Singer Heavy Duty HD6805C

It's alright – It worked straight out of the box. It has quite a few stitches built-in. It doesn't sew through thick cloth or many layers that well. (I read somewhere that the 'Heavy Duty' name doesn't relate to the sewing capacity but to its durability, which may be a lie but tallies with my experience.) I have found it doesn't do well with generic bobbins… Read more

which is a PITA if you use lots of colours of thread. It is big, loud (mine has a high-pitched whine too), and heavy, but looks good for all that. I would recommend this machine if you are on a budget

Knew it was too good to be true – With decades of sewing experience. I've owned basic Brothers but the price point, one step button hole, all the extra feet and HD decided to treat myself. I should have just spent more money servicing and repairing my old basic model machine. I sew with corduroy, I knew my old machine was on its last legs, but it wasn't a HD machine and it's… Read more

lasted 10 years (with serving and repairs).

My HD machine can only sew on tension 7 or above. It prefers me to use two different brand of threads. It screams error at me when trying to sew through corduroy seams, won't even allow to be manually stitched. Then it decided to stop winding bobbins, sounds like a slipped belt to me. Sounded like that to the Singer Service tech. Mentioned rest of issue to them and they said send it in. So 250km+ to return it and now it's been about a month, I got a call last night, Spotlight has it back.. they cleaned the lint out of the motor. I wonder if this is even my machine, only a 500km trip to find out.

Worst thing is, it's still under warranty but not holding my breath this machine will be fit for my purposes. I wouldn't even donate it to someone!! Been using an Aldi $129 machine since mine disappeared for so long. They are on par except the Aldi snaps less needles and allows you to hand turn through seams. Looks like I've bought a really expensive door stop.

Functional & powerful – I must admit I had some misgivings about the reviews of this machine but I had a chance to grab this at a pretty decent price so I decided to give it a go. I’ve been sewing for decades and did start with a very old singer machine before progressing onto the newer white plastic versions. Out of the box, the machine is pretty light & feels a bit… Read more

like cheaper plastic compared to my trusty Janome myexcel 3018. Upon testing, everything runs smooth. I made a few things to ensure I’m giving it a good test. From soft cottons to thicker denims, it works but a little patience is in order for the folder thicker sections. Sometimes it won’t move so a little manual tugging is required. Even though it touts heavy duty, I wouldn’t expect it to zip through layers of denim like the industrial machines do. The decorative stitches work nicely even though with the lettering, going a bit slower seems to result in nicer stitches. I learnt that when in doubt, go slow. This machine has the ability to go really fast which is handy for long, gathering stitches. Having the digital options, auto thread cutter and thread secure functions are pretty handy. Push button start stop and reverse requires some getting used to if you’re coming from a mechanical machine. I realized that with sewing machines, they’re finicky and quite precise so I learnt a few things. Thread snapping, bunching and not sewing well, you need to re-thread your machine. Check the guide and thread it well. This determines if your machine will produce nice stitches. Your bobbin thread direction and where it goes also matters very much. Each brand, even machine is different. The only things I didn’t like was the foot pedal is really light and flimsy. I will need to find a way to secure it. I can use the push button start/stop but the foot pedal always allows more control. The little box container in front is really tiny compared to most machines. It doesn’t allow for much storage. The janome one has a top storage with molds for each type of foot which can be accessed easily. Bobbin winding is faster and requires less steps than the mechanical one so that’s good. All in all, a nifty machine that comes with quite a few foot options and some simple accessories. If you’re an intermediate sewer looking for an upgrade, this seems to be a good option.