The Marketers’ Senate

At first glance, the ProvoCraft Tools Sew Crafty™ Mini seems
like a great idea. Its compact, appears to be easy to use, and
has the ability to be battery powered or can plug into the wall,
if you purchase the separate power adaptor for it. At around
$10, it is also affordable. The machine itself comes with a
bobbin of white thread, a needle threader, and a couple of
replacement needles. For an additional $10, you can also
purchase the accessory pack, which comes with bobbins threaded
in every color, several more replacement needles, and another
needle threader. Geared more towards a tool for scrapbookers, I
was intrigued by this product and purchased one for my supply
cabinet.

What seems like a good idea actually is; at least, until you
start using it. While the compactness comes in handy when you’re
cramped for space, and the lack of wires makes it portable,
that’s where the advantages to using this sewing machine end.
Once you’ve gotten your thread through the needle eye, and you
start sewing, you’ll find that the thread doesn’t want to stay
in the tensioner. Once this happens, your stitches are loose and
pull out easier. Tightening the tensioner doesn’t help this
problem, and often if you’re in the middle of sewing something,
you can’t easily slip the thread back in. Instead, you have to
stop by pushing the awkwardly placed on/off button and reinsert
the thread. If you’re trying to sew a longer item, you’re in for
a lot of starting and stopping.

The Sew Crafty™ Mini is also incredibly loud for being such a
small tool. It makes an almost deafening whining sound as it
works, making it impossible for me to do any quiet sewing when
my 10-month old sleeps in the next room. You can also forget
trying to watch television or talk on the phone while using this
item, because the noise is just that bad.

While it’s easy to figure out how to thread the machine, and how
to use it, it is also difficult to remove your item from the
machine once you’ve completed your stitching. Many times, the
tread gets caught in the area below the foot. Pulling on it to
try to remove it threatens to pull out your stitching (which, if
the tensioner has come loose several times, has taken a while to
accomplish), and adjusting the needle wheel to move the needle
up and down and release the thread only works half of the time.

Stitch selection is also a minimum. The Sew Crafty™ Mini only
does one stitch: a straight line. You can’t really expect more
than that for $10, but it would be nice if it did another stitch
for those who don’t own a full-sized sewing machine.

All in all, if I have the time to sit down and try to create a
straight line stitch with the Sew Crafty™ Mini, I also have the
time to pull out my bulky sewing machine and use it, instead. If
you would like a sewing machine, but don’t have the money or
space for one, this is the perfect tool. Otherwise, your money
is best spent on the real, life-sized thing.