Stitch & Selvage earns a commission when you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend, and we publish a skip-this verdict on products we could otherwise earn from. Full disclosure.
The Brother LX3817 is the cheapest machine we cover. It keeps the jam-resistant drop-in bobbin, an LED-lit work area, a free arm and an independent bobbin winding motor. It gives up the automatic needle threader — Brother lists its threading system as manual — and it sews a four-step buttonhole rather than a one-step. Buy it for mending. Do not buy it to make clothes.
The ranking
Quick picks
Ranked against the published criteria below. Tap a row to jump to the full write-up; the price button goes straight to Amazon.
Mending and hemming on the smallest budget
Brother LX3817 Sewing Machine
The cheapest machine Brother lists here, and the one where the saving is visible: seventeen stitches, four presser feet, a four-step buttonhole and manual needle threading.
The LX3817 is where the budget line genuinely bites, and it is worth being specific about how. Brother's specification page lists the needle threading system as manual. On the XM2701, fifty dollars higher, it is automatic. That one line is, in our view, the difference between a machine a beginner keeps using and one that gets put away — threading a needle by eye under a machine arm, at the end of a long day, is where a lot of first attempts end.
The buttonhole is the second cut. This machine sews a four-step auto-size buttonhole, which means moving the dial through four positions in the right order for each buttonhole. The XM2701 and the CS7000X sew a one-step buttonhole: place the button, press, done. If you are shortening trousers and taking in seams you will never notice. If you are making a shirt you will notice on the first placket.
What survives the cost-cutting is more interesting than what does not. It keeps the jam-resistant quick-set drop-in top bobbin — Brother has not fitted a front-loading case to save money — and it has an independent bobbin winding motor, so winding does not drive the needle. It has a free arm and an LED-lit work area. At 10.36 lb it is lighter than the XM2701.
The honest use case: this is a mending and hemming machine. If what you actually want is to take up jeans, fix a seam, and run a curtain hem twice a year, seventeen stitches and four feet is not a compromise, it is the correct amount of machine. If you think you might make a garment, the next machine up buys back the two features you will miss.
We have not sewn on this machine. Every specification above is from Brother's own product page, and the price on the button is live.
What works
- Brother lists it at $99.00, the lowest entry point in this line-up
- Keeps the jam-resistant drop-in bobbin, which is the more important of the two convenience features
- Independent bobbin winding motor, so winding a bobbin does not fight the needle drive
- Free arm for hems, cuffs and sleeves — the jobs most people buy a first machine for
- 10.36 lb, the second-lightest machine here
What does not
- Manual needle threading. Brother's own specification says so, and it is the single feature we would not give up
- A four-step buttonhole rather than a one-step, so every buttonhole is four dial positions you have to get right
- Four presser feet, with no overcasting or blind stitch foot
- Seventeen stitches runs out quickly once you move past mending
The kit it pairs with: Add a needle threader tool, a blind stitch foot and an overcasting foot if you intend to sew garments rather than mend them.
The manual needle threader is the whole review
Brother's own specification page lists two lines that tell you everything about where this machine sits. Under 'Needle Threading System' the LX3817 says Manual. Under the same heading, the XM2701 — the next machine up in Brother's range — says Automatic.
An automatic threader is a lever with a small hook on it. You lower it, it swings a wire hook through the eye of the needle, you lay the thread in the hook, and you release the lever; the hook pulls a loop of thread back through the eye. Without it you are holding a thread end between finger and thumb and pushing it at a hole roughly 0.6 mm across, in the shadow of the machine arm, every time you change color, break a thread or replace a needle.
Some people find this trivial. Many people, especially anyone whose close vision is not what it was, do not. It is the single feature on this site we would most strongly advise not to give up, and the price gap that buys it back is the smallest meaningful upgrade in the category.
