If you want to become a professional sewer but your budget is quite low, you must be worried. But I would say, don’t worry. Even at low budgets, there are many sewing machines available in the market with no compromise on quality. However, these machines may lack some features but are ideal for standard sewers. And the Brother LX3817 sewing machine is one of them.
You may not enjoy advanced features in this machine but you can kill your spare time by sewing or stitching clothes and making DIY projects at home.
The most memorable day of my life was when I made a kite by myself and the pleasure was immeasurable. Consider yourself crafting masterpieces that people love in your spare time. What an enjoyable moment it would be?
These moments are unforgettable.
But sometimes a wall of the budget comes across your hobbies and profession. In case your hobby, as well as your profession, is sewing and you have a strict budget, would you be able to craft stunning designs and fabrics?
In the case of sewing machines, the expensive ones have more features than the other while most of the sewing machines have a good quality even remaining in the inexpensive category. The machine that we’re talking about today is the Brother LX3817 and it is one of the most inexpensive machines in the market.
So if you’re looking for a lightweight, inexpensive sewing machine, take a look at this honest review of Brother LX3817.
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What Features Should A Standard Machine Have?
There’s no point in buying expensive machines having a ton of features if you’re not the one having a lot of experience in the field of sewing or if you’re just starting out as a basic sewer. You can’t ride the horse directly without hard training.
Same is the case with the sewing machines. To craft elegant and professional clothes, you need to do a lot of training on basic/standard sewing machines. The budget is also very important but if you’re a beginner, just buy a basic machine no matter how much money you have.
Before buying a machine, the most important thing to consider is your ambitions whether you want to do embroidery or sewing, stitching clothes, or sewing buttonholes.
But a skill of basic sewing is necessary for all of the goals mentioned above.
There are a lot of sewing machines available in the market specially designed for beginners and Brother LX3817 is one of them. These machines have quite low rates and lack all such rich features but you can surely learn a lot from them.
But you can’t enjoy bundles of built-in stitches and other features at this price.
As a beginner, you don’t need to waste your money on expensive machines. However, when you become a professional sewer and want to break the limits, go buy an expensive machine having a lot of features and if you want an embroidery machine, see our best and heavy-duty embroidery machine review.
Brother Industries – All you Need to know
Whenever we buy something inexpensive, either we have a doubt in our mind about its quality unless we are sure about its quality. If this machine is inexpensive, its quality could be low grade or it won’t be offering all the rich features that a professional, heavy-duty machine has.
But let me clear all of these doubts.
Brother Industries is one of the known brands of the world with over 60 million machines produced since 1955. They are well known for their quality and as a company that makes machines including the latest technology yet at an affordable price.
They don’t have any doubt about the quality of their products and hence they are providing a 25-years limited warranty on their products.
Features that Make the Brother LX3817 Sewing Machine Stand Among Others
The Brother LX3817 sewing machine is one of the most top-rated machines for beginners and this machine has everything that a beginner sewer needs. Lacking features like tons of built-in stitches, etc, yet this machine has a lot to discuss. Let’s have a thorough look at its features.
Elegant Designs Make it Shine
Are these two machines completely different from each other and if yes, then which machine we should buy?
This is the most common question that arises in our minds whenever we take a look at these two machines. Let’s have a detailed look at the Brother LX3817 and LX3817a sewing machines. After comparing these two machines, I came to know that there is no difference in size, weight, power, etc in these two machines but what is the difference. The only difference between these two machines is the design and colour. The Brother LX3817 comes with a combination of white and blue whereas the LX4817a comes with a combination of aqua and grey colour.
One last thing, there is no difference in the price of these two machines and both of these machines are priced the same. You can easily choose your favorite combination and buy that machine as there is not a single difference in features between these two machines.
Accessories Included in the Box
The box has a sewing machine unit and an accessories pouch included. The sewing machine unit comes with a set of presser feet, a power cord, and a foot pedal while the accessories pouch has the following items included.
