Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is a computerized, heavy-duty sewing machine manufactured to meet the needs of novices and hobbyists. This feature-rich sewing machine offers great accessories, availability of controls, and automized units, making it suitable for embroidery, appliqueing, quilting, and many other projects. Although not ideal for industry use and not portable, Singer 9960 caters to all the necessary features to make it best used at home.
Singer 9960 weighs only 20 pounds and has a stitch speed of 850 per minute; although not industry-preferrable, it can efficiently cater to all your personal needs.
It comes with numerous add-ons like a free arm, numerous stitch designs, easy customization of stitch patterns, a jam-free bobbin system, an extension table, a center zigzag taper, and more accessories.
These features make Singer 9960 rich in design and challenging to use. However, the detailed manual provided in the attached user manual enables easy and quick customization.
Its body is durable and suits the heavy project, making it less vibrant while in operation. But according to the other buyers’ reviews. The needles provided with the machine are not strong enough.
So, it is preferable to have an extra set at arms’ length, especially while dealing with thick fabrics. The LEDs on the machine provide optimal illumination, and the LCD’s information on the ongoing project, suitable for older adults.
Its versatility lies in its unique characteristics like a huge number of built-in stitches, sturdy performing foot pedal, and support for alphanumeric stitch patterns.
The machine is fitted with a reverse button that aids in reversing the sewing’s direction to reinforce the stitching pattern.
You can set the needle to sew two rows simultaneously using a twin needle system and more consistently feed the thread through a horizontal threading mechanism.
Each foot’s pressure is auto adjustable, while even an extra-high pressure foot lifter helps make extra space for thicker fabrics. Additionally, through accessories, you can efficiently various carry-on functions like hemming, zigzag tapering, embroidery, appliqueing, and others.
Singer 9960 is designed for home use and is not preferred in professional businesses. However, it can be easily be used for many kinds of home needs, including quilting, curtain, buttonhole, and other decorative projects.
This machine cannot be connected to the computer to import new designs and restricts you to its built-in stitch patterns. Nonetheless, the number of features offered is attractive at a price associated, making Singer 9960 a popular choice amongst beginners and hobbyists.
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Table of Contents
Built-in Stitches
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is featured by 600 built-in switches, including basic, decorative, and stretch stitch types. All these stitches can be flipped both horizontally and vertically using mirror/reverse image utility.
The stitch length can be varied up to five times their original dimension using the stitch elongation function. As a result, the potential types of stitches originate more than 600, adding a new wing to your creativity.
Besides stitch designs, the machine offers an option to tailor-make your works by sewing a name or phrase.
The script can be customized using five different alphabets: Russian, Script, Gothic, Italic, and Outline, either in upper or lower case. These can be stitched at 5 mm separation and can be used to increase your work’s value in terms of personal touch.
However, in this machine, you cannot save any stitch sequence. This means, once the machine turns off, then the stitch sequence will get lost. So, after power on, you need to start all over again.
Presser Feet
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is featured with 13 presser feet that include
- All-purpose foot: facilitates general sewing, elastic insertion, and basic mending.
- Buttonhole foot: accomplishes high standard 1-step buttonholing for 13 different types.
- Blind hem foot: aids in hemming the edges of cloth material with hidden stitches
- Zipper foot: helps to fit the zipper on the fabric without much tiresome effort.
- Satin stitch foot: eases decorative pattern creation by preventing stitch distortion while sewing.
- Open toe foot: supports surface embroidery/embellishment, applique sewing, and decorative stitching
- Even feed or Walking foot helps align the fabric layers and prevents their slipping while stitching.
- Cording foot: accents the fabric finishing by helping in high precision piping or cording
- Button sewing foot: facilitates attachment of buttons to the fabric by holding the buttons in place.
- Patch quilt foot: helps create high-standard quilts with minimal effort within a short period.
- Darning and embroidery foot: aids in free motion quilting, repairing of torn areas, and creation of monograms
- Overcasting foot: eases the edges’ overlocking process by preventing the fabric’s curling.
- Narrow hemming foot: yields a perfect professional finishing for the edges by facilitating narrow hemming
The pressure exerted by these presser feet on the fabric automatically gets adjusted in Singer 9960.
This facilitates easy and convenient sewing of many cloth materials, from lightweight tricots to heavyweight denim pieces.
Bobbin, Needle and Needle Plate of Singer 9960
Singer 9960 has a top-loading, drop-in bobbin system designed to be jam-resistant. The system is fitted with a transparent cover that helps easily monitor the thread supply.
This bobbin system working in conjunction with an adjustable tension button helps you obtain optimal tension all along your stitches, creating a superior finish for almost all kinds of fabrics.
There is even an in-built bobbin winder to ease the process of bobbin winding.
This machine is fitted with an automatic needle threader unit. This aids you pull the thread through the needle’s eye quickly and efficiently within a few seconds.
The feature relieves you from straining your eye and hurting your fingertip while threading the needle. Although the system is not of a very high standard, it serves most sewers ranging from beginners to experts.
