Singer 8280

by Krista

Love it, hate it, or something in between? It got me going, so I feel a little bit of an attachment to it. It gave me lots of frustration, but some of that was surely my own fault, as an ignorant beginner who kept forgetting to put down the presser foot before sewing. Then again, some of it was certainly the fault of this cheapy sewing machine, which came up with new ways to foil me on a regular basis until I stashed it to use my 1972 White.

When did you buy this sewing machine? late 2005

When was it manufactured? it was new, so around 2005

Where did you buy it? Target

How much did you pay for it? about $80

How many projects have you done on this machine? approximately 15

Describe the kind of work you've done with it. I started with baby pouches, repaired heavy-duty items like wrist and knee braces, sewed a hideous (not the machine's fault) canvas handbag, two cloth grocery bags, a few little gift bags and pouches, a summer dress, three skirts, two tops, several pairs of elastic-waistband toddler pants, a fleece monkey costume, and started working on a sail cover made of heavy-duty marine canvas called Sunbrella.

What do you like and what do you hate about it? Thread jams. Seriously, all the time. In fairness, they became rarer as I used the machine more, so I really do think that I was doing funky things in the beginning that set it off -- I went through a phase where I loaded the thread into the bobbin case backward, and that wreaked havoc; I often forgot to put the presser foot down before sewing, and I just wasn't very adept at moving certain fabric types through. Still, it often jammed when I think I was doing everything right, and my White almost never jams, so I'm pretty sure the machine is highly susceptible to thread jams.

One of its biggest problems, aside from the thread jams, was that the plastic reverse lever got shredded inside the machine -- apparently the mechanism was too tight. Singer sent me a new lever (they did suggest I return the machine for a replacement, but with a tiny baby and a complicated living situation at that time, I couldn't drag myself back to Target in another state), and after doing some complicated jerry-rigging and being oh-so-careful, I did manage to keep it working reasonably well. And then one day I decided to drop some sewing machine oil down in the hole, and, well, the problem was totally fixed. So I see it as an indication that care was not taken in making the machine in the first place, but, again, if I'd known my way around a sewing machine better, I probably could have cleared it up right off the bat and saved myself a year and a half of grief.

As long as the thread wasn't getting all balled up under the needle plate, it worked great. The stitches looked good, and it even had enough power to get through some thick fabrics -- when I was sewing the sail cover, the needle seemed to go through the heavy canvas without too much effort, but the overall project was really too heavy for the feed dogs to move through very effectively. Also, I don't think it had any way to adjust the presser foot pressure or to lower the feed dogs, which I've since found to be a handy feature.

Comments

[Krista]

Because I'm moving this entry from "old" Zigzaggers to this new site, I'm also pasting in the comments that were left on the original site. This one came from Michal (http://yarn-n-coffee.blogspot.com/) on May 12, 2008:

i have this machine, and while it has its flaws, i'd just like to say that it's a good beginner machine. you can do some good learning on it without breaking the bank. and while i fudged up quite a lot learning on it (making pretty much every rookie mistake), i found mine to be pretty forgiving. my recommendation - if you get it, take it apart, clean and oil it fairly frequently - and it'll help you out a lot.

[Krista]

This one came from Kathy on May 13, 2008:

I also bought this machine at Target for my daughter to learn on. It's a decent beginner machine, but the thread jams are a neverending problem. At first, I thought it was because she was a beginner and it must have been something she was doing wrong, so I tried using it a few times and had the same problem. Sewing went from being a fun hobby for her to a source of major frustration, and that's really sad for me to see, because it's something I love to do and Singer used to be such a quality company!

[Amby Barnes]

I got this machine from Target as well. I wanted to get back into sewing and it was a cheap way to make sure I was serious! I didn't have that many problems with thread jamming. It was more with the tension. It probably was user error or maybe it needed a tune up, but I couldn't get it adjusted just right. My stitches started looking wonky and that's when I decided it was time for a new machine. It completely turned me off to Singers. I got a Brother this time...

[leslie]

I've had a ton of problems with jamming thread also- specifically (this time) with it jamming under the thread plate- so glad to know that it's not me! I was ready to declare myself a non-seamstress forever!

[carol mounier]

carolmounier:
I have a universal standard J-A 61 zigzag machine. It is in a cabinet. The other night my husband knocked it over and bent one of the hinges that fold the machine into the cabinet. It folds into the back. So fAR WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A REPLACEMENT HINGE. Any suggestions