Not all sewing machines are created equal, but over the years, one trend in sewing machine manufacturing has created a sense of distrust in many sewing machine customers. At Temecula Valley Sewing Center, the concern we hear more than any other is that the machines are made of plastic! Well, that’s not entirely true, and this blog post will hopefully help clear up any fears you may have about buying a new sewing machine.

In the good old days sewing machines were really heavy. You’d practically have to be a professional weight lifter to pick one of them up because those machines were all metal. I’ve actually hurt myself picking one up before, which, to me, is just ridiculous, but I’m getting old so I guess that’s the way it goes. Anyway, all of the gears, knobs, pulleys, and every other part in one of those old sewing machines were metal. Metal does have it’s advantages; It’s really strong, and so these old machines were practically bullet-proof. You could generally sew through anything, and many of these older machines are still around today, although parts can be hard or impossible to find.

There are a few disadvantages to those old, all metal, sewing machines. All metal parts are expensive to manufacture, the machines tend to be harder to repair, and repairs are generally more costly because of the extended time it takes to access parts in the machine.

Nearly all household sewing machines manufactured today have plastic exterior covers that cover an interior metal frame. Not only are the covers plastic, but many parts, such as gears, pulleys, knobs, etc. are made of plastic too. Plastic is OK. It weighs a lot less than metal, and the parts are less expensive to manufacture. When the plastic covers are taken off of a modern sewing machine, typically an interior metal frame is revealed, and all of the parts in the machine are attached to the metal frame. This type of manufacturing process allows for easier, less costly repairs, and repairs that don’t take as long, because the parts are easier to get to.

Janome sent us a Christmas present this month. They gave us a metal frame of one of their Horizon sewing machines. I’m a big guy, and although I didn’t actually try it, I could probably stand on this metal frame without damaging it. I took some pictures of it so you can see what a sewing machine frame looks like when all of the parts are removed. It’s not a pretty sight, but shows that a machine built with an interior metal frame is definitely as heavy duty as the old all metal type.

There may be other issues regarding modern sewing machines that you have concerns about, but the metal frame NOT being on the outside shouldn’t be one of them. Please note that not all modern sewing machines have a metal frame. There are some brands out there that are completely plastic, and you should be careful that you don’t end up with one of those, or you’ll certainly be disappointed.

Come in to Temecula Valley Sewing Center and let us show you why that old metal sewing machine isn’t better than a new one. I know you won’t be disappointed.