There are plenty of sewing machine brands available - some you will know well, some you've probably never heard of before. Brother and Singer are two brands most people are familiar with. But have you heard of Janome or Juki? Just looking at the brand name won't give you much information or guarantee about quality or price. You're better off searching the features that will do what you want the sewing machine to do. As a starting point, a Simplicity sewing machine might be a good choice for beginners. It's powered by batteries, so is very portable. You can perform all the basic sewing maneuvers, plus a few extra, such as the zigzag stitch.

If you want to move up the scale a little you can look at a low-end Singer. It will be a little more advanced, but is still quite basic compared to the top end machines. You can use it for all sorts of tasks, including creating garments, crafts and home décor. If you're interested in quilting, you may need to look at a different machine. You need to move further towards the high-end models if you're interested in embroidery or electronic sewing. Many of these machines, including ones from Singer, can be connected to a computer, and used to access designs available on the Internet.

Buying a sewing machine isn't cheap. They can start as low as $100 for a very basic model, but they can also cost thousands of dollars for the really high-tech machines. If you're a beginner you might be better off avoiding machines with loads of features, although if you're ambitious maybe it's worth buying an all in one machine, so that you have the features when you’re ready to use them. Either way, think about what you're planning to use the machine for, then choose accordingly. It's hardly worth buying a high tech quilting sewing machine if you just want to fix clothes occasionally! One of the reasons there are so many sewing machines on the market is because of the variety of uses. So work out what you need and it will be much easier to find the right sewing machine for you.