposable. Add a Brother 1034D serger at about the same price and you're set to do any kind of sewing you like.

This is my second experience with sewing machines. My first was a toy Singer sewingmachine that I just returned because it was was dead on arrival (well, shortly afteractually). That was a Christmas gift for my daughter - a great idea, and though wehad not thought of giving her one ourselves (my wife does not sew either) she was veryexcited about it when she opened it. Unfortunately when I called the Singer toysewing machine support line they recommended returning it because they suspected afaulty part that they did not have in stock. That turned out to be a lucky break forus.So we ventured to Sears to check out what else was available, where we saw the Singer 7442and a few cheaper models. It seemed like it would be nice to able to do more thanjust simple stitches, and the prices were not all that different ($140 - 200). A quicklook at Amazon at the 7442 lead us to this Brother. Because the reviews were slightlybetter for the Brother CS6000i (and because I had just returned a Singer, and was notall that excited about getting another of that brand) I bought the Brother. After usingit for a few days I am very happy with this purchase.I gave it five stars, because for the price it really is a very nice machine (which you canread about in other reviews here). Easy to use, with lots of options that actually workand do make it easier to use. It does seem to have high quality parts where it matters.It is fun for her to have the wide variety of stitches, and the one step button hole featuremight be useful if she gets more into sewing.But nothing is perfect, and so here are the downsides that I did not see much written inother reviews are:It comes with a cheap (bottomless) cover that can't be called a case. It can't even reallybe called a dust cover since it has a hole near the top so you can reach the handle of themachine to carry it. It doesn't hold the additional pieces of the machine either.Brother should have just just saved that poor tree instead of including this 'case'.I'll be storing the machine and the additional parts in the original box and foam packaging.Although that is a quite a bit bigger than really necessary, it will provide much betterprotection than the 'case'. It's too bad they didn't spend just a little more on the boxpackaging and give up on the 'case' idea. They could have made the box a very functional andprotective storage mechanism if they just made it easier to pack.The machine is constructed with a fair amount of plastic (though it seems to be metal in the placeswhere it matters). The 25 year guarantee gives me some hope, but in general when I thinkof something made of plastic with electronics in it, longevity does not come to mind. WhenI was looking at the antique Singers (401a, etc), all made of metal, still working after30-40 years, I felt a pang of anguish for our society that has shifted from making and buyinghigh quality long-lasting products in the US to off-shore produced planned obsolescence.What a waste of resources, pity about pollution through the whole process, not to mentionthe jobs. I will be surprised if the LCD and electronics in this system are still workingin even 10 years (I'm going to try holding on to the receipt for the life of the 25 yearwarranty because I bet it will come in handy at some point). Maybe I'll tape it to thatcheap cover....The manual is quite good (without really knowing anything about sewing I was able toget the machine set up and sewing in about an hour), but would be much better if it werespecific to this model. There are many places in the model where it says, "Or you can dothis if your model has this feature." Well, there are times when I'm reading it when I'm notsure if my model has that feature, and it takes some time to figure it out. It reallyseems like Brother should be able to print different versions of the documentation fortheir different machines at not much extra cost. I would pay a few more dollars inthe overall price to have a customized user manual. On a positive note, every time I'vehit one of those sections so far, this model does have the feature.

First of all, let me admit that I've never had a new sewing machine before and I've only been sewing a year and a half. Hence, I don't have a lot to compare it to.That said, I am in love with this machine. I mostly do art sewing - I've had this machine about 2 months and have done two finished pieces and multiple practice pieces. How wonderful not to have to fight with my sewing machine to do the job! I just press a button and it sews!My favorite parts so far: I love the push button sewing and especially the little slide thingy that allows me to adjust the speed. I do thread sketching and that slide thingy lets me go incredibly slow when I'm sketching a part that requires a lot of precision and speed up as fast as I want on the easier sections. Much more precision to it than a foot pedal.I also love having such a variety of stitches at my fingers. I know that its not a lot compared to the expensive machines but compared to my $20 goodwill machines, it feels expansive.It was incredibly easy to start sewing on this machine. I was sewing in about 10 minutes. The instructions are easy to follow and some are right on the machine. The drop in bobbin makes that part especially simple - I think it might be impossible to screw that up. The "needle threader" takes a few tries to get (the thread keeps slipping off the hook unless you are at just the right angle) but once you get used to it, its a nice feature.I like how it tells you which foot to use with which stitch. I love the price. Mine came with a free quilting foot and walking foot which I've already used.Cons: Its pretty lightweight. I've only had the heavy old ones and have read peoples opinions about light machines moving around on the table and didn't see what the big deal was. This one is light enough to lift very easily (a good thing) but when I was sewing a blanket, the weight of the blanket kept moving the machine. I think that might not be a problem with smaller, lighter pieces of fabric. It didn't do that with my smaller projects. Also, the attachable larger base thing (can you tell I haven't been sewing that long?) doesn't really fit closely. It works okay but is sort of warped or something so isn't totally smooth. Fortunately, that part is at the back right so it doesn't get too much in the way.One really nice part. I bought this because I had a piece due for a show in less than a week and my old machine bit the dust. I was won over by the reviews on this and looked all over town for one to try. No luck. Only available online. I ordered it with two day shipping and got the machine at my doorstep in LESS than 24 hours. That was just great.