The best sewing machines for teens

For most teenagers the right machine is the Brother XM2701 - a genuine sewing machine with an automatic needle threader, a drop-in bobbin and a one-step buttonhole, at a price that does not hurt if the interest fades. If they are already clearly serious, the Brother CS7000X adds the speed-control slider that makes learning less frightening and a wide table that makes bigger projects possible, and it will still suit them in five years.

But the single most useful question to ask first is not about budget. It is what they want to make. A teenager who wants to alter thrifted clothes and a teenager who wants to put a band logo on a jacket need different machines, and getting that wrong is how a machine ends up unused in a wardrobe.

Ask what they want to make

Alter and refashion thrifted clothes. The most common answer, and the easiest to buy for. Taking in a shirt, cropping a jumper, hemming jeans and replacing a zip need a straight stitch, a zigzag, a buttonhole and a zip foot - all of which the XM2701 has. If the jeans are a regular job, read our denim roundup; a light machine will manage a hem slowly and no more.

Make clothes from patterns. More ambitious and more rewarding. The CS7000X is the better machine here: the speed slider helps with curved seams, and the wider stitch range covers stretch fabrics. Our garment roundup goes deeper.

Personalize things - names, patches, logos. This needs an embroidery machine, and the decorative stitches on an ordinary machine will not do it. The Brother SE700 is a real embroidery machine with a 4 x 4 inch field that also sews competently. Read our sewing versus embroidery guide before buying on this basis - it is the most expensive misunderstanding in the category.

Cosplay and costumes. Almost always a mix: stretch fabric, odd synthetics, long straight seams and the occasional thick strap. The CS7000X is the best single answer, with a ballpoint needle for the stretch - our knits roundup covers that side.

The four, side by side

Do not buy a toy machine

The mini and handheld machines sold as a gentle introduction are the most reliable way to put a teenager off sewing permanently. They skip stitches, have no real tension adjustment, cannot hold a hem, and when the stitching fails the obvious conclusion is that the person is doing it wrong rather than that the tool is inadequate.

The Singer Start 1304 is where the line sits. It is a simple, cheap, full-size machine with six preset stitches - a real machine with the choices removed, which is a completely different thing from a toy. For a younger teenager or someone who wants the fewest possible decisions between them and a straight seam, it is the right pick. Its preset stitch widths are also why they will outgrow it, on purpose.

Safety, briefly and without fuss

A domestic sewing machine is about as dangerous as a kettle, with one exception: the needle goes through a finger easily if a hand is in the wrong place at the wrong moment. Two habits prevent essentially all of it. Keep the fingers behind the presser foot and guide from the side, never from in front. And take your foot off the pedal before reaching anywhere near the needle, every time, including when nothing is wrong.

A speed limiter genuinely helps here, which is a second argument for the CS7000X with a nervous beginner of any age. It is also the first thing to turn down before an unsupervised session.