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 supports the use of many kinds of needles. When changed to suit the fabric type, the needles result in high-quality end-products.
The needle’s position can be varied using the up/down button on the machine body’s front side. This control facilitates the easy and quick setting of the needle to the desired position.
It is fitted with a needle underplate that greatly aids in sewing hard-to-handle slippery fabrics. However, it is to be noted that the machine always finishes sewing with the needle down. There is no provision to tell the machine to stop while the needle remains up.
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Thread Cutter
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is featured with an automatic thread cutter. Both bobbin and needle threads can be quickly cut with just a single button tap.
It saves time and lowers your effort significantly, leaving you next-seam ready just within seconds.
The performance of this cutter is optimal as it cuts the thread almost nearer to the fabric. This gives you a superior finish at minimal effort and time, especially when there is a requirement to cut the threads quite often, as in complexly routed attractive design patterns.
Feed Dogs Mechanism
Feed dogs in Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 move in box-fashion, unlike most the machines that employ arc motion. The material is fed to the needle more evenly in the box feed motion s it always maintains equal contact with the cloth and the presser foot.
This ensures that both the top and bottom pieces go under the needle simultaneously, failing which the bottom layer moves faster than the top one. The resulting ‘walking presser foot’ mechanism ensures precise sewing of both layers instantly.
This consistent feeding feature is greatly preferred in most knits except a few, like sewing the sleeves.
Nevertheless, if you desire a very high precision of even feeding, then the use of a dedicated walking presser foot is desired. Besides, it is preferable to use ballpoint needle threading with the correct thread for optimal results.
Sewing Speed
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 offers a maximum of 850 stitches per minute. It is fitted with a speed controller that helps to adjust the stitch speed to a convenient level.
The mechanism is based on the bar’s slide, unlike the contemporary model that uses a foot controller.
This hand-driven control ensures more easy and intuitive control, especially for beginners and people with reduced mobility.
Better the control over the stitch speed better will be the control over your stitch pattern. This assures easy following of the creative and complicated designs that might otherwise go unfulfilled.
LED Lighting
Singer 9960 is fitted with two LEDs near the needle. This illuminates the work area and the thread cutting space. The arrangement helps you view the stitching pattern and cloth.
These LED lights are brighter, long-lasting, and cool to touch, even when used for a long. Optimal light relieves you from eye strain, especially when working on large, time-consuming projects.
These lights gain the utmost importance while sewing in a low-lit environment and make sewing comfortable and easy even for people with poor vision.
They also serve you the best when choosing to work on dark-colored fabrics, particularly when using exactly matched thread colors.
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Frame and Design
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 occupies a pretty good footprint as it has a dimension of 17.2 × 8.2 × 12 inches. Its interior body is made of metal, weighing around 20 pounds.
This makes it look sturdy and modern while affecting its easy portability. Nevertheless, the strong body ensures robustness and minimizes friction, even for heavy-duty works.
Its throat measures around 6.5 inches, which is not very suitable when handling large fabrics. However, the machine is supplied with an extension table to mitigate this adverseness.
LCD of the Singer 9960 machine displays information about the selected stitch pattern, width, length, the string’s tension, needle position, and recommended presser foot. It even flashes error messages when there is a problem and can be adjusted with adequate brightness on a need basis.
It is fitted with two LEDs near the needle area to illuminate the workspace.
Moreover, ample controls are fitted onto the machine, including a start and stop button, speed controller, stitch selector, automatic needle threader, stitch chart, needle positioner, 13 presser feet, one-touch needle thread cutter, automatic bobbin winder, and others.
Nonetheless, there is no USB port to facilitate hooking-on to the system.
Accessories for Singer 9960 Sewing Machine
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 has numerous accessories that facilitate its easy setup and quick deployment.
These include a pack of needles, quilting bar, power cord, spool pin felt, screwdriver, extra wide extension table, bobbins (class 15J), clearance plate, shank for presser feet, lint brush, clear piping foot, foot control, spool cap, adjustable bias binder foot, auxiliary spool pin, instruction manual, stitch in the ditch foot, seam guide, seam ripper, fancy trim foot, braiding foot with a guide, straight stitch foot, and single welt cording foot.
Pros and Cons
Singer 9960 imbibes many positive features like
- Good and study make
- Optimal performance
- Wide range of stitch types
- Efficient feed dog mechanism
- Best for home use.
- Availability of 13 presser feet
However, like any other sewing model, it also has drawbacks.
- Lacks USB port
- Not portable
- Not suitable for industries
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Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 Alternatives
Having dug deeper into Singer Quantum Stylist 9960, now it’s the time to decide whether it is the one you were looking for! If you found some desired factors missing in the model discussed, you can look for alternatives.
Two possible machine types are discussed in brief here below to aid you through the process. The suggested models are Brother CS6000i and Juki TL-2000Qi, each unique feature.
