Whoa, wait. Walmart? + Brother

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Hey Lovelies!

Amanda here! Bethany and I have a freakish amount of life-similarities. Maybe one day we’ll list them all out for you guys, but that sounds super-boring to all but two people (us). Bethany shared one of said similarities in her post about the Brother Embrodery Machine last month, that being the fact that we both have degrees in Fashion Merchandising from the same university. I mention that to say that we know our way around sewing machines. Are we masters?? Hardly! But we have both used a range of machines and think of the ones we own as our babies.

I was especially excited when Brother asked us to try out a couple of their machines and share our thoughts. I have owned and used a Brother machine for years, but also, they are the company the supplies the machines to designers on my favorite show Project Runway, so my confidence in the brand was already high.

I don’t currently sew as much as I would like, but for me, one of the highlights of being a mom is getting to make Halloween costumes. While I start thinking about them months in advance, I don’t ever pull out the sewing machine or materials until October. My oldest child has consistently said – since last November – that he wanted to be the Abominable Snow Monster from the Rankin/Bass claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (he’s actually never seen the whole thing because it scares him too much (ha!), but man, he loves that snow monster).

In prepping the costume, I decided to forego a pattern and just wing it. Mainly because I don’t think there are many “snow monster” patterns floating around out there in the world. So instead, I took a one-piece skeleton costume that my four year old has been living in lately and used it as a template. Adding about an inch all the way around for a seam allowance, I cut out the body portion of the ol’ snow monster. Thankfully, sewing together faux fur is pretty forgiving. And having managed to avoid sewing sleeves for about 15 years, I’m happy to say that I was able to correctly attach both on the first try! I’d like to think it was all because of my own skill, but really I know it’s because the machine is soooo easy to operate.

I’m no expert seamstress, but I have used several machines over the years…. some have been easy to operate and some, well, I avoided ever using again. The Brother CE8100 120-Stitch Computerized Home Decor Sewing and Quilting Machine is pretty intuitive, especially for one who is somewhat familiar with sewing. If you are not familiar, the quick set up guide is soooo helpful and easy to understand. This machine has a few features that I had not been previously spoiled by, but now there is no going back. I think the most helpful is the stitch speed adjustment, especially for a newbie to sewing. There are three speeds and I actually used all of them while making this Abominable Snowman costume. I also love the easy-to-use needle threading system and the detachable wide table.

Here is a list of the many features this model sports and I’m excited to continue to explore what all this baby can do:

120 sewing stiches with 160 stitch functions, including 8 styles of 1-step auto-size buttonholes
Large Backlit LCD screen for stitch selection and adjustment
Includes Specialty Home Dec Foot Pack with 3 feet: a binding foot, cording foot and gathering foot
Variable speed control and start/stop button
Extra-large workspace, with included wide table for larger projects
In addition to the 3 sewing feet in the Specialty Home Dec Foot Pack, includes the following 7 sewing feet: a zigzag foot (on machine), buttonhole foot, zipper foot, button sewing foot, overcasting foot, blind stitch foot and monogramming foot
Start-stop button
Exceptional feed system to sew on almost any fabric
Drop feed dogs for free-motion quilting and sewing
Needle up/down button
Advanced easy needle threading system
Jam-resistant Quick-set top drop-in bobbin
Clear-view bobbin cover and bobbin
Super bright LED-lit work area
Super easy bobbin winding system
Free arm for sewing cuffs and sleeves
Includes instructional DVD
Free customer phone/online technical support
25-year limited warranty