Simple T Say: Brother 6000i metal chassis
Just okay...., 2008-03-16
This review is for: Brother 6000i metal chassis
This machine is just fine for beginners or for those who will only use it sparingly. It's easy to use with a lot of fun stitches, but it's very very sensitive & doesn't like anything other than the best thread & light materials. The first day I got it it jammed up within 30 minutes but once I changed to a higher quality thread it worked fine-- for about an hour. As soon as I tried using some interfacing with cotton (a simple tote bag project), the machine jammed up again & I had to replace the needle. It ultimately finished the project, but there was some coaxing on my part. Needless to say, this machine doesn't like medium to heavy-weight material & you've got to use really good quality stuff on it, otherwise it will leave you hanging. On the flip side, I've made several sets of curtains and pillow cases with no problem. So, it's really all about what you need to use this machine for--

A. Boston Say: Brother 6000i metal chassis
A complete sewing novice......., 2007-10-25
This review is for: Brother 6000i metal chassis
I once tried to use a sewing machine when I was around 14 and into altering my clothes. Honestly, I think I almost blew up the darn thing. I had borrowed it from my grandmother and I don't know if it ever worked again. At that time I vowed NEVER to touch a sewing machine again(I easily get frustrated when things don't work out the way I plan). Well, about 13 years later, I decided I wanted to make a quilt out of old band t-shirts. I had planned on sending them away to a professional company, but could not justify the $400-500 price, and someone said "why don't you do it yourself?". Never one to turn down a challenge, I decided to give it a go. If I "blew up" another machine I would know I'm never meant to use one.I read a lot of reviews on amazon, because frankly, I didn't even know what I was looking for. I knew something that was 'user friendly' and good for a beginner. Beyond that, totally clueless. I remembered the Brother brand being good, and I liked the look of the machine. Not too many knobs and buttons and I can totally work with digital. The fewer things I can manually break the better. I also didn't want to go all out on price, but get something moderate so that if I did end up enjoying it, I wouldn't have to immediately get a better one. So, with these ideas, I finally decided on this machine.And I'm EXTREMELY proud to say, I made a quilt/blanket my first day. No, it wasn't perfect, but I got the machine running and found it pretty easy to figure out. I started slow and really paid attention to the manual (which is rare in my case). Granted, some of the terminology is like reading japanese, but some staring at the diagrams in the manual helped me to figure it out as well as making a couple phone calls to see what threading the bottom and the top meant, did I need to do both? Apparently so. I even know what a bobbin is now. =)I'm just finished my 2nd quilt, a T-shirt one as a first go before doing the important T-shirts. I also made a case for my nook e-reader! I've ordered some 'complete guides to quilting' to get a better idea of things, but I am confident this machine will work well for me. I think the light it has is fantastic, I could easily get busy in a darkened room and see what I was doing. Once you get the hand of threading it's easy to remember. The speed button works well, it can go very slow if you're unsure and speed up as you become more used to the machine.The only thing I don't love is, and maybe there's a trick to this I haven't caught onto yet.....is that I end up JAMMING as much blanket as possible under the arm to try and finish things in the middle of the blankets. I wish there was more room between the body of the machine and where the stitching happens. I've fiddled a little with the different stitches, which is really fun. I still don't know what the tension is, but I guess I'll figure it out as I go along. If you're a beginner like I am, I would definitely recommend this machine. It's a fun new hobby and not nearly as daunting as I had thought it would be. Happy quilting!