Aside from the cliché that guys aren’t supposed to sew, one thing that kept me from approaching a sewing machine for years was that threading them looked pretty intimidating — loop here, insert there, wind around this way and so on. I eventually overcame my fear years back, but might have done so earlier had Singer’s new Curvy machine been available. Selling online for around $300, the machine boasts two features designed to make setup easier: one for threading the needle and another for getting the bobbin thread set up. It also has an electronic stitch-selection device that cleverly informs you of the appropriate length and width settings for a given stitch. Combine all that with handy common-sense features like a spacious compartment for accessories and a built-in trimmer for loose threads, and you have a machine that’s very appealing for beginners and practiced users alike. Testing the machine for ease of use, I found that it took only around half an hour from the time I opened the manual and plugged in the machine to the end of my first job — hemming some pajama bottoms that were clearly designed for a much taller man. While the auto-threading feature wasn’t so intuitive you could do it without a manual, it did simplify things significantly, and must be a Godsend for anyone whose eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Since one assumes that’s a fair percentage of the sewing machine demographic, Singer has probably guaranteed itself a lot of sales with the innovation.