- A set of needles including ballpoint and twin needle
- A set of bobbins
- Spool caps
- Screwdriver for little fixes
- Cleaning Brush
- Eyelet Punch
- A Seam Ripper
- An instructional manual having detailed discussion about using the machine and its features
- An instructional DVD drive showing all features practically
You can also buy extra accessories for your machine, later on, depending upon the type of work.
Presser Feets – A Detailed Debate
The Brother LX3817 sewing machine has a set of 4 presser feet that come with the machine and each presser feet has a different work. There is a possibility that you might need to buy another presser feet from the market, again depending upon the type of work.
The 4 feet that are included in the accessories pouch of LX3817 are :
- Zigzag foot
- Zipper foot
- Buttonhole foot
- Button Sewing Foot
ZigZag Foot
This foot is used mostly on all project including straight and zigzag stitches.
Zipper Foot
Whenever you need to stitch a zipper on your project, use the zipper foot.
Buttonhole foot
Instantly make 4 step buttonholes along with a stitchable hole for a button.
Button sewing foot
Easily stitches the button on the buttonholes.
You can easily buy extra feet for your Brother LX3817 and these feet can work best with any basic sewing machine. On average, a box including 40 plus feet will cost you around 25 USD and they will work best with any machine including the LLX3817 sewing machine.
17 Stitches – A Complete Basic Sewing Machine
The Brother LX3817 is a 17-stitch full-size sewing machine and with the help of these stitches, you can easily sew any fabric below 6 mm width.
Some leathers lie in the 2 mm category while others lie above the 6 mm category. Be it leather, denim, or canvas, you can easily stitch/sew the material if its thickness is less than 6 mm category.
The Brother LX3817 has 6 straight stitches including 5 stitches ranging from 1.6 mm to 4 mm that fix in the central needle position while the last one to be fixed in the left needle position and is of 2.5mm length.
- There are 3 zigzag stitches with a maximum of 2 mm length and 5 mm in width.
- A satin stitch with 3 different sizes.
- An automatic buttonhole stitch with 4 steps and one hole to stitch the button.
- Also, there are many other stitches like an elastic stitch, overedge stitch, double-action stitch, etc.
Setting up the Bobbin Becomes Easy
There are some things that require huge efforts in almost all machines. Threading the needle is one of the biggest headaches for new sewers and it requires a lot of time.
Setting up the bobbin is not as difficult as threading the needle is but it’s not that much easy too.
But in the Brother LX3817, setting up the bobbin and threading the needle is quite easy.
You can easily set up the bobbin on the top of this machine and the machine has a diagram labeled on the top of it. Just wound the bobbin and drop it in the bobbin case that is designed on the top of the LX3817 sewing machine. Once dropped in the bobbin case, there would be no need to fix the thread manually.
Threading the Needle
The fun of crafting clothes becomes a headache if you hardly thread the needle after a ton of tries. You’ll fail many times but if you keep trying, this job can be done within seconds.
The Brother LX3817 doesn’t support the automatic threading system like the expensive models of Brother industries have but it’s that very difficult too.
You’ll have to learn threading the needle from the diagram embedded on the sewing machine unit or you can also learn it from the user manual guide.
Also, the needle can’t be threaded in the way we used to thread the old machines, it’s a bit tricky but after doing a little effort, you can become a master of it.
If your eyesight is strong and your hands are steady, you can easily do it after a few tries.
Buttonhole stitches
Consider you’re making a buttonhole with a needle in the 1800s and suddenly an angel comes and gives you an automatic buttonhole sewer. Imagine the happiness.
The Brother LX3817 has a buttonhole foot that is used to manually create a buttonhole in four steps. You can make a single stitch at a single time and to do 4 buttonhole stitches, you’ll have to change the position manually and this is a 4 step method like a-d.
To attach the button, remove the buttonhole foot and attach the button sewing foot. Now attach the zigzag stitch and stitch the button on the buttonholes. Isn’t it simple?
