42ENGLISH's Full Review: Brother LS-2125 Mechanical Sewing Machine
I remember learning to use a sewing machine in school eons ago. It happened to be an ancient manual Singer with the rocker pedal. No frills, straightforward and easy to use. My sisters and I made all our own clothes back then on a similar machine at home. Patterns were cheap back then and so was fabric. Nowadays, it costs more to make than buy.
Anywho, I thought it would be a good idea to teach my daughter to sew, give her something to do in her spare time and any kind of brain food doesn’t hurt a youngster nowadays. I figured I would buy something basic and not confusing so I bought the Brother LS2125 from Wal-Mart Superstore for $79.99 thinking what a great deal it was.
Brother’s Claim:
The Brother LS2125. Perfect for basic sewing and mending, the lightweight, portable LS-2125 sports 10 built-in stitches, 25 stitch functions, free-arm capability, a 4-step built-in buttonholer and reverse sewing lever. It also features 4 quick-change presser feet and an automatic bobbin winder.
A good starter machine for garment construction and mending. Sophisticated home tailors will find this machine too basic, but occasional and beginning sewers should get plenty of use from it and not much frustration.
The Product:
In the box:
Fully assembled sewing machine, power cord, foot control, sewing notions, instructions. zipper foot, a buttonhole foot, a button-sewing foot, a set of needles, a twin needle, a set of bobbins, and a darning plate.
My machine is blue and white, is about 15” tall and weighs 15lbs.
Features:
14 stitches
4 step automatic buttonhole
Free arm conversion
Front loading bobbin
Forward & reverse sewing
Automatic bobbin winder
My Experience:
For starters, if you are a beginner and know nothing about sewing machines, don’t buy this machine. The instructions are far too complicated and difficult to understand for one who does not understand sewing terms or is not familiar with machine parts. When I first bought it, I gave it to my daughter and told her to have at it. Short of throwing it across her bedroom out of frustration and muttering some unintelligible pleadings, she gave up on it after a few hours. My daughter is not stupid and is usually very patient so after chastising her, I felt sorry when I saw what she had to deal with in the instructions.
Winding the bobbins was not too difficult but the instructions on placement and threading were awful. Luckily, I knew what I was doing and got it threaded and ready to sew. However, I was baffled when all we could do was produce a tangled mess. I thought maybe the tension was off and adjusted and readjusted but that didn’t help either. After a great deal of adjusting this and that, I noticed the problem was the lower bobbin casing. Apart from the fact that it loads sideways which is difficult to maneuver, it was also very tight and kept the tension on the thread too tight to feed. I had to loosen the casing screw in order for it to feed normally so that sewing motion was possible. I also recommend manually turning the sewing wheel to sew the first couple of stitches, as it still doesn’t catch easily.
This is a very basic sewing machine with only 14 stitches. Better models have over 70 so there isn’t much room for variety. However, if you are looking for something for basic straight stitching, zigzag, and hemming, and you know a little about sewing machines, it’s an okay machine. The satin stitch is rarely successful and even the four-step button hole feature is not an easy task but then again, I am a little rusty since I haven’t used a machine for about 15 years. I haven’t tried the quilting features so I couldn’t comment on that.
The snap-on feet are pretty nifty and easy to change out. The basic design is okay but it does have a cheap plastic casing but that also makes it lightweight and easily portable.
Conclusion:
I’m not happy with my purchase of the Brother LS2125 sewing machine. I thought it being so basic, that it would have been ideal for a beginner such as my daughter. However, problems with the set-up of the machine and difficult to understand instructions lead me to believe that this would not be a good purchase for anyone who knows nothing about sewing.
For those of you with a little experience, you may have the same problem with the lower bobbin casing as I had which fairly easily fixed. Apart from basic sewing and mending needs, I wouldn’t recommend this machine as an asset to your sewing capabilities. My daughter won’t even touch this machine. It is a shame that that first experience has put her off sewing for good. I actually prefer the old manual Singer, I learned to sew on in school.
For more information, go to: http://www.brother-usa.com
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