Sewing Machine 404, 170 Stitches, Alphabet, £150 accessories: Quilting Extension Table, Walking Foot, Hard Case, 13 Feet, 24 Moon Thread, 5 Scissors

The machine arrived less than 48 hours after ordering which is some going as I live in the far north east of Scotland. A simple query about on of the items was answered within 48 hours in a friendly email. The machine itself is sturdy and performs well as a simple sewing machine. I was in the middle of making some bags out a heavy curtain material when my old machine packed up and I finished them using this machine. All the feet work well and I was particularly impressed with the button hole foot. You place the button at the back of the foot and it measures it out for you. All you have to do is choose your button hole from an impressive array of button hole patterns, press the start button and watch your button hole appear. Someone must have re-written the instructions as they were clear and written in good English. The machine is easy to thread and has a built in needle threader. It has a foot pedal but you can un-plug it and use a button to start and stop the machine.and a button to put it into reverse. I particularly liked the speed limiter, which you set with a sliding knob. Once you set it, the machine will not run any faster than the level you set. This means you can have the machine just ticking over for complicated work or free hand embroidery and leave both hands free. It came with a fair set of extras as well, and I was like a child on Christmas morning as I opened all the little packages, containing extra feet, needles, tape ,measure, snips, a good selection of scissors that cut well and some nice cottons. Now to the impressive array of built in stitches. The pattern selection is all done via the little screen, and I suggest you sit with the instruction book in front of you and work out how to get the screens up to choose your stitches. Once you have done it a few times it soon becomes second nature. There is also a chart printed on the front of the machine so you can see all the stitch patterns. There are three sections, simple sewing stitches and the buttonholes, fancy patterns and the alphabet and numbers.You choose the section you want and then scroll through to select the stitch you want. The alphabet and numbers are plain but readable and you can program up to 30 letters or numbers and save them as a phrase. I easily saved my name so that I could print it out over and over for name tabs. It is a simple, square looking font and there is no kerning, so some of the letters are far apart if you save them as a phrase or name. You can get round this by sewing each letter individually and then re-positioning the needle a bit nearer before you sew the next letter. The standard sewing stitches like straight, tripple and zig zag work well. Simply choose the stitch from the screen, then set the length and width you want. I was also impressed with the overlocker foot. Teamed with the overlock stitch, it acts very much like a real overlocker. I usually sew a straight line and then sew the raw edge again with a zig zag. This has a special foot and stitch pattern that does it all in one go. I set it on a small stitch length and found it acceptable to sew and zig zag over the edge in one pass. The edge was firm when pulled and the zig zag covered the raw edge well. There is the usual blind stitch foot and there is a pattern for the blind stitch to do with it. There is an impressive array of pretty patterns., I have tried most of them and the machine copes with at quite high speeds with even the intricate ones. There are lines of little hearts, and stars, vines and leaves. There are even some tiny dogs, birds, and even a koala bear. There is also the option to mirror every pattern, and a button to finish off each each pattern on the last stitch so you don't stop in the middle of a pattern. I found you can also can sew a long line, then press the button as you come to the end and the machine will come to a stop on a finished pattern. Before I bought this machine, I googled it and found a blog where all the patterns are shown if you want to see them all. I am very impressed with this machine and I hope you my my review helpful.

This machine has many features usually only found on much more expensive models. It's quieter and smoother than my old machine, and the top-loading bobbin system seems less prone to snarl-ups. I particularly like the needle threader, so much quicker to use, and the needle up/ down feature saves a lot of time. The reverse stitch takes a bit of practice but I cracked it quite quickly. The one-step buttonhole attachment is very easy to use and gives good results. There are a large number of decorative stitches, some work better than others. It seems that starch or stabiliser is needed to get good results with these, which is not mentioned in the manual. The alphabet stitches are not very good, if they are a priority for you I would advise buying a different machine, but you will probably have to pay 3 times more.Before buying I read reviews which commented on the comedy value of the manual. My machine came with a 'quick start' guide which has addressed many of these problems.The machine came with '£150 worth of extras'. The walking foot is brilliant and would be about £60 to buy. The other bits would be very handy for someone new to sewing but I already had most of these items. The extension table has been very useful when making curtains. The finger guard might be good for a child, but I took it off as I couldn't get on with it and haven't yet sewn a finger in 40 years of using a machine. Hope I haven't jinxed myself now!8 weeks after writing this, the machine went wrong. I rang the company and was told to pack it up for collection. The courier arrived just as I finished packing it! The next day I had a phone call offering repair or replacement, the replacement machine arrived the next day. Fantastic customer service. Make sure you keep the packaging, just in case.

A very solidly built and easy to use machine for the tasks I have used it for so far. As was suggested in previous reviews the instructions are absolutely useless and a novice sewing machinist would be a little bewildered. The lcd screen is an interesting development in the modern machine and I like the suggestions for choice of presser foot and the graphic showing stitch width and length. The automatic clutch release for the bobbin winder is neat but do be careful of the thread going below the bobbin when winding at speed! There are many features that look useful but I haven't tried yet such as the numerous styles of buttonhole and some of the stretch stitches. However straight stitch, zig-zag and hemming are a breeze. I have always preferred a drop in bobbin so that is a bonus.Quilting has been done very easily with a wide opening so bulky materials can be dealt wit. The thick layers were very well coped with. The extension table is solid and robust but a little fiddly to attach 'till you get used to it, Altogether very pleased with the machine. A good product at an excellent price.