Also if you’re planning to make a handmade garments shop or you have a lot of work to do, don’t mind spending a little more money to buy a machine an automatic buttonhole stitcher.
Take a look at this inexpensive machine having a lot of features review.
Free Arm
The free arm works great when we’re working on tiny little things like sewing sleeves or making a little shirt for your cute dog. Or you can stitch other small things easily on the free arm. To open the free arm, you will have to remove the blat-bed compartment and you’ll find enormous free space for these little projects.
The main purpose of the free arm is to give you enough workspace where you can freely use your creativity and craft masterpieces.
No doubt you can design adult garments using the free arm but it’s not gonna work for sewing skinny jeans for your kids.
Portability
If you’re a true sewing lover or a professional having a ton of workload, you can’t go on a journey without a machine. If I have multiple projects to accomplish and I am outside, I’ll always take my machine with me. But the weight of the machine matters a lot. If it is somewhere between 20-30 pounds, it would be very difficult to carry the machine with you even in the house, you can change its position. But with the Brother LX3817 sewing machine weighing only 11 pounds, you can carry it in your hands and shift it from one room to another. Also, the LX3817 is neither a large machine nor a small one, you can easily carry it and take it along with you anytime anywhere.
Unfortunately, this machine doesn’t come with a hard protective case so I would recommend you purchase a protective case if you’re planning to travel.
What Really it Sews?
The Brother LX3817 comes with a set of different needles and this is a 17-stitch full-size sewing machine. Be it leather, denim, canvas, or any other material, this machine can sew any fabric if its thickness is less than 6 mm. If you’re sewing leather or denim, I would recommend using the manual hand sewing instead of automatic footer pedal sewing so you can run the machine slowly in order to avoid breaking the needle and ruining the machine.
The pros and cons of the brother LX3817 are mentioned below.
Brother LX3817 VS XM 2701 – A Deep Dive
Being an inexpensive machine, the brother LX3817 catches the eyes of more people but if I give my honest personal opinion, I would suggest buying the XM2701 sewing machine because its features are more beginner-friendly.
Unlike the LX3817, the XM2701 is a 27-stitches full-size sewing machine offering an automatic needle threader, automatic one-step buttonhole stitcher, and 6 presser feet. Also, the XM2701 might be a bit expensive but if you’re on a good budget, it would be perfect for you as a beginner.
You can see dials to adjust the length and width of stitches and a darning plate for free-motion quilting. The automatic needle threader is the best thing that I like about the XM 2701.
In short, if you have a good budget, I would recommend you buying the XM2701 sewing machine to any new sewest because it is richer in features and quality.
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Faqs
Some common questions asked by a majority of people are discussed below.
Is it a basic sewing machine?
Indeed. Any beginner who is just starting out as a sewer can buy this machine and it would be perfect for him. Actually, this machine has a perfect value for its price. And I am happy to say that this machine is totally worth its price. However, if you’re a professional, you’ll need a much-advanced machine.
Can I use this machine easily?
This machine is specially designed for beginners with no experience in the field of sewing. Also, the price of this machine is kept as low as possible especially to grab the attention of newbies so they can easily buy this machine without losing their pocket. Also, this machine has all basic sewing features and yes, anyone can use this machine easily.
Does this machine have a protective case?
Surely it has but the hard case doesn’t come with the box. You’ll probably have to buy a new hard case. I would recommend you buy the hard case along with the machine so you don’t have to worry whenever you’re going on a journey. This machine is perfect to go with you on a journey so don’t forget to buy the protective case.
Can I increase/decrease its speed?
The factor of speed is very important when we’re doing projects. While sewing thick fabrics like denim, the speed is set high while it’s speed is set high when we’re sewing straight clothes or garments. Unlike other expensive Brother machines, this machine has the speed control available on the footer pedal where you can set the speed with your legs. However, the pedal is so light that it moves badly when we use our legs. Make sure to buy a foot pedal pad to avoid this thing.
