Product Description

HC1850 Computerized Sewing and Quilting Machine features: 130 Unique Built-in Sewing Stitches, 170 Stitch Functions, plus 55 Alphanumeric Stitches, with 8 styles of 1-Step Auto-Size Buttonholes, Includes Built-in Sewing Font for Basic Monogramming, Advanced Easy Needle Threading System.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #181 in Art and Craft Supply
• Brand: Brother
• Model: HC1850
• Released on: 2012-08-04
• Dimensions: 12.48" h x 7.01" w x 16.26" l, 10.14 pounds

Features

• Feature-packed, versatile, and reliable; perfect for sewing, quilting, basic monogramming, and decorative stitching
• Comprehensive set of 130 stitches, plus a sewing font for basic monogramming. Includes 8 styles of one-step auto-size buttonholes, beautiful decorative stitches, and stitches for clothing, quilting, and heirloom sewing
• Special quilting features include a detachable wide table, spring action quilting foot, 14 quilting stitch functions, and the ability to do free-motion quilting
• Includes instructional DVD, Bilingual user?s manual, 25 year limited warranty, and free phone support for the life of the product. This machine is not recommended for use in countries that do not support 120V AC, even if a voltage adapter is in use
• Comes complete with an attached stitch flip-chart, detachable foot controller, 8 specialty feet for overcasting, buttonholes, blind hems, zippers, quilting, and more. Reliable, easy threading of top thread and bobbin ? for consistent, high quality stitching.

---

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

83 of 87 people found the following review helpful.
I love this sewing machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By G. Whittington
I do a lot of sewing & machine quilting. This is my 3rd sewing machine after many years of sewing. This Brother HC1850 is the best I've ever had. It sews, quilts & embroideries with a computer that is easy to use. The instructions are clear enough for novice seamstresses. I am disabled so sometimes my leg muscles just will not work. This machine gives you a choice of using the foot pedal or you can use the controls on the machine. It will move the presser foot up/down, start your seam, then stop & lift the presser foot. Of course, you are in control of the buttons & the speed so it is comfortable for your use. Another plus is this machine is not very heavy like my other ones. I also use a serger which is a bit heavier than my sewing machine. This is a real help if you suffer from motor problems like I do. The price is very good for a computerized machine that does so much. Great buy!

61 of 65 people found the following review helpful.
Lots of value, stitches --great for a student sewist
By Joanna Daneman
This machine has a lot of features, stitches and feet for a reasonable price. The general feeling among people I know who sew is that the Brothers are not as durable or trouble-free as other makes (and I can say, my Brother had problems out of the box--missing parts) but for the money, this is quite the machine. If you have a beginner sewist at home, this machine could really encourage creativity. Or if you yourself sew small projects and kids' clothes, there is a lot here to like.

Stitches: there are 160 different stitches, including many embroidery, quilting and so-called "heirloom" stitches. These can be used to create the effect of handsewn clothes or dress up simple patterns by putting these small ornamental stitches along seams and across plain parts of clothes. For machine quilters, the feather stitch or other decorative stitches can be used over seams or to applique along edges. Your student sewist could even use the stitches to personalize ready-made c lothes or vintage clothes. If you are on a budget, you could shop at thrift stores, find some great clothes with good "bones" (a nice blouse, some jeans, a jacket) and then use the embroidery to add a monogram, designs or other embellishments. If you own a "Bedazzler" or are handy with beads and sequins and fabric paint, you can really have some fun with thrift clothes and fabric remnants. If you go on Youtube or other sites, there are many sewists who take vintage clothes and create amazing designs. (One person made a dress a day out of thrift shop finds and created a wardrobe of fashionable dresses. If your budget is smaller than your fashion yearnings, this really could be a way to stretch the clothes dollars.)

For quilters, there is a DROP FEED: this is where you drop the feed dogs and move the fabric freely under the needle. Many inexpensive machines only accomplish this by covering the feed dogs; a drop feed is really what quilters want. Also, you can adjust sewing speed by moving a lever on the front of the machine. In addition, it has the ability to run without the foot pedal; buttons are on the front to control start-stop and reverse. This is very handy when coordinating your foot and hand motions is challenging. But you can attach the foot control if you want to. I find for certain projects, the foot control good, for other projects, I want to use my hands to control the machine speed and start-stop.

