Sewing machine for a young child

I'm thinking of giving my daughter a sewing machine for her 6th birthday and am wondering if anyone has any advice on models for young sewers and/or experience with young people sewing with one.  I realize I may be jumping the gun with a machine when she's so young but she SO desperately wants to use mine and I think she may be able to handle a machine that has a few safety features for little hands.

Thanks!
Victoria

I know Sears sales a Janome made Kenmore that get great reviews and goes on sale frequently. I think it's a good starter machine. I let my kids use a vintage Kenmore that has a kneepedal to control it since their feet can't reach the foot pedal.

I was just given an old machine that turns out to be a Singer 177C for which there are no manuals available on the Singer site. I've googled around and found lots of others trying to find the same but no good info on it. It's huge, heavy, all metal, and I'm trying to decide if I want to bother keeping it and trying to refurbish it, etcetera. Anyone know anything about this model or have suggestions about how to proceed?

Thanks!
Maura

My girls started sewing at about the same age.  I bought them a Viking (Juliette) that was on sale at my local sewing center.  The drop in bobbin makes sewing easy for them since there isn't a bobbin casing to mess with.  All 3 of my girls (now 18,12 & 11) love the machine and still use it.  I think I paid about $179 on sale but that was MANY years ago. 

I'm thinking you should get a machine that is similar to your sewing machine.  Good luck!

I realize that this thread is a bit old, but I have a little comment...

I'd advise you NOT to buy a child's sewing machine or a 'mini' sewing machine.  They truly are just throwing your money away.  I would advise a basic Janome school model sewing machine (with a drop-in bobbin, as above poster advised.)  To my knowledge there is no sewing machine with safety features.  You'll just have to teach her well :-)  And have fun with it.  My daughter is 6 also, but so far we've only done hand sewing projects.  I have a 9 yr old niece that is very proficient with a sewing machine already.  Very neat to see!

I agree with whomever said that a child's machine wasn't necessarily a good idea. I just received a Necchi for a gift and I have had pretty good luck with it. My mom got a great deal on the machine because my specific model was being discontinued, so it would be worth checking out with the company. It's pretty simple and easy to use. Good luck!

I bought my daughter the higher end Hello Kitty sewing machine which she likes (she is . It is made by Janome and uses their feet. It is a simple to use machine. I did a lot of research on it and found it to be reviewed positively and well liked by quilter's as an extra machine that was lightweight enough to take to classes.

That said, I would like to upgrade her eventually. I have a computerized machine so my daughter is really intrigued with the computer screen and navigates it quite well. Children are very computer savvy today so it makes a lot of sense to get them onto a computerized machine. She is very comfortable with the computerized aspect, much more so than I was the first time I used a computerized sewing machine.

In that category you may want to consider a Brother introductory computerized machine because they feauture Disney stitches which would really appeal to little ones. Or the Project Runway machine that is really popular with tweens because of the TV series. There is also a new machine called Thread Banger for tweens that like to repurpose, which is huge right now.

Good luck!

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