#1. Brother CS6000i
Brother CS6000i is a light machine that is easily portable, unlike Singer Quantum Stylist 9960i. Brother model offers 60 stitches and 7 different buttonholing options, considerably less than those in Singer.
However, this might make Brother CS6000i more user-friendly for the novices than the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. Unlike Singer, the Brother machine lacks an automatic thread cutter, adjustable pressure foot, and variable screen brightness.
Besides these, both machines are comparable in features like automatic bobbin system, LCD panel, LED, lack of system-hooking capability, automatic needle threader, presence of feed dogs, provision for free-motion stitching, and availability of start/stop button. Read the full review here.
#2. Juki TL-2000Qi
Juki TL-2000Qi is a mid-arm sewing machine that weighs lighter than Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. Juki is featured with 1500 stitches per minute, almost double the Singer model, making the former better suitable for experienced professionals, unlike the latter.
However, this model has only one built-in stitch pattern and is very pale in front of Singer if you look for stylish stitch types.
Nonetheless, both these machines offer many accessories, are fitted with an automatic threader unit, possess a speed controller, have an LCD panel, are mounted with an LED, possess a jam-resistant automatic bobbin system, and support the quilting process when fitted with extension tables.
Besides, Juki TL-2000Qi is more suitable for heavy-duty works and professional projects than Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. Read the full review here.
Final Thoughts
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is a versatile machine that suits novices and hobbyists. There are many options when it comes to stitching patterns and customization.
The same applies even to the offered accessories, availability of controls, and automized units. Presser feet availability and personalization make it suitable for using functions like embroidery, appliqueing, quilting, and many others.
Although not ideal for industry use and not portable, Singer 9960 caters to all the necessary features to make it best used at home.
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FAQs:
Is Singer 9960 Sewing Machine Good for Beginners and Hobbyists?
Yes, Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is a good machine for beginners and hobbyists. It is easy to set up and can be put to use quickly. The machine offers many automatic features that aid newbie sewers.
Automatic needle threader, auto stitch characterization, automatic thread cutter, speed controller availability, high-quality feed dog mechanism, adjustable needle position, jam-resistant bobbin system, and others facilitate its easy deployment.
All parameters can be accomplished easily by click-based mechanisms, ensuring easy machine usage. The interface is designed to suit both novelists and the experienced.
Besides, there are great accessories, a well-describing user manual, an LCD panel that shows the selection made, and an LED that spreads light over the workspace.
All these features help beginners and hobbyists create attractive finished products with high quality within a short span.
Does the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 Sewing Machine Do Embroidery?
Yes, Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 can do embroidery. It is provided with many attractive stitch patterns that can be used to sew decorative pieces. This model is featured by a darning and embroidery foot to help you during the process. You can easily stitch attractive designs on napkins, tablecloths, and curtains.
The beauty of much thicker fabrics such as jeans, pieces of denim, and jackets can also be increased through embroidery patterns. This machine also allows you to drop the feed dogs to help you more easily follow your free-hand designs.
However, it is noted that Singer 9960 cannot be used to stitch large logos and patches on the fabric. Moreover, unlike high-end machines, they cannot even be hooked to the computer.
Does Singer 9960 Suitable for Quilting?
Yes, Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 is suitable for quilting. It has many built-in stitch types that can aid you in creating an eye-catching quilt. These designs can be customized in terms of length and width, helping create different scroll sizes.
Besides, Singer 9960 can sew many kinds of fabrics varying in thickness over a wide range as it is fitted with walking/even feed foot.
You can even drop the feed system to practice the free motion—this aids in creating quilts of your choice, whether concerning the material, thickness, or design.
Additional features of Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 that support quilting are an extra wide table and the presser foot.
You can lift the latter to an extra-high position to increase the machine’s effective workspace to accomplish easy movement, rolling, and sewing extra big quilts.
What fabrics can you sew with Singer 9960?
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 can sew many materials that differ in texture and thickness. However, the fabric types must be matched with a dedicated type of needles and threads to obtain high-quality results.
A list of fabric types followed by the preferred combination is mentioned below for your reference.
- To sew lightweight clothes like silk, voile, and georgette, 9/70-11/80 size needles and cotton/silk thread are preferred.
- Medium weight materials such as satin, linen, gingham, and velvet sew well when 11/80-14/90 sized needles are used.
- When sewing tricots, knits, sweatshirts, swimwear, and jersey, it will be better to use needles of size 11/80-14/90
- Next, while stitching heavyweight fabrics like tweed, denim, and corduroy, 14/90-16/100 needles yield good results.
- Besides, leather needles can be used to sew leather material too.
Can it sew with twin needles?
Yes, Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 can sew with twin needles. The machine has a separate spool attachment that enables you to use two spools of thread. The two hemline stitches created using this machine will be uniform and the same, allowing you to sew two rows of stitches simultaneously with high precision.
The resulting pattern will add more style to the woven fabric creating mesmerizing designs. For instance, twin hemline stitches on t-shirts, tops, and jeans increase their aesthetic value, making them preferable and ready-to-use.
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