The four-step buttonhole
Brother specifies 17 built-in stitches including one four-step auto-size buttonhole. A four-step buttonhole means the dial has four buttonhole positions, and you sew each one in sequence: down one side, across the end, back up the other side, across the other end. You judge where to stop on the long sides yourself. The result is entirely serviceable and it takes practice to make two buttonholes on the same shirt match.
If you will sew one buttonhole a year, this is not a problem. If you plan to make a shirt with a seven-button placket, it is seven chances to get it wrong in a row, on fabric you have already cut.
What it does keep, and it is more than you would expect
- A jam-resistant quick-set drop-in top bobbin. Brother has not fitted a cheaper front-loading case to save money here, and that is genuinely to its credit — the drop-in bobbin is the more consequential of the two convenience features.
- An independent bobbin winding motor. Winding a bobbin does not drive the needle, which means the machine is quieter and less alarming to wind on.
- A free arm. The flat bed slides off to leave a narrow arm you can slip a trouser leg or a sleeve cuff over. For hemming, this is the feature that matters.
- Upper thread tension control dial and an LED-lit work area.
- 10.36 lb, the second-lightest machine covered here.
Who this machine is genuinely right for
There is a real buyer here and we do not want to talk them out of it. If what you want is to take up jeans, replace a zip, fix a split seam, run a curtain hem and make a school costume once a year, seventeen stitches and four feet is not a compromise — it is the correct amount of machine, and paying more buys capability you will not use. The free arm and the drop-in bobbin cover that work properly.
The buyer we would steer away is the one who says 'I might get into making my own clothes.' On this machine that ambition meets a four-step buttonhole, a manual needle threader, no overcasting foot and no blind hem foot. Every one of those is surmountable and all four together are the reason a machine ends up in a cupboard.
The kit it needs
More than any other machine here. Four feet means no overcasting foot for raw edges and no blind hem foot for invisible hems. Three bobbins is two short of comfortable. There is no cover. And a standalone needle threader tool — a small wire loop on a handle, cheap as anything — largely solves the machine's biggest weakness for about the price of a sandwich. That last one is the best-value purchase for this specific machine, and it is not in any accessory kit we would otherwise recommend.
We have not sewn on this machine. We do not own it, there is no test bench here, and we are not going to describe a stitch we never made. What we did instead: read the manufacturer's published specification line by line, cite every figure to the page it came from, and price the whole setup — machine and the kit it still needs — so you know what starting actually costs.
Method
How we picked
- Compiled every specification from Brother's own LX3817 product page, checked 1 September 2026.
- Placed the threading system and buttonhole type side by side with the XM2701, because those two lines are the entire difference between the machines.
- Scored against the published formula on how we pick — first-setup ease is weighted at 30%, which is why this machine scores where it does.
- Priced live from Amazon.
We have not sewn on these machines. There is no test bench here, we do not own them, and we do not accept free product. Everything above is compiled from published manufacturer specifications and live retailer data — and we tell you which is which on every claim. Our full method.
Answers
Questions people ask
Does the Brother LX3817 have an automatic needle threader?
Is the Brother LX3817 good enough for a beginner?
How many presser feet come with the Brother LX3817?
Can the Brother LX3817 sew denim?
Where this came from
Sources
About the author
Scooter M.
An enthusiast who is genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the arithmetic. No lab coat, no test bench, and no machines I am pretending to have used — which is exactly why every claim here carries a source.
Published by Slate Mill Group. Published September 1, 2026; last updated September 1, 2026. Editorial policy.
Keep reading
Read next
Best value mechanical
Brother XM2701 review: the cheapest machine that still threads its own needle
27 stitches, an automatic needle threader and a jam-resistant drop-in bobbin — the value pick of the mechanical machines.
Best entry tier
The best sewing machines under $200
The entry tier, ranked on what the band structurally buys — and the one machine to think twice about.
The honest answer
Are cheap sewing machines worth it?
Where the line falls between a bargain and a machine you will fight — three specifications, not a price.
Hemming
How to hem pants
The ordinary trouser hem, the jeans version, and the needle that stops you snapping one at the side seam.