Hello Darlings!
Today I will be doing a much requested review on Singer Heavy Duty machines - sewing machine Singer 4423 and Heavy Duty serger. Whenever I post something on my Instagram featuring these machines, I get so many questions about them, so I figured I will go ahead and do an in-depth review, based on my 7+ years experience using these sewing machines.
These are my personal machines that I bought with my own money 7+ years ago, I do not work with Singer brand, this is not a sponsored review and everything you will read today comes solely from my experience. I will tell you about each machine you see here and will also answer your questions, that were submitted on Instagram.
In this review, I will share and link a few sewing tools that I use along with these Singer Heavy Duty machines - these links will be affiliate links, which means that if you click the link and purchase an item, I receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. This does help support the blog, but please know that I only show and talk about these product because I do use them myself and find them useful.
This review comes in video format (click below to watch) and scroll down to read the text. Let's review Singer Heavy Duty machines!
The first machine I got from Heavy Duty line was Singer 4423. I bought this machine 7+ years ago and I was upgrading from my older Bernina Bernette E55 sewing machine. For the first three years, Singer 4423 machine was my main sewing machine; however, once I started sewing school, I decided to upgrade to industrial sewing machine, but kept this Heavy Duty for buttonholes, hemming with twin needle and if I need to use additional accessories.
Singer Heavy Duty 4423 has 11 standard seams, 11 elastic seams, 1-step buttonhole (which is very convenient; it took me a while to find right tension settings for buttonholes, but once I did, the buttonholes are coming out great). Machine also comes with several accessories, including different presser feet - the amount of presser feet included depends on what kit you're buying, but the most needed essential feet (like zipper foot, invisible zipper foot, standard sewing foot) are always included.
What I like about this machine is that it can be compatible with a lot of different accessories that expand machine functionality. For example, I bought this presser foot set on Amazon for 20 USD and got 32 presser feet, so one foot costs less than 1 dollar, which is a great price.
This presser foot set has a lot of different feet, a few of my favourites would be pintucking foot, rolled hem foot and gathering foot. Changing presser foot on Singer Heavy Duty is very easy - you simply push the lever to remove the old foot and put on new one. Easy and simple, no need for screws.
Machine is fairly simple to use and intuitive: you select needed function with dials, with dials on the top you adjust length, tension and needle position and start sewing pressing the foot controller.
This Singer Heavy Duty 4423 model is one of the most popular - if not the most popular - model in the Singer line-up and machine has 4.6 star rating and over 18.000 reviews on Amazon.
Now onto the serger. I bought Singer Heavy Duty serger 6 years ago, the very first week I started sewing school and saw what a big impact serger has on sewing quality. This is my very first and only serger, and I've been using it a lot in these past 6 years.
This Heavy Duty serger is a 4-thread serger. I often get asked which I would recommend: 3-thread or 4-thread serger and I always always recommend choosing 4-thread one:
3-thread sergers are meant for neatening raw fabric edges
4-thread sergers can also sew knits with elastic seam
Because of it's versatality, 4-thread sergers are much more popular than 3-thread ones. They are a bit more expensive, but definitely worth adding extra money and getting so much more value.
The serger is pretty straight forward to use - you thread either 3 or 4 threads and start sewing using foot controller, while the machine stitches the fabric together and cuts loose edges of the fabric. Loose fabric edges fall to detachable waste basket, which is convenient to use and I frankly find it very odd if a serger comes without one.
In the 6 years of owning this machine I never had any issues with it, and anytime the seam was off it was completely my fault. With sergers, probably 99% of the errors comes from the threading, so if you are having any issues with your serger, first thing to check is the threading.
One thing I do not like about this Singer Heavy Duty serger machine is that it's really loud and much louder than any other machine I have - I can't sew in the evenings, so that I don't wake my baby or annoy the neighbors. To be honest, I am currently looking at new sergers, and one of the key reasons why is the loud sound. However, I do have a difficult spending money and buying a new machine, while this one works fine, but the sound issue is really quite annoying.
This particular Singer serger model is discontinued, but the are newer Heavy Duty models that have all same features and are very similar to this one.
Now, let's answer questions about Singer Heavy Duty you submitted via Instagram.
Does Singer Heavy Duty sew with twin needle?
Yes, you can use twin needle when sewing with Singer Heavy Duty 4423. Sewing with twin needle used to be a bit problematic and the threads often got tangled and I thought the issue was in the machine, but once I switched to Organ Needle twin needles, all issues disappeared and the seam always comes out smooth and beautiful, so if you're also having some difficulties sewing with twin needle, I do recommend switching and trying different twin needle. Twin needle is perfect for hemming knit fabrics and it's a great alternative for coverlock machine.
How much Singer Heavy Duty costs? Worth the price?
The Singer Heavy Duty 4423 costs around 200 USD, while the serger is around 280 USD.
To answer your question 'Is Singer 4423 worth the money': this is a great machine for the price, BUT you really have to tune your expectations. When you're buying Singer Heavy Duty 4423 machine, you're buying a medium price range machine - you're not buying an entry level machine, but you're not buying a premium machine or industrial sewing machine either. You should not expect miracles from this machine, but it is a great machine for the price and you're getting value out of every dollar you spend.
Sewing newbie here - send tips!
Always read machine manual. Singer has very detailed manuals and they provide a lot of useful information how to squeeze maximum from you machine. For example, the serger manual includes a very useful technique on how to change threads quickly (I should this technique in this Instagram Reel) - not many people know about this great technique, and it's literally in the manual!
I've heard internals aren't actually heavy duty. Does it live up to it's name?
From my own personal experience - I haven't noticed any difference compared to other domestic sewing machines I've used in the past. I read somewhere that Singer Heavy Duty is targeted towards cosplayers market and the 'heavy duty' implies that the machine can handle difficult materials like foam, faux leather, etc., so maybe that explains the name.
Do they have a lot of patterns?
The Singer Heavy Duty has 23 stitches total and serger can create either 3-thread or 4-thread seam.
Singer Heavy Duty machine - is it similar speedness than other brand machines?
The standard sewing machine speed is about 800 stitches per minute, while Singer Heavy Duty 4423 speed is 1.100 stitches per minute. So yes, it is a bit faster than standard machine, BUT you're almost never sew at full speed and won't likely feel much of a difference. For comparison, the industrial sewing machine sews from 3.500 to 5.500 stitches per minute - now that is a difference you definitely will feel!
I've heard reviews they're noisy.
The Singer Heavy Duty 4423 is not noisy (or as noisy as any other sewing machine), but the Singer Heavy Duty serger is definitely a noisy one!
Did you have any issue with the Singer Heavy Duty 4423 sewing machine?
No, I haven't - in the 7 years of owning this machine, I never had any issues with it!
This wraps up our todays review of Singer Heavy Duty machines.
Here are the links of products mentioned in the review:
Singer Heavy Duty 4423: https://amzn.to/3EfUKmz
Singer Heavy Duty Serger (similar): https://amzn.to/3Mn9G4F
Presser foot set: https://amzn.to/3EjdMsc
Thank you for reading and till next time!
Best wishes,
Julie