I have been reading with interest the discussion about Janome, Bernina, Viking.
I currently have a Pfaff sewing machine and I am considering purchasing a new machine. I have made some enquiries from a local dressmaker, she recommended Bernina, today I also enquired at a local Patchwork supplies shop and the woman there highly recommends Husqvarna.
Since hearing such an enthusiastic recommendation, I am quite keen on buying a Husqvarna but I am interested to know any recommendations from some of the experienced people on this newsgroup.
I want a sewing machine that will sew any fabric, with a wide range of stitches and one that has a quick speed, I have found the Pfaff fairly slow, but my machine is quite an old model. All recommendations appreciated.
I love my Husqvarna Lily 550 - sews just about anything! Pop over to my web site (URL below) and see what we get up to! It's faster than some other modern machines.
ALL modern standard domestic machines are slow compared to the older straight stitch non electronic models. If you want greater speed, get a good older machine that does straight stitch only, or only one or two other stitches, and save it for the long boring curtain seams! On things like this I increase the stitch length - takes the same number of stitches per minute, but the bigger 'bites' make it go through quicker!
Thank you for your recommendation Kate, you have a Lovely website also
Some of the local dressmakers and patchworkers have recommended Bernina to me, so I had a look at the local Bernina shop and saw a demostration of the Bernina Activa 145S, it as rather good.
I also had a play on a Husqvarna Platinum 750 at another shop yesterday, it has some nice features also, at around $2,595 NZ. They don't have a Husqvarna Lily 550 and I am not sure where I would find that model in New Zealand. As far as I am aware there is only one Husqvarna agent in the nearest town and she only stocks the Viking range.
Brooke, Husqvarna and Viking is the same thing, these machines usually sold under Husqvarna name in Europe and under Viking - in US
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Lily series has been discontinued and replaced by Platinum series.
My dealer, who sells Husqvarnas, Singers and Toyotas, is also a licensed mechanic for Janome and Bernina, i.e. machines of these brands come to him for repair under guarantee. And I've heard from heim many times that he is not happy with the number of Berninas he has to repair under quarantee (but it's not my opinion, it's his!).
Bernina owners tend to be very loyal, and love their machines to death. What puts me off on Bernina is the price of each additional foot, and from what I have seen, you do have to buy them because the machine doesn't come with enough. So I would say that if you are considering a Bernina, look at the attachment set and add the actual prices of any additional feet that you would need to determine the actual cost. If I were buying one, I would try to get the dealer to throw them in on the deal. When I bought my Singer Quantumlock, I got all the available feet with it, as part of a special promotion.
in 17 years, I've bought a walking foot, and open toe embroidery foot, and a foot for felled seams. I don't think that's too many. It came with at least a dozen, has something changed with the newer ones?
Thank you! One or two of the links are broken, and in the process of being fixed, but my computing services manager (or 'DH'!) is off up a hill walking in the Scottish Borders this weekend. I shall be sewing... Funny, that! I'd have gone with him for the company, but i have too much bridal stuff to do in the next few days!
Worth looking at - see below! A friend of mine has one and loves it as much as I love my Lily. She's a quilter, like me.
Doesn't matter if they call them Husqvarna or Viking, they're the same thing! They are good machines, made in Sweden. The Lily is one of the older models now (had mine since 1998/9), and the Platinum range are the newer replacement series. Your dealer may have sold out of Lilies and not be able to order more. The ones to watch out for are the Husky Star range: these are bought in from the far east. Not bad machines, but not the all singing, all dancing, tough as old boots you get from the Swedish built main range. Good budget machines, though.
Take a look here to see all the world wide dealers and models: if your dealer hasn't got what you want in stock, you may be able to get a price and an order time from them, as they should be able to get whatever the customer wants:-
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Berninas are of comparable quality. I was strongly tempted, and in the end, it was down to 'fit'. The HV machine fitted my hands like it was made for them, whereas I had to go looking for all the Bernina controls! I found this a little odd, as all the older Berninas I've ever used were marvelous, and fitted just fine. It really is a case of see what fits! :)
I don't know, Penny, I've just heