The Best Singer Sewing Machine Models

What are the best Singer sewing machine models? Here you'll find a list of the top ones being sold, with comments about the benefits and possible drawbacks for each one.

Since what is best for someone else may not be best for you, there is also a checklist of factors you may want to consider. People generally keep their sewing machines for ten years or more, so it's worth thinking about what you might want in that time frame.

Photo credit: Flickr.com

As a librarian, I love digging into facts and opinions around the internet. I went to a variety of sewing sites and I read reviews on the different models. I used the top rated rankings for Singer sewing machines at Amazon as the basis for my list here. My added comments come from things I read all over the web.

Why is this page only about Singers? The word Singer has been practically synonymous with sewing machines for over a century. Now Singer sewing machines account for about 43 percent of U.S. sales. Brother has about a 29% market share, and other machines such as Janome and Viking have smaller shares. So for this page, I chose to simply focus on the best-loved brand. But the magic word "Singer" had to be backed up by favorable reviews!

So here you will find the best 5 Singer sewing machine models, each one with some comments. Further down there is a list of the next five. Clicking on the images or the blue text will take you to the Amazon page for that item.

By the way, sometimes the prices that show up on the data feed this page uses are a bit more or a bit less than what you will see when you click through to Amazon, probably due to how the data feed works. I include them, though, to at least give you a ballpark idea.

This is the machine I would buy for myself if I were getting a new machine. It's both the best selling AND the top rated sewing machine of all the sewing machines that Amazon sells. With dozens of reviews, it has close to a pure 5 star rating. Click through to see why.

This machine is near the top of Amazon's two lists, best sellers and highest customer ratings. Costing about half the price of the Singer 9960 described above, it seems to be a very satisfying mid-range machine.

People are happy with how smoothly it sews, the detailed manual, the number of presser feet it comes with, and more. It's quiet too.

A few people had trouble with it sewing on heavy fabrics. If you will be doing a lot of that, also consider the #5 machine, further down this page. But other people didn't have that problem. Different sewing styles, I would guess. I always sew slowly when going through thick fabric.

A bit heavier than the one just above, this one does have fewer stitches but also has a good list of features. People really like it! I did not see an add-on table to wrap around it, so if you plan a lot of quilting, look elsewhere.

At 13 pounds, this basic machine would be a good one for people going off to college, taking their machine to sewing classes, or doing their sewing on the kitchen table.

It's mechanical rather than computerized, which may make it exceptionally sturdy over time.

There are some good tips for how to get the best out of this machine in the most popular reviews. One thing I sometimes forget is to be sure to use a heavy duty and quite new needle with thick projects, as needles do wear out.

1. Price. How much you can afford is partly a reflection of how much you realistically expect to use the machine.
2. Ease of use in general. How easy is it to thread and to put the thread in the bobbin? Does it come with a good light? If running a machine with a foot pedal is hard for you, does it come with a button or other way to run it? The questions you will ask here will depend on your own sewing location and your sewing style.
3. What do other people like and dislike about it? Skimming through the Amazon reviews can tell you a lot.
4. Does it have the features you want for embroidery or quilting?
5. How does it do with a thick layer of fabric? With whatever fabrics you are most likely to be using?

This is very handy if you have an older Singer model and want to keep going with it.

Alex Askaroff, who worked in the sewing industry for many years, has written extensively on Singer sewing machines and lavishiy illustrated the pages with vintage photos of women using the various models that came out. None of this is really pertinent to choosing the best Singer sewing machine model now for you, but it is an interesting diversion.

I'm just linking to one page but from it you can get to all sorts of other subjects, like the wild life of Isaac Singer (he liked women), the fabulous wealth his sewing machines brought him and his large family, the great Singer sewing machine 201 made from 1939 to 1963, and more. Askaroff is a very good writer.

By the way, the Singer company itself has gone through many changes and is now a division of a company called SVP Worldwide. SVP stands for Singer, Viking, and Pfaff, as the company now owns all three of these renowned sewing machine lines.

Please note that if you click through to Amazon.com from here and if you buy something, Squidoo and I may share a commission, at no cost to you. Clicking on some of the other links might also yield me some commission. I appreciate the income, as it enables me to spend time doing writing like this.

This is an automated feed set to show anything that says "singer 9960." As I set this up, I noticed that 4 of the 5 listings were more expensive than getting the machine from Amazon.

I set this feed up because the 9960 is the one I like the most and is considered to be currently the best Singer sewing machine model.