After ten years of stitching, fixing, and snapping needles in the kitchen at home, I've tried more sewing machines than I can fit in the cupboard under the stairs. This year's reviews cut through the noise: three machines I genuinely recommend, two I wish I'd never bought, and an honest answer to the question I get most ("is the cheap one fine?").
The most-asked question we get. Yes — the free-motion, hand-guided kind, plus decorative stitches and appliqué. What you can make, and the kit you actually need.
Q&A · MachinesWhat the dial actually does, how to read a bad stitch in ten seconds, and why nine times out of ten it isn't the tension at all.
Tutorial · TroubleshootingThe first wall every new sewist hits. The bobbin, the upper thread, the take-up lever, and the one rule that fixes most "my machine is broken" panics.
Tutorial · BeginnerYou don't need an overlocker to make a good t-shirt. The right needle, a stitch that actually stretches, and how to stop that wavy hem that ruins every first attempt.
Beginner · TutorialThe last small fear most new sewists carry. The automatic foot, the four-step dial, and a hand-worked buttonhole — plus how to cut it open without ruining the lot.
Tutorial · TechniqueThe most useful sewing skill nobody is taught. An invisible blind hem, a quick machine hem, and the fold trick that keeps the faded original hem on your jeans.
Tutorial · AlterationsHonestly the only post I'd link a friend who's just bought their first machine. What to make first, what to make second, what NOT to make third.
Beginner · GuideThere are three useful overlockers under £400, and a lot of bad advice between you and them. Threadable for a beginner, sturdy for a long haul, and honest about what an overlocker actually does.
Reviews · OverlockersCutting on the cross-grain. Pinning instead of basting. Using cheap thread on a project that matters. The greatest hits of "things I learned the hard way".
Beginner · ConfessionsThe featured guide above, updated for the new year. The Janome 525S still leads my list; the Brother I won't name still doesn't.
Reviews · Machines
Love Me Sew started as Emily and Sam's blog over a decade ago. I picked up the keyboard a few years back and have been writing it ever since, from a small workroom in Yorkshire that smells permanently of beeswax and freshly-pressed cotton. The blog is small, the posts are slow, and the reviews are honest because nothing here is sponsored.