Sewing machine, 14 stitches | Mechanical

This simple, powerful Janome machine is a favorite of graphic designer and home sewer Tracy Ma, who got it as a birthday gift from her husband. (“My mother-in-law Susan is a pro-quilter and her quilting buddy spoke highly of this machine,” she says.) Ma describes the machine’s aluminum construction as “incredibly hard-wearing,” and she appreciates its compact footprint. “It’s perfect for New York homes because it encloses into a tiny little thing and you can slide it in your tiny closet,” she says. “I’ve never had any problems with it. I’ve recommended it a few times over the years to people who have never sewed before.”

Sewing machine, 15 stitches | Mechanical

“What sold me” on this Janome machine, says Strategist writer Kat Gillespie, “was its series of accompanying YouTube videos apparently aimed at teenagers looking to hem their Depop jeans.” Gillespie named her turquoise Easy-to-Use machine the best thing she bought in 2021. She likes that it’s easy to switch on and start using, and says that it’s “neither over- nor underloaded with features,” a useful quality for beginners.

Sewing and quilting machine, 600 stitches | Computerized

Jessie Randall, founder of Loeffler Randall, says that her Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 “sits right at my dining table, like a sixth member of my family.” She says the machine has held up well to frequent use on a wide range of projects: The machine “can do so many things, including quilt, embroider, make hundreds of different stitches, and gather fabric.” She’s used it to sew pillows, quilts, Halloween costumes, scrunchies, Loeffer Randall slipper prototypes — and, during the pandemic, over 1,200 fabric face masks. Randall also loves its time- and material-saving features, like an automatic thread cutter: “When you are done sewing, you can push a little button and it cuts the thread very close to the fabric … When I am sewing 30 face masks at a time or quilting, those extra thread tails really add up.”

Sewing machine, 100 stitches | Computerized

For a computerized machine with a wide range of uses, pattern designer Angela Wolf recommends the Brother Pacesetter PS500, which “provides great high-end features at a mid-level price point,” like one-step buttonholes and automatic reinforcement stitches. (She also recommends the Pacesetter PS100, which costs $150, as “a more budget-friendly model for truly new beginner sewers.”)

Sewing and embroidery machine, 991 stitches and stitch-designer function | Computerized

If you’re open to splurging on the sports car of sewing machines, three of the experts we spoke to mentioned Swiss company Bernina as an aspirational brand, inspiring cultlike loyalty from users for its reliability and high-quality engineering. Zilberman’s mother gave her a Bernina sewing machine as a gift in high school, which she compared to “[getting] a spaceship so that I could go to a local college.” At first, Zilberman was “really overwhelmed by all of the different functions that it had,” but once you get acclimated, she confirms that it really is the best.

Sewing machine; multiple stitches, including zigzag | Mechanical 

Taubensee highly recommends buying a vintage machine, which she prefers for their fully metal construction. She especially likes the Singer 401A, manufactured from 1956 to 1961, which she calls a “great vintage machine” that is still “really solid,” even decades later. “Since they are purely mechanical, basically anyone can understand and fix them … I used a YouTube video to dismantle, clean, and service my machine, which was really fun to learn about,” Taubensee says. She still gets the machine professionally serviced, and like Millar, mentions that vintage parts are easier to find with a model like the 401A that was mass-produced in its prime.