Mistral Sewing Machine

Good for small sewing jobs – I purchased this machine for $99 from Australia Post whilst on holidays to sew some calico carry bags. I have used various sewing machines over the years including an antique singer treadle machine, a hand crank leather sewing machine and a modern electric Brother machine so, in comparison I viewed the mistral to be on par with a 'toy'. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the machine performed. It is very lightweight and portable, has 16 stitch functions, will do forward and reverse, has a button hole attachment and comes with 2 bobbins and 2 sample threads. You are limited to light cotton fabrics and quality cottons as anything bulky or heavy will cause the machine to miss stitches. So I doubt you could make a dress with sleeves where you have bulky seams for example but you would have no trouble sewing a singlet style cotton top. I used mine to make cotton pillowslips and it handled the task easily. Threading the machine and winding on the bobbin are both easy but my advice is to use a quality thread as the cheaper fluffy types of thread tend to cause jamming in the bobbin case. There can be a bit of fiddling about to get the tensions sorted but I have never met a sewing machine that didn't require that. So if you are after a cheap machine for minor sewing jobs or perhaps are a beginner and want something that will show you how to use various stitches for easy projects, then the mistral sewing machine would be suitable starting point.

Pros: cheap, very portable, easy to set up and use, has a good selection of stitches.

Cons: will struggle with fabrics heavier than lightweight cotton or multiple layers of fabric.