First project on my new Brother CS-6000i sewing machine

I'm a total novice when it comes to sewing. I bought a sewing machine a few years ago... I think it was a cheap Singer. I ended up using the thing a couple of times and selling it because I thought it was frustrating to use.

The interest to learn this new skill has once again arisen in me, so I decided to look around and see what is available. I don't have a lot of money to invest, so I wanted to see what was available in the lesser expensive price range. To my surprise, sewing machines have gotten less expensive and are far more user friendly. This machine ran me $170 with free shipping from http://www.amazon.com/.

The machine that I ended up picking out is a Brother cs-6000i. I chose this one because it looks basic and because it has rave reviews all over the internet.

So far, I can attest that it is a quality, easy to use machine. There are a few annoying things about it, but once you get the hang of how the machine works it is a cinch. The biggest thing that annoyed me was threading it... it is supposed to be an automatic threader, but for the first week or so it took me a while to figure out how to thread the automatic threader. Perhaps I will post a video of the threading, but I will need both hands available to do so, so it will require another person holding the camera. Please let me know if anyone is interested.

I did read many reviews of users that complained that the machine doesn't like cheap thread. I learned quickly a few years ago that cheap thread will break on you in a heartbeat and so have never had that problem. I've used Gutermann thread nearly exclusively, which is currently half off at Joann.

My projects so far have been focused more on simplifying my daily chores. The gardening season is coming up and I am trying to find ways to make it simpler, especially this year as I am breaking ground on a new garden and it will be much larger than anything that I have tended before. In years past, I couldn't figure out how to get organized. This year I am attempting to organize myself starting with an apron. I bought a basic sewing pattern, but one with many pockets. The pockets will have dedicated items, labeled so I know exactly where everything goes, such as scissors and twine, seeds, gloves, etc. In addition I added a loop for my felco 2 pruners. By the way if you are gardener, Felco pruners are worth the investment. If you take care of them they will last a lifetime.