Janome Graceful Gray Basic, Easy-to-Use, 10-Stitch Portable, Compact Sewing Machine with Free Arm only 5 pounds

The media could not be loaded. I purchased this machine for my 6- and 7-year-old granddaughters to learn to sew. It arrived today, and I have spent some time working with it to see how it performs. I love it. It is smaller than a normal sewing machine, but larger than other machines I've seen that are designed specifically for children. This is the perfect machine for a child to learn on or for a crafter to do some basic sewing. It is very lightweight--only 5 pounds. It has only one speed, which isn't super slow, but is slow enough for a child to manage easily. The foot pedal does not control the speed. It is easy to thread and wind the bobbin. Other low-cost machines I've seen don't make a very good stitch. Not so with this machine. I am totally impressed with the quality of the stitch this machine makes. I stitched two pieces of fabric together without changing the thread tension (it was set at 4). The stitch is perfect. It is at least as good as both of my expensive sewing machines, and maybe a little better. Every one of the 10 stitches on the machine stitched beautifully. The machine is a little louder than I would like, but it is not a deal breaker by any means. I love that the presser foot has a raised front end that makes it impossible for little fingers to get under the needle. The raised front does make the needle slightly harder to thread, but I got the hang of it quickly. It doesn't come with a case or a handle, but at 5 pounds, it's not difficult to carry around. I have several bags that it will fit into if I need to take it to a class. If you need a full-featured machine, this is not the machine for you. If you need a small, lightweight machine that is safe for a child and/or you can use for your basic sewing needs, this machine will meet your needs beautifully. I will try to upload a video to show you how perfect these stitches are. Forgive the quality of the video. I was holding my phone and trying to stitch at the same time. Not a professional video by any stretch of the imagination.

This was sewing machine was purchased for my granddaughters 5th birthday. She has been asking for a sewing machine since she was 3 years old. Having many years of experience sewing, I really felt that she needed to wait until she was 8 years old so that she did not get frustrated and end up hating sewing.I purchased a toy sewing machine for her but thankfully I tried it out myself and realized if she was given the toy machine, she would end up hating sewing. So I continued to do more research, and more research, and ended up buying this machine. It greatly concerned me that it was electric and had a foot pedal. I was mainly worried about her little fingers and that needle.Well... she opened the package on her birthday and was not impressed. It was not the toy sewing machine that she wanted.Along with the sewing machine, I put together a sewing basket with several child friendly sewing notions. At that time she loved the sewing basket more then the machine. Inside the basket was the set of rules that came with the machine. Basically the rules were that the machine had to be used under adult supervision.The first sewing lesson got her hooked. She turned to me and said "Actually Grandma, this is really fun!" So.... the sewing lessons continue and they go for 30 - 45 minutes at a time. She is so proud of the little things she has sewn.This machine is really great. Great price, great looking, easy to use, and it sews great. Had a little trouble in the beginning figuring out the tension to make the stitches look decent. But once we got that figured out, it makes a really nice stitch. I love the stitching foot design. It is designed to keep those little fingers safe. If I had to come up with a "con" it would be that the machine is on the loud side and the little drawer on the front is a bit hard to open for even an adult. But those things are minor. I would definitely buy this machine again!

The machine mysteriously stopped working and it seems the adapter won't work anymore as of March 14. Perhaps the plug got giggled around while it was sewing. :( I will contact Janome but according to the warranty card, I'll have to ship it (and pay for shipping + $10 handling fee) to get it repaired/replaced. :( :( :(She's used this a handful of times since March. Always supervised. Always taken great care of it. I take back my very good review. This thing is clearly junk. Ironically, my own Janome machine broke in February. Maybe it's a sign I should switch brands. Ugh. Really disappointed in this.---This was my original review:I purchased this sewing machine as a Christmas present for my six-year old daughter. I have been sewing for many, many years and own several top of the line machines, but I wanted her to have something she could use (more or less) without my constant hovering supervision. She was thrilled by the size and color ("It's kid-sized!"). I love Janome machines and it seems to be sturdy and well-built.Threading the needle is not as smooth as a higher-end machine. I would think for kids they might have included a needle threader on the machine, but maybe it's good practice for little fingers to get it through the eye. The stitches included are very basic and the machine doesn't sew as neatly as one priced 10x it obviously, but for a kid, this is really no issue. I really like the foot, which is larger than normal. I'm not concerned with her catching a finger in this one as I am on my machines. There is no needle up/down button, but the wheel will crank. There's also no thread cutter, so buy the little a pair of scissors and start training them to only ever use them on fabric! ;)If you're used to sewing on expensive machines, this one will seem like a toy. But there's some beauty in such a stripped down product also. Kids can learn the basics and I don't worry about my investment so much. She was immediately able to begin sewing pockets, pouches and pillows. I could see sewing a simple skirt on this machine. If your kid is going to be working with patterns or larger garments, this machine will be too small and limited though. If she sticks with sewing, I could see her outgrowing this in a year or two easy. But at least by then I would trust her to not hurt herself or damage a more expensive machine.So if you're on the fence about this, I'd consider the age and size of the child (again, this is very small), their interest, and the types of projects you see them working on. For kids just getting started, this is really a great little gadget. For an older child, one with more manual dexterity and more ambitious projects, I'd buy an adult-sized beginner machine. Janome makes a great product though — so I'd recommend them!