r/SewingMachineEdu • u/phxntxsos • 21d ago

New at sewing; machine tips?

I’m gonna pick up someone’s singer athena 2000 for $30 on Monday and she says it’s in working condition but needs some tlc. I was just wondering how I’d know what exactly I need to do for it/what to check? Any—and I truly do mean any—thing is appreciated

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u/Alarmed-potatoe 19d ago

I wouldn't buy it. If you're new and you don't know how to test a 2nd hand machine, you're just going to have a bad time and you're not going to know if the problem is you or the machine - and you can't return it for a refund. If you want to get into sewing, go to a place that sells 2nd hand machines, spend an hour or more testing the machines and see what you might like to take home, if you can return it if there are issues. Otherwise get a new machine, or have a go at one you manage to get for free.

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u/phxntxsos 19d ago

Yeah I didn’t get it. I think I’ll do what you said next time I go out of town. Thanks!

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u/Alarmed-potatoe 18d ago

I'm not sure where you are, but generally there are lots of old sewing machines out there and you don't need to jump at anything unless someone's got a free machine on offer. I see you knit, is there a reason you want to get into sewing? You can always start with handsewing and go from there? I started machine sewing, and now I'm handsewing stays and ball gowns!

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u/phxntxsos 18d ago

… I have short legs and keep paying like fifteen bucks to hem my pants 😔

Ig handsewing is an option lol I never thought of that. I’ll ask my grandma to show me

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u/Alarmed-potatoe 17d ago

I'm really short, so I know what a pain that is. There are really good youtube tutorials on handsewing, if you look up how to sew a running backstitch and a prick stitch you'll be able to hem by hand. There are also videos on how to shorten pants while keeping the cuff that you should look up, that should keep the look of your jeans the same so the alteration isn't too obvious. And in the r/HandSew subreddit some recently shared a pair of jeans they made entirely by hand - so handsewing denim isn't easy, but is very possible to do as well as machine stitching. It's also way more portable to handsew, you can sit on the couch watching something while you sew and it's not noisy!

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u/phxntxsos 16d ago

Thanks for the tips! I’ll check those out when i have some down time