Customer Reviews

Michley LSS-505 Lil' Sew & Sew Multi-Purpose Sewing Machine with Built-In Stitches

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

At first I was a little wary with all the reviews. Some said it did not work. Some said bobbins were a problem. I waited a month or so and used it extensively before I decided to review it so it would be accurate.

Firstly, the machine is very easy to thread. There is an instructional video on their website:

[...] (Look for LSS 505 under 'Sewing Machines')

This was extremely helpful for me as it was the first time I've ever owned/used a sewing machine in my life and did not for the life of me understand the intricacies of threading and tension. Make sure you follow the threading instructions to the key, or the machine will jam. Threading it the right way will solve this problem.

Secondly, the machine has a bobbin winder with an instructional pamphlet on how to get it working (again, a necessity for a sewing dummy like me). I got it working just fine and substituted the bobbins with the thread I actually wanted.

Thirdly, all of the patterns on the machine work. I tested them all out on some scrap fabric as I noticed some low-end sewing machines tend to advertise more patterns than they actually have (such as the Singer Pixie Plus).

The machine is cute and small. If you're looking for a heavy weight substitute for your Singer/Brother, this is not the machine for you. If you're looking to do some simple hemming and stitching with light fabrics such as cotton, this is the machine for you.

If you substitute the bobbins, look for something similar in size and material. This machine uses metal bobbins. There are some generic metal bobbins which are exactly the same sold at JoAnn's. These have worked for me.

So far I have hemmed and sewn two 24 x 24 inch decorative pillow covers and it still works perfectly. I have substituted the bobbins, wound up and prepared new bobbins and threaded and re-threaded multiple times with no problems. If your stitches look like a loose line, check the tension dial on the needle.

To wrap things up, I'm honestly not sure what the fuss is about concerning this machine since it has worked like a dream for me. I highly recommend this for a first sewing machine!

I didn't want an expensive sewing machine. I just wanted to hem my boy's pants which are always too long, and it works for that. The instructions are pretty bad but with a little help from Youtube I figured it out. I was able to rethread the bobbins and use the thread I had without any problem. I think if I, who has never used a sewing machine in his life can figure it out, just about anybody can.

I don't know what all the bad reviews are for - this machine matches my mother's full sized Singer machine! I've just recently finished sewing a bag, a blanket for my 4 year old and a whole ensemble for for baby dolls! It hasn't let me down! I would recommend this machine to anyone who lives in a tight space like I do!

I bought this machine for a 9-year old.

This is a great machine for the price. I will say that I bought a toy Singer chain stitch machine for my daughter last Christimas. It did not work at all. Singer did not back the product and said I should return it to the store I bought it. My daughter was extremely disappointed with her xmas gift. The reviews on that machine speak for themselves--(I bought it from a craft store so didn't see bad reviews). I'll never buy anything Singer again. They know they are selling junk and don't care. Okay now I vented about my purchase that is laying in the landfill.

Now, on to THIS machine! LOVE IT! This machine is a great first sewing machine for a child. IT WORKS! I tried this one before xmas so I wouldn't have a disappointed child again. I was a little leary when it arrived in the mail because it was so lightweight. I was concerned it would vibrate all over the table or it would be too junky to use. I was wrong. It came threaded and ready to go. I tried a couple of the stitches and the reverse on standard quilters weight cotton. It worked great. You cannot adjust the stitch lengths. There are several stitch patterns to choose from. There are 2 straight stitch lengths. It is also great because you can control it with a foot pedal or by a switch right on the machine. It has a little light to light the work surface. I showed it to my husband and he noted the motor sounds pretty strong. I agree, it didn't seem to struggle sewing basic fabric. Some reviews said you cannot use heavy fabrics. I did not try. For a beginner sewer, cotton is the easiest and most economical. It'll work for that. It is very small and compact. It also comes in a cute box to make a kid's eyes light up. Also, when threading the spots are numbered so you know where to go next with your thread. I didn't mess with the tension knob. It was set fine.

The negatives...
The foot pedal is "Toyish" in quality and small. I used the hand control, it was easier for me. I did not try the bobbin threader and thought of it after I had it all packed in the styrofoam again. I did check it out. It is made of plastic and may break easily. Again, kind of toy quality. I think these are both reasonable compromises for the price. I have spent $40 on so many junky toys. This is extremely high-quality in comparison for the price.

My Background with sewing...
I sew on my grandma's 1950's machine. I make handbags, curtains and crafty items. I am familiar with sewing and using machines. I think this machine would be great to learn on. It would also be good if you just need to hem a skirt or do a small project here and there. I wouldn't buy this if you are planning on making a new wardrobe or slipcover for your couch. I am adding this tidbit because sometimes expectations from the users are different. I wouldn't think a $40 machine can "do it all". This one will satisfy basic needs for small projects. Thats why 5 stars.

As for my singer ripoff--I have 3 daughters that are all crafty and interested in sewing. We'll never buy a Singer. We are happy with this off-brand I have never heard of. I hope this review helps somebody else

I wanted an affordable mini sewing machine for small crafts and occasional use, not a big, expensive sewing machine. This adorable little thing is perfect for my needs.

The first thing to note is how small it is. It's really, really cute and doesn't take up much space at all. It's portable and can use batteries or an included adaptor, and also comes with a little foot pedal as well. It comes with 3 spools/bobbins in Orange, Yellow, and Light Blue thread plus a spare needle and a needle threader. All the spare supplies fit perfectly in the little built-in storage compartment. The machine also has 8 different stiches, a tiny sewing light, and a built-in bobbin threader.

