Alterations like taking in skirts and pants, shortening or lengthening a hem or cuff, repairing seam tears and other clothing related tasks have almost become a thing of the past yet people are flocking to sewing classes at JoAnn Fabrics and Michaels in record numbers.  Many beginners or people beginning to sew again are looking for a serviceable machine that they can bring out and set up in a limited space without having to use a forklift.  This will require the purchase or use of a small sewing machine.

Every manufacturer has opening price point models in both mechanical and computerized forms that will allow you to sew your own clothes or make repairs and alterations to your existing wardrobe.  The key is finding a small sewing machine that is both affordable and will be durable.  A great place to look for small sewing machines is How Stuff Works in their product search area.  You can type in “small sewing machine” and you will see over one hundred ninety results.  Each result gives you the price range that product has at all the sites that it is sold at have listed, a summary of the features the machine has, warranty information and expert reviews if any on the product.

Depending on just what you want to do you can check out slightly more complicated machines that have computerized stitches and will allow you to add cartridges that have even more stitches on them.  Most small sewing machines without computerized stitches come with less than twenty mechanical stitches that are accessed by different lever placements on the machine.  Most basic machines will allow you to sew seams, make buttonholes and some times basic embroidery.  These mechanical machines will almost always be under two hundred dollars ($200) and many are close to one hundred dollars ($100) for small sewing machines.