OT: sort of....I want to hear about sewing machines

Sunny I can't advise you on specific machines. I also can't afford to upgrade now or for the foreseeable, so I have the luxury of dreaming about my IDEAL (regardless of expense) sewing equipment. And most of what I have decided on is what I do NOT want.

I have long since resolved that I do NOT want a machine the claims/tries to do everything. I want a fast straight stitch machine with a wider throat than my current machine, but if I want to embroider I am happy to do it on a separate machine.

I do NOT want a machine that tells me how to do things and won't let me change settings to what I want. This may be the control freak in me coming out though. I don't mind being advised about default settings, but I want to be able to do weird things if I want.

I do NOT want a machine that proudly claims to be light weight! I hate that so many modern machines are so light and "bouncy" - even the more expensive ones. I want a solid machine that will sit where I put it and not move with the vibrations when I put the pedal to the metal.

If I have to choose between a superb piece of basic sewing equipment and a multi-function machine that is reasonably reliable, reasonably flexible and reasonably priced - personally I would go with the former. I am smarter than any machine and I can get a good basic machine to do most of what I want.

I like having some embroidery stitches available to me but beyond basics I would be happy to consign the fancy stuff to a second machine too. You are obviously far more interested in the embroidery options so think about what you REALLY want to do, and how much of it you plan to do. For really fancy stuff I pay a friend with a top of the line machine to do small embroidery pieces for me. And we now have a commercial embroiderer in town who is going to get back to me about doing one-off embroidered quilt labels. I would rather pay them for specific requirements than finance a more expensive machine with capabilities I do not plan to use daily (or at least weekly).

And where I live service and support is limited so that would also be a consideration.

Good luck with your new aquisition - whatever it is.

You might want to check out used machines that both sew and embroider. I have both a Designer 1 and a Babylock Ellageo You sound as if you'd be very interested in the embroidery feature. I've seen embroidery only machines. They're fine, but slow compared to the combination ones, and are often limited to smaller hoop sizes. If you really crave decorative stitches, I think that is your first avenue to check. Most combination machines have a large number of decorative stitches also included. If at all possible, consider keeping your machine as a back up. That way, if you want to be embroidering you can be sewing on the other. Gen

I absolutely agree with everything Cheryl said. Let me suggest this. Why don't you go play? Maybe you'll find that the 'embroider' only machines are such fun that you'll simply want one of them. I don't know diddly about them but believe the Babylock guys have one that is heaps cheaper than a SM that does embroidery and the other sewing needs. If you go with either an embroidery machine or a SM that has the embroidery abilities, you'll still have to consider the costs of special threads and stabilizers (nothing to sneeze at). And just how many tee-shirts and baseball caps with Mickey Mouse motifs do you want to make? Translation - you'll want to think what in the heck you'd do with one if you had it. Could be something you'll just have a field day with and could be something you'll put in the china cabinet and dust twice a year. YMMV. Maybe you would enjoy a 'non-programmed embroider machine'. Viking, Bernina and Pfaff (among others) can do more beautiful and fun stitches than you'll ever have time for and the older ones, sometimes a 'best buy' are not terribly costly. But - I'm with Cheryl. If they ever invent a machine that has room for an extra elbow length for big areas of quilting, I'll join you in SM lust. While you're just looking is a good time to compare what your options are. So much better than when you have a SM that's dead in the water and you're desperate. Report back. Polly

Oh Polly--I've had an embroidery machine for years and never put Mickey and friends on anything--never done caps either. I've made a lot of lace baskets, quilt blocks ,jacket backs, purses, table runners and place mats, embroidered on fleece blankets, Christmas ornaments--the list goes on and on. Yes, you need different thread and stabilizers, but all hobbies are expensive. You just need to decide what you want to spend your money on. I fully plan to play with the new machines at the Novi Expo--just hope I don't think I need another one! Gen

I agree with the others - there is once consideration though: a programmed embroidery machine needs to be set up and left to do what it needs to do. in the mean time you only have to be patient and wait. what do you want to do while waiting? if you want to sew you will need a second machine to do it on.

I'd also take the throat into consideration when buying - a 4 inch throat won't be much use for doing a king sized quilt so the bigger the better really.

note: your Janome is far, far fancier than mine (S419) I almost only use the straight stitch so am happy with that.

Please don't take my 'Mickey and friends' as a put-down. It's just that I confess to having a few tools that once learned were never picked up again. Right now, my very fine serger is sulking because I only use it for seams and hems. Polly

I would recommend going used. Many people upgrade and sell their machines for much less than you would pay retail for a used machine. Since I've been trying to upgrade, I've found out that many dealers won't take trades, and those that do have higher prices on their machines.

Recenlty I bought the straight stitch Babylock used as well as an Aurora 440 QEE.

I got the Babylock because it came with a Frame I was looking to buy used - both for less than the cost of the Frame retail. I already had the Brother, but it does make a nice piecing machine.

I got the Aurora with the Embroidery Unit even though I was interested in just the machine because price was so good.

In each case, I said to myself, I'll sell what I don't want, but somehow I kept them, and my collection grows.

Linda PATCHogue, NY

On Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:25:47 -0400, "Don/Gen"

I gotta tell you, I rarely use the embroidery unit. I like hand work and I do use the built in decorative stitches sometimes. That said, I bought the "Quilters Hoop" for my Viking and the software that does beautiful quilting blocks. Haven't used it yet, but this may be the answer to my inability to machine quilt.

Cindy

cindy, What Viking do you have?

Sunny

teleflora wrote:

Personally I would keep the machine you have now.

I had an old singer a few years ago and I used that for all of my sewing, I then wanted and embroidery machine so I found a used Babylock esante and bought it. I figured I would still use the old singer for regular sewing and use the Babylock for the stuff that had to be REALLY good and for the embroidery. After I tried out the babylock for regular sewing I never touched the singer again. I did however have the money at the time to buy the converter/card and the digitizing software so I can embroider pretty much anything I want. After I got back into quilting very heavily I bought a cheap simple Omega machine from Wal-mart to do all my peicing on. Being a stay at home mom now and not having the money I did before to replace my babylock and knowing that I didn't need a fancy machine just to peice I decided to invest the small amount of money it cost me for the cheap machine to save some wear and tear on my 'good' machine.

I peice my tops, and do most regular sewing on my cheap Omega ( I actually like it better than the babylock for peicing, other than it being a bit louder) and I do all my embroidery and all my quilting (especially free motion) on the babylock.

So in conclusion, keep the fancy machine and use the money you would have used buying another machine to buy a cheap simple second machine or a converter/card combo for the machine you have now. At the very least if you can't afford the digitizing software on top of that you can download free designs off the net and at least have some usability there.