Is this machine portable?
If we take a detailed look at the weight and size of the Brother LX3817 sewing machine, there are two things that flash in my mind. If its size is perfect then I can take it anywhere I want to. And this is true. I can shift my LX3817 from one room to another without having a little trouble.
The second thing that occurs in my mind is its weight that is very light. This machine weighs 12 pounds only so I can easily carry it and take it with me on a journey or whatever it is.
Does this machine have any LED setup?
It sure has. Also if the LED gets fused, you can replace it as well.
What features does this machine lack that other expensive machines have?
Brother LX3817 is a very cheap sewing machine but it lacks some features that are very important for professionals.
Some features that expensive Brother machines have but are not available in the LX3817 are mentioned below :
- Automatic needle threader
- Built-in stitches
- Automatic buttonhole stitches
- Controller to set the speed
- LED screen
- One-touch start
- Detachable compartments
If these things are life or death for you, then you must take a look at a heavy-duty and strong machine that includes all these features at a reasonable price.
Does the user manual help understand the features of this machine?
The user manual has everything explained very well and if you don’t find it useful, you can try the DVD drive and watch the videos where you can get a complete understanding of this machine and its features.
Can I do embroidery with the Brother LX3817 sewing machine?
Embroidery and sewing are two different terms. You can’t sew clothes with an embroidery machine neither can you embroider clothes with a sewing machine. There are many machines available in the market that do sewing as well as embroidery but they are quite expensive. If you want an embroidery machine, take a look at this embroidery machine review that would let you discover the designer inside you.
Is this machine durable enough?
This machine is designed out of pure metal that increases its durability and makes it a good choice for rough use. I didn’t mean wear and tear of the machine by the term rough, I meant continuous work with the term rough.
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Buying Guide
Before buying any sewing machine, take a look at this little guide that includes some tips to select the best product perfectly matching your needs.
Sewing Ability
Before we buy any machine especially if it’s for a beginner. Mostly beginners work on light fabric and they don’t sew leather, denim, etc. in the beginning. But let’s say you’re buying a machine for sewing/stitching leather, canvas, etc. make sure that the stitching needles have the capability to sew more than 8mm thickness of the fabric. Also, make sure that the motor has enough power so it works flawlessly without any issue.
Needle threading
No matter, you’re a beginner or a professional, young or old, you’ll have to thread the needle.
However, if your hands are not steady or if your eyesight is weak, instead of wasting hours on threading the needle, buy a machine that includes an automatic needle threader because it will save your time.
However, if you’re strict on budget, you can buy a machine having a manual needle threading option.
But I would recommend buying an automatic needle threading machine especially to people with unsteady hands and poor eyesight but if your hands are steady, there’s no problem in buying a machine with a manual needle threader.
Built-in Stitches
If you want to become a fashion designer or want to go into the fashion industry as a sewer, make sure to buy a machine having multiple built-in stitch options because, with the perfect combination of multiple stitches and a creative mind, you can craft masterpieces. Take a look at our inexpensive and durable machine review (Singer Fashion Mate 5560 Link) that includes 100 plus built-in stitches.
Bottom Line
You may see many other reviews of the Brother LX3817 sewing machine but I have discussed every single aspect of this machine. In my point of view, this is a perfect machine for beginners as it has all the basic features that a new sewer needs, as well as this machine, is not expensive and anyone can buy this machine without having any trouble.
And with this machine, you can become a professional within some months.
So if you need a machine that will let you improve your skills, you can buy the Brother LX3817 sewing machine.
Also, don’t confuse the Brother LX3817 with the LX3817 a sewing machine as both of these machines are the same and the only difference is colour and design. These two names are just variants of each other. The price of both of these variants is the same.
Thanks for reading the whole discussion and I do hope this article would have cleared all your concerns about the Brother LX3817 sewing machine.
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