Customer Reviews

Alex Toys Sew Fun

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We got this sewing machine for my 10 year old daughter for Christmas. The kit comes with materials to make a skirt and a handbag. We have done the handbag, and my daughter had fun doing it. She felt a great sense of accomplishment sewing her own bag! I did help her through the project though. This is definitely an item that requires some adult supervision (and patience!) depending on the age of the child. I would not buy this for a child any younger than 8 or 9. My 10 year old is young enough that she can have fun with it, but old enough that she can grasp the basic concepts of sewing and using a machine. I had to go step by step with her through the directions, but the included patterns are not overly challenging. I am somewhat experienced with a sewing machine, so someone with little to no experience might find this toy a nuisance. Overall, the machine itself seems well made and easy to use. It comes with a foot pedal and power supply. My only complaint is that there is no light. Even in a well lit room, we found it difficult to see our work area. I found a desk lamp in the basement and we had to set that up next to the machine. Overall, a fun toy for an older child.

My daughter likes this product a lot. It is great for new sewers. The only thing I did not like was it has no back stitch making it a pain to pull thru and tie off every seam.

I really loved this product in theory, and the 4 times my daughter used it, it worked wonderfully! She loved to sew, and I though we had bought a winner! But when we attempted to change the bobbin thread, the machine would not pick up the bottom thread, even though we followed the instructions to the letter! I sent 4 e-mail to the manufacturer with no response and I'm taking the machine to my local repair shop to see if they can determine the problem with it! Too bad, I really wanted this to be the great toy it had the potential to be.

I don't write a lot of reviews. Typically I only comment if something is really great or really bad. This is a REALLY BAD review. I bought this for my 9 year old for her birthday. I had debated on whether to put the money ($60 at the store I got it) towards a "real" sewing machine or get this one. I chose poorly.

The first night she had it, it worked ok. It was annoying that everytime you wanted to change pieces of fabric, you had to thread the machine again, because the mechanism holds the thread so tight that you can't simply pull the thread. OK...I can deal with that. My daughter made a few simple pillows for her American Girl doll to practice.

The next morning, my daughter said that the needle broke on the sewing machine. I changed the needle...no problem. But the bobbin had also come loose, so I attempted to bring up the bobbin thread EXACTLY as the manual had told me, and it would not work. I tried a dozen times to get it to work without success.

Then...as I was making another attempt to get the bobbin to work, the hand wheel stopped working and fell off. When I inspected it, I noticed that the threads that grip the pin on the inside of the wheel were comepletly stripped, and that it was also cracked. We DID NOT force anything on this machine. This is just what happened with it in under 12 hours.

Luckily, I was able to return it to the store for a full refund. I think I'm just going to let my daughter use my sewing machine for now, and get one of her own down the road.

I love to sew and my children are both anxious to join me. Last Christmas (2008), I shopped and shopped to find something reasonable for my 6 year old daughter to use along side me at the table. I read the reviews and thought I knew as much as I could about what I was getting us into with this machine. I never expected it to be perfect, or even great. I was just looking for something that could sew a seam and would let my daughter accomplish something fun. What a complete waste -- of our time, her anticipation and enthusiasm, and landfill space. What a bummer. Though the included kit and projects were cute, and what I have come to expect from Alex toys (which I have otherwise been delighted with over the years), the machine is awful. I don't see how the suggested projects could be adequately completed with this machine. I recently purchased a full sized, beginner machine for my daughter and certainly wish I hadn't spent the money or bothered with this one.

My 7 year old daughter loves this toy and she can use it pretty much all by herself. It is very durable. We know because twice it crashed to the floor when someone tripped over the cord. It didn't break.

My daughter was very excited at the thought of her own sewing machine. She quickly took to making the tote bag. I sewed a little in high school, and my mother sewed at home. It took a little time to get the top thread to get the bottom thread. The difficulties began as soon as we tried to make the 1st stitch. The needle jammed as it descended to the bottom bobbin. I attempted to begin again many times before I decided not to proceed further. I will return to the store I purchased, as we had just opened it and I retained the exterior packaging.

It doesn't work!!! My grandmother has been sewing her whole life and she couldn't get this machine to work. My daughter is so, so disappointed!

My six year old received this as a Christmas gift from her grandmother. She is very interested in sewing and is capable of doing a great deal independently, but this toy 'sewing machine' was a major frustration for us both. It continually came unthreaded, was very slow and noisy, and generally did a lousy job of stitching. As a replacement (before her interest in sewing was completely destroyed by the frustration of using this), we purchased an inexpensive Singer sewing machine for her which works nicely and will last her much, much longer.

My 7 1/2 year old got this from Santa. It's great!
I don't understand comments that it's hard to work. Both my husband & I are not into sewing. I haven't sewed at all since 8th grade home ec (and that was soooo long ago). This machine was so incredibly easy. Both my husband & I were able to get it up and running. My 7 year old was able to work it without problems.