There are six different buttonholes, which is unusual in a machine at this price point. You can do measured buttonholes with a foot that holds your button to adjust the size of the opening to fit perfectly. Most attractive of all, the ability to do simple monogramming with a single font. You can't adjust the font, nor add decorative letters but again, the simple ability to add a child's name or initials to a garment or bag is very handy. If you are "crafty", you will find that you can make cute handbags from the many patterns that are available in quilt stores, and then monogram it for a very welcome gift.

The stitches are available to view in a flip-down panel on the front. A good-sized LCD screen shows the stitch and length chosen in front. This is an ELECTRONIC machine, meaning the stitches are set via an onboard computer. That makes for quick changes of stitch and length, but if the onboard computer goes, the machine is not usable.

As to feet, there are the basics: Zigzag foot, Overcasting foot, Monogramming foot, Zipper foot, Zigzag foot, Blind stitch foot, Buttonhole foot, Button fitting foot, and Quilting foot. These are probably all you need, unless you want to add a walking foot to be able to sew on layers that shift (the walking foot moves with the fabric and prevents bunching.) An extended table is included for sewing larger pieces of fabric or quilting.

I usually find the Brother bobbin is not as clog-free as the Janome, but it's acceptable. If you take good care of the machine, change your needles frequently (machine needles get barbed and blunted on fabric and should be changed to stay sharp), if you keep it clear of thread nests and dust, and do not push it through huge wads of material, you will have a very functional machine. For the casual sewist who wants to make children's clothes, small quilts and crafts, this is quite the machine. If you are a production home sewist or are going to do heavy materials and want to expand embroidery to motifs and adjustable designs, this is probably not for you.
Comment | Permalink

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Best inexpensive computerized sewing machine on the market
By Bladen's Mommy
When this came in, I couldn't wait to get it out and play with it. I had no actual projects planned because I really just wanted to play with all of the beautiful stitches and features of this machine. The first thing I have to recommend is that you watch the included DVD as you set it up and as you go through each of it's functions. It would have taken me forever to get it up and running had I not watched the DVD as I sat it up. It isn't that it is very difficult, but I had never used a computerized machine at all before I got this, so I had no clue what I was doing. My regular sewing machine is the older model of the Janome Sewist 500 Sewing Machine with 25 Built-In Stitches and Hard Case, which is a great machine as well, it just doesn't have nearly as many stitches and functions, and it doesn't come with the wide plate for quilts either. This machine will operate without the petal, so the instructions on the dvd for winding the bobbin start out explaining it as if you didn't have the petal plugged in. This confused me for a minute because I couldn't get it to wind by pushing the button it said to push. The reason for that, was that it sensed the pedal and I had to push the pedal rather than the button. I used the pedal when I used the machine because that is how I've always sewed, but I did test out the machine without the pedal for a large square just for the sake of testing it out. It worked flawlessly and I highly recommend trying it to see if it is the technique for you. I guess I'm a little old-fashioned, because I prefer using the pedal over the button. For the rest of the set up, I just watched the DVD while I was performing the winding of the bobbin, threading the machine, etc and paused it as I needed to. It made it so easy for me. The dvd takes you right through how to do everything, even the character stitches and how to do letters, one after the other, like a name or date, so that there is no break in the letters and it tells you how to add letters etc to whatever you already have programmed and then how to delete them, because they are saved in the machine until you delete each one. The machine sews the regular way with very straight stitches and has no trouble sewing through thicker fabrics. It was a little different getting used to the reverse button. I've always had a manual one that I pulled down, like a lever, but this is a computerized button that you just press. It was no big deal after using it for an hour or so. The fancy stitches on this machine are so nice. I took a few pictures of a name I sewed and some of my favorite stitches. It is extremely easy to go from stitch to stitch. You simply enter the stitch number and the group it is in on the chart, then it tells you what presser foot you need for that stitch. The presser feet are clearly marked, as you can see in my photos, so there's no guess work in it. The buttonhole function worked extremely well and there are several styles to choose from. I watched the dvd and did that with one try and flawlessly as well. I highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for an inexpensive computerized machine. I had never used a computerized machine before getting this one, and I had it up and running in no time. All I can say, is watch the dvd as you set this up. It made it effortless! I hope this helps you with your decision.