Brother CS5055PRW Sewing Machine, Project Runway, 50 Built-in Stitches, LCD Display, 7 Included Feet

I’m 26, I had bought this same one at Walmart when I was 18 when I first started quilting but I had stopped for a good amount of years and when I moved some pieces got broken off (my bad for not being more careful packing it) when I recently decided to get back into sewing I decided to buy a new one because mine was just old and because I wasn’t caring for it rusted in the metal and plus I had pieces missing from moving and when looking for sewing machines I went with this one again because it worked so well for me before. I honestly love it and think it works great for the price. It’s definitely perfect for beginners, I kept the box this time so when I move I can safely transfer it. It feels so great to be sewing again. I definitely recommend this sewing machine, bought it when I was 18 and just repurchased it again at 26. Might go with something more heavy duty later in life but as of right now it does a great job for my quilting and masks I recently sewed because of this pandemic. Also I liked that it comes with a little storage unit thing on it and a few other things in a pouch idk the name to lol

This is an excellent machine for beginners and advanced users. I bought it for my mom but I had to learn about how to use it to show her as she was intimidated by the technical aspects of it. The lcd and push buttons. Her old machine was also a Brother machine she had forever which was all manual.I don’t know much about sawing so while the instructions are decently written I am not familiar with the terminology. Having said that I did find the machine easy to setup and easy to use. I tried a few runs on my own which resulted in a few laughs from my mom due to newbie mistakes but I soon got the hang of it the last few runs were almost perfect. I was then able to show my mom how to use it and she loved it. After I show her how to set it up and how to select stitch type, length and width and tried a few runs with different stitches and such she made the comment that is better and easier than her old machine. One thing she really liked is that when you select a stitch the lcd tells you what foot to use for it. Don’t know what that means but I trust she knows what she is talking about. One thing she did mentioned she didn’t like is that when the machine stops it leaves the needle down. She would prefer the needle up position. The manual doesn’t make a reference to needle up or needle down but a quick google search found a link to the brothers FAQ website and in there they tell you how to change this setting. Very complicated. Power machine off, then press and hold the minus button for the first digit of the stitch type while you turn the power on. That’s it. Mom is very happy with it now. :)This machine is also slightly lighter than my mom’s old machine. Which she also appreciated as she is getting older. So for her lighter is better.One thing I noticed while setting it up, and mom noticed it as well, is that the bobbing (sp ?) reel is top loading and not side loading like her old machine. There is a transparent piece of plastic that is removable to put the reel in the machine. This plastic piece goes into a larger non-transparent plastic that is removable. I assume the larger plastic is for cleaning and oiling the machine. These two pieces of plastic are thin and have little tabs that hold them in place. To me, from previous experience with similar items with little tabs, they seem flimsy and the tabs could easily break. I suggest to be very careful when removing them and also very gentle when putting them back.Outside that neither my mom or myself found anything else that was not good about the machine. And for those who are beginners, based on my experience helping my mom I say is definitely good for beginners even if you don’t quite know the terminology. And based on my moms comments is also very good for mid to advanced beginners.One additional note... it does not come with a case. I don’t believe any brother machine comes with one as my mom’s old machine didn’t have one. When I ordered the machine from amazon I found a universal case/bag that fits well with this machine for around $30.00.

So my CS5055PRW arrived last night and the first thing I realised was that I have no thread (I bought scissors, spare needles and chalk, but doh, no thread). First noobie error. After getting some thread, I got the manual out and started to figure out how to thread my bobbin (gosh that sounds dirty), and do all the other things you need to do with the thread. I thought of my grandmother, who sewed for a living, and realised she must have been an engineering genius. Kudos, grandma! After a bit of twiddling and figuring things out, I sewed my first item.Holy moly it was so much fun!!! A couple of times I had to rethread or I'd get the thread all knotted, and realised I wasn't leaving enough thread before cutting the ends, and I was pushing the fabric, rather than let the machine handle the speed of movement.I am so happy with this machine. I tested most of the stitches (just N and J ones), but realised I'll probably only use about 3 of them but they do look really cool, and it's nice to have for the future.The threading helper works decently, I didn't always put the needle back to the right position and thought I'd broken it already, but nope, just gotta put the needle height right.It's really cool, I'm really really happy with it. Not too complicated, not too simple - excellent beginner machine. Now I need more fabric!

I'm an occasional sewer that started out many, many years ago on a treadle Singer that was my grandmother's (I'm 59 years young now) and it was smooth to operate and stitched like a charm. Then used updated Singer's As I got older,but I remained faithful to what I knew...until I saw this Brother Project Runway 50 stitch machine. The price was to good to pass up and I purchased it, I didn't read the description thoroughly and when it arrives to my surprise I discovered it was a computerized machine ! I'm not a novice sewer but I haven't seen in 25 years. My oldest son died in October of last year and I needed something to do and decided to make a quilt. Since the machine was here already I set it up ( it was fairly easy) and I got started. Three months later, I'm in love with this machine ,no complaints and my quilt is coming together.I couldn't be happier with this machine and I'm now " Brother Girl" and won't use any other brand. Brother has given me everything I need ,ease of use( I got going right out of the box) and has brought me into the future of sewing!