A used sewing machine is a good buy when the handwheel turns smoothly through a full turn, the motor starts gently at low speed, and it sews a clean, balanced straight stitch and zigzag on two layers of cotton and four of denim with your own thread and a new needle. It must come with its foot pedal, power cord and bobbin case, and needles, bobbins and feet must still be available for it. Test it in person, with the scraps and thread you bring, before you pay.

What should you bring to test a used sewing machine?

Sellers rarely have what you need to run a real test, and a machine that "worked fine last time" deserves one.

  • Scraps of three fabrics: a medium cotton, a piece of denim or canvas, and a jersey.
  • A spool of good polyester thread and an empty bobbin of the type the machine takes, if you know it.
  • A new universal needle, size 80/12, and a small screwdriver to change it.
  • A phone light, to look into the bobbin area and under the machine.

What do you check before switching it on?

  1. The body and the plate. Chips and scratches are cosmetic; cracks in a plastic body around the handwheel or the needle bar are not. The needle plate should be flat, with a clean hole; a plate with a gouge beside the hole tells you the needle has struck it hard.
  2. The handwheel. Turn it toward you, slowly, through at least two full turns. It should feel even, with a little resistance as the needle goes down and no tight spot, click or grind. Stiffness on a machine stored for years may only be dried oil; a wheel that will not turn, or that binds at the same point every turn, is a timing or gear problem.
  3. The needle bar. With the needle at its lowest, push it sideways gently. There should be no play.
  4. The presser foot lifter should raise and lower the foot with a definite stop, and the foot should sit square on the plate.
  5. The feed dogs. Turn the wheel and watch them rise, move back and drop. Their teeth should be sharp, not rounded. Check that the drop-feed control, if there is one, works.
  6. The bobbin area. Take out the bobbin case. On a front-loading machine, the case is a separate part that is easy to lose and brand-specific, so its absence is a real cost. Look at the hook for rust, scratches and burrs; run a fingernail around the case edge. A felt of lint means the machine was never cleaned.
  7. Under the machine. Tilt it back, or look through the base. Old oil turned to brown varnish, rust on the shafts, or cracked plastic gears with a tooth missing are what you are looking for.
  8. The power cord and pedal. The cord should have no cracks or taped repairs; the pedal should be the one made for that machine, since pedals are not interchangeable between most brands.
  9. The smell. A burnt-electrical smell from the motor housing means a motor on its way out.

What do you check with the power on?

  1. Start the motor at the lowest pedal pressure. It should pull away smoothly. A motor that hums and only starts with a push on the handwheel, or that races and stalls, has worn brushes or a worn belt, or a pedal fault.
  2. Listen at full speed for a knock or a rattle, then let it idle: a steady hum is fine.
  3. Thread it from scratch, with the presser foot up, and wind a bobbin on its winder. The winder should engage, wind evenly, and release the handwheel afterward.
  4. Sew a straight stitch on two layers of cotton at the default length. Look at both sides: the stitch should be balanced, with the lock in the middle and no loops on the underside. Tension that needs to sit at the end of its dial to balance is a bad sign.
  5. Sew every stitch the machine claims. Zigzag at full width, a stretch stitch, a blind hem, the buttonhole if it has one. A machine that straight-stitches well but will not zigzag has a fault in the selector or the needle swing mechanism.
  6. Change the stitch length and width while sewing. Both should change immediately and evenly.
  7. Reverse. The lever or button should hold, and the stitch should go back over the same line.
  8. Sew four layers of denim, then a jersey hem with zigzag. On the denim the stitch should stay even without the motor straining; on the jersey, no skipped stitches with a new needle. Sewing knits on a regular machine says what to expect from a plain machine on jersey.
  9. Needle threader, thread cutter, light. Minor, but worth knowing.
Tip: Keep the test seams. They show what the machine does with a fresh needle and good thread, which is the baseline you will compare against after a service.

What should come with a used sewing machine?

The pedal, the power cord, the bobbin case (if removable), several bobbins of the right type, the standard foot and ideally a zipper foot and a buttonhole foot, a cover or a case, and the manual. Manuals for long-standing models can usually be downloaded from the maker's site, so a missing manual is not a problem; missing feet are, since brand-specific feet add up. Presser feet explained tells you which ones you will actually use. Check too that the machine takes the standard flat-shank household needle; some older and some industrial machines take a different system.

Which used machines are a good buy, and which are not?

Used machines fall into a few categories, and the price asked should match the category.

  • All-metal mechanical machines from the 1960s to the 1990s are the sweet spot: straightforward to service, parts still available for the major brands, and built to run for decades. They sew straight stitch, zigzag and a handful of utility stitches, which is enough for garments.
  • Vintage straight-stitch-only machines such as the Singer 201 or the Featherweight 221 are prized for their stitch quality, but they have no zigzag, so you will finish seams another way. Vintage vs modern machines weighs this trade.
  • Recent mid-range mechanical machines (five to fifteen years old) from the established brands are a safe buy if the test above passes.
  • Computerized machines need more care: a dead board can cost more than the machine is worth, and a board for a discontinued model may not exist. Test every function and every stitch. If anything electronic misbehaves, walk away unless the price is very low.
  • Light entry-level plastic machines bought used save little compared with new, and have the shortest life. A new one with a warranty is often the better deal.

Mechanical machines from the long-standing lines of Bernina, Pfaff, Elna, Husqvarna Viking, Janome, Juki, Brother and Singer all have strong reputations here; what matters more than the badge is the condition and whether a bobbin case and feet are still sold for that exact model.

What are the red flags?

  • Handwheel that will not turn, or that turns and binds.
  • Rust in the hook race or on the needle bar.
  • A ticking sound at every stitch, or a gear tooth missing under the machine.
  • Missing bobbin case on a front-loading machine.
  • A pedal from another brand, or a plug that has been replaced with a different type.
  • Tension that balances only at the end of the dial.
  • Any error message on a computerized machine, or a screen with dead segments.
  • A seller who will not let you sew on it.

What should you pay?

Set the ceiling against a new machine of the same class with a warranty. A machine sold serviced by a dealer, with a short guarantee, is worth more than the same machine from a private seller; for a private sale, the price should leave room for a service and still come in well under new.

What do you do after buying?

Clean the bobbin area, fit a new needle, and oil the points the manual shows. If the machine is older than a decade or has clearly not been maintained, book a service; when to service a sewing machine lists what that includes. Then sew the test seams again and keep them with the machine.

For the sewing itself, a used machine with a good straight stitch, a zigzag and a buttonhole covers every garment in a typical home wardrobe. All twenty of Sewly's patterns, from the T-shirt to the kimono jacket, are written to be sewn on exactly that: a straight stitch, a zigzag for knit seams and seam finishing, and a buttonhole where a closure needs one.