I've barely touched a sewing machine since 7th grade Home Ec, but I thought the threading instructions were pretty self-explanatory. There are step-by-step Youtube video instructions, but I really appreciated the numbered infographic printed on the sewing machine itself. Everything was designed to be easy to follow, and I thought it was very intuitive and uncomplicated.

So far, I've hemmed a table cloth and made a change purse and a wallet. I've also experimented with each of the stitches on scrap cloth. It works great. Runs smoothly, and does what it's supposed to. It doesn't work on thick fabrics like fleece, but it's not supposed to. A lot of the other mini sewing machines on Amazon have gotten horrific reviews (horrible function, plastic gears), but I can attest that this one works like it was designed, and has metal parts inside.

I love my mini sewing machine, and I love working on it. It's everything I wanted, including the price. If you're looking for something small, basic, and affordable, the Michley Lil Sew & Sew is exactly want you need.

Okay First off this machine is a little version of the big ones and the price is well worth it. I gave it 3 stars because it takes some time to get it working right. When I first started fiddling around with it out of the box it worked great on the little piece of fabric that came with it. After that I tried using some of my own fabrics and my string kept breaking, so I adjusted the tension and then my stitches didn't come out right. After playing around with it for hours trying to figure out what was wrong with this machine I about gave up on it. Then I realized something I played around with different types of fabrics and different stitches to rule out that there was something wrong with this machine. Well first I knew the fabric sample it came with worked fine, I don't know if it was twill or just cotton or what but it's kind of thick when folded over. I then tried some cotton/spandex ribbed fabric and it just wouldn't stitch right. I adjusted tension and made sure I stretched the fabric as sewing and my stitches were just awful, it was kind of like the needle was sticking to spandex and getting stuck. Third I tried just a regular Hanes brand t-shirt out of my drawer to see if it would sew through it and it was fine. So I've come the the conclusion that some fabrics are good and some are not. This would make a good little craft making machine. I was going to make some shirts but my fabric won't cut it so I'll have to find something else that works. I have some Polyester fabric and some old blue jeans to try. I'll keep this updated and I hope this helps, some! There is a Singer version of this machine it's called the Pixie and it looks exactly like this one except it's got other colors on it. So it's basically the same thing. Saw one on display at Meijer's.

*UPDATE 1*
Used this little machine on a pair of old jeans that are still strong, fabric material is 57% Ramie 24% Cotton 17% Polyester and 2% Spandex (Angel's Brand Jeans.) When folded up, like into a hem, the machine went through all pieces just fine with stitch 6 tension 7 now that's not a setting I would use if I planed on wearing them I would use probably stitch 8 to allow for stretch but it did fine considering the jeans have spandex in them. The needle did go through where the jeans are sewn on the sides but it was slow and bogged the machine. After, getting through that it was fine. I did break my string but that was human error, LoL! The more I use this and get an understanding about it I'm starting to like it.

I selected this "lil" sewing machine to do basic mending on clothes. When I got it out of the box, I liked that it was threaded and ready to go. I also liked its small lightweight design.

The first day of sewing went along fairly well, except I discovered the machine only took a small spool of thread and not a regular sized spool of thread, which was very annoying. So, I had to wind the thread myself onto the small spool. In the end, I figured I could live with this annoyance.

The second day of sewing I spent 45% of my time having problems sewing 2 hems together, the equivalent of 4 layers of lightweight cotton. Both the needles that came with the machine broke and I had to order new needles. In addition, the thread kept snapping and getting all bound up in itself making a big thread mess. Clearly, this was too much material for the machine. So, I decided I would need to sew these portions of the clothing by hand. In the end, I figured, this too was annoying, but given the cheap price of the machine, I would go ahead and do the extra work. So i ordered more needles.

The third day of use, after my new needles arrived, I used the machine to sew only basic straight lines of two pieces of lightweight material together and hand sewed all other thicker portions of material. It worked okay at first, but then started skipping large portions of stitches and getting all knotted up. I spent about 75% of my time trying different things to get is working, but after a few hours, it wouldn't sew at all. When I looked a little harder, I realized the bobbin holder had come out of it case (not the bobbin, the holder in the machine that the bobbin sits in) after spending several hours messing around, I figured out the plastic bobbin holder does NOT fit well in its shell and this was not something I could fix. It was a debilitating design flaw. So, now the machine is basically inoperable.

So, I must now see if they will take this machine back and whether they will or not, I have to buy a new sewing machine. This was a complete waste of money. I am going to try the Brother machine next. Hopefully it will do better.

Perfect little sewing machine for beginners who just want to sew a patch on or a hem in there t-shirts! However, if you have never used a sewing machine, the instructions are not "self-explanatory". You have to do a little more research online to learn but overall, very good starter machine.

For my purposes I absolutely love this little sewing machine. I only want to be able to do the little things (hem pants, repair a seam, etc.). I actually bought this machine because I had 12 king size pillow cases (600 thread count) that I wanted to convert to standard size. I don't use king size pillows so when I buy a new set of sheets I used to have to throw away the pillow cases and buy a separate set of standard cases. 600 thread count pillow cases are not cheap, so I finally decided to buy this machine and just this morning I converted those 12 king size pillow cases to standard size and it was a breeze! I just pulled this little guy out and set it on my bed in front of me and away I went, simple! I used the foot peddle as a hand peddle, or I just turned it on at the base and let it go so I could use both hands to guide the article. As for threading the machine, yes I do have to wear my extra magnifying reading glasses. But it's not that bad, and since the size and mobility was the most important thing to me, I can deal with a little hassle to run the thread. And the machine paid for itself already in not having to replace those 12 pillow cases.

It works very well, did all that I need to do. It was a bit messy if you adjust the tension, it's better not to touch it. I had to refund 2 sewing machines from other brands, this one is the one that I keep.