Skip to main content

From Junkyard Find to Quilted Minions: Testing a Brother CS6000i

Hi all,

Usually when I test drive a sewing machine to see if it works, I use random bits of left over fabric. For the Brother CS6000I, I decided to try it out on an actual project.

(C) Olwen White
 

I've already featured this machine in a video on my YouTube Channel, Simply Stitchy

When I first purchased the Brother CS6000I it really wasn't a happy bunny. The needle was hitting the needle plate and the machine didn't want to sew. It was covered in dust and debris, the case was dirty, and it had been sat forgotten in the back of a salvage yard's warehouse for eons. 

Well, a few years anyway. 

It was in desperate need of a spa day!

You can see how I got on with fixing it in this video: 

 


Spoiler alert - I got it working and thought it deserved more than some random fabric for its first sewing spree in ages. 

Besides, I needed a new project bag for my knitting and crochet. 

That's where the Minions come in. I'm a bit of a fan of Disney's Despicable Me Minions. So when Eldest found a Minion tote bag panel, I was over the moon and eager to get sewing!

Testing the Brother CS6000I and sewing a Minion Tote at the same time was too good an opportunity to miss. Not only that, but it was also my first chance to quilt anything since this time last year.

I was pleasantly surprised by the CS6000I's performance. For a machine that has spent an untold number of years lying abandoned, it did pretty well. 

There were a few quirks. 

The stitch length didn't want to change on the straight stitch setting. I managed to fix that by changing it to a zigzag stitch and then re-selecting the straight stitch. Sometimes, particularly in these older machines, the computer gets a bit glitchy. A helpful prod or a nudge can help reset the workings. 

Techies call it - switch it off and on again... or power cycling.

At first, I couldn't get the CS6000I to start sewing. I was pushing the stop-start button but nothing was moving. It turned out to be user error rather than the Brother playing up. I had the foot control plugged in at the back. The stop-start doesn't work when the foot control is connected. 

I knew that... My Brother SE625 does the same thing. *sigh*

After a quick unplugging, I retried the button and we were in business!

Sewing on the Brother CS6000I was a joy and a piece of cake. It's not an overly powerful machine by any means. Top speed is only about 850 stitches per minute. 

Bulk and thick seams were a struggle for it. This tote was quilted with Pellon TP970 Thermolam Plus. In heavyweight. 

A bit of overkill for a light duty bag project? Possibly. 

But it was all they had in the store. Sometimes you've just got to go with what you can get. It did, however, mean some of those seams were bulkier than anticipated. 

If you want to sew heavy fabrics like denim with thick seams, this probably isn't the machine for you. But with a little bit of coaxing, and a lot of walking the machine through the bulky bits by using the hand wheel, we got the job done.


(C) Olwen White

I'm incredibly pleased with the result! 

The CS6000I is discontinued now but there is a replacement. Brother's CS7000I is near identical. It has 70 built-in stitches instead of 60 but other than that, the features are similar. Again, if heavy denim or canvas work is in your future, neither the CS6000I or the CS7000I have heavy duty motors, so you might struggle with bulk and thickness. 

 


Having said that, this machine and the newer CS7000I are entry-level, beginner-friendly introductions to the world of sewing that are well worth checking out. The fact that mine was able to complete a full sewing project after being neglected for so long, just goes to show what fantastic little machines they are!

Better still, if you buy yours from somewhere like Amazon, it will come with a selection of feet, bobbins, and an extension table. 

Mine came with a foot from a vintage sewing machine. This foot is hinged rather than snap-on! 

(C) Olwen White

So it did a great job even with the wrong foot! I'm tickled pink :D.

Let me know in the comments what project you are working on. Do you have either the Brother CS6000I or the CS7000I? What do you think of them?

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now

Olly

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through using the Amazon links that I include on my blogs and my YouTube channel. Check out my Amazon Store!

All photographs are the property of Olwen White and are not to be used for any reason without prior permission.

Check out my sewing videos https://www.youtube.com/@SimplyStitchy




 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A soft spot or OSMC

Hi there,  I was having a bit of a nose around a local second hand shop over the weekend and came across this: It was tucked down the side of some furniture, looking a bit sorry for itself, just sitting there all alone. Well, I couldn't leave it there.  Poor thing looks like its had a bit of a hard life. It's a Mundlos machine, originally designed to go on a treadle table judging by the lack of a tool compartment, little holes in the base just under the hand crank and the small groove just behind the wheel. The little holes and groove would have been for the belt attaching the machine to the pedal.  The tools would probably have been kept in the table. The golden badge is the Mundlos company's trade mark and the portrait is of Heinrich Mundlos, one of the company's founders.  The little switch to the side is a handy little gadget that pops the shuttle out of the bobbin compartment. Originally, this machine would have been decorated with ...
2 comments
Read more

The Charity Shop Find & the Headache from Hell!

 Hi all I've always been a fan of charity shops. Even before they became a fashionable way to reuse or  repurpose other people's unwanted clutter.  To me, they have always been a gateway for feeding my addiction to vintage and antique sewing machines.  Like this one.  Isn't she a beauty? According to the markings, She is a New Home machine made in West Germany so I'm guessing she's a post war... maybe 1950s... electric sewing machine.    She has a bolt-on motor and the shortest electric cable I have ever seen on a sewing machine! Look at it! It's tiny! That's never going to reach any of my electrical outlets. I'm thinking that this vintage sewing machine was made to be in a cabinet... or a previous owner cut the cable for some reason.  Maybe their outlets were mounted on a desk and they didn't want long cables cluttering the workspace?  Who knows? One thing I do know, is this sewing machine is going to give me a little bit of a headache!...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cover Kits

This is Lickle Ted by DMC. Did I mention that I have a soft spot for teddy bears? Its a cover kit from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine from a couple of months back -April's issue I think, could have been March, I forget.  I like doing cover kits as they are usually small enough to finish in a short space of time. Anyway, I thought this little guy was so cute I started stitching it as soon as I got the Magazine, which was pretty much when it came out. I finished him today - 18 June 2010! He only takes up a 4" square!  So much for cover kits being quick to do! My main problem was not being able to see the difference in some of the colours.  It has two shades of cream and two shades of beige.  My other problem was running out of thread.   The back stitch for the outlining is in DMC 3371 which is the chocolate brown above.  The kit only had one length of around about 8" of the thread.  I ran out before I h...
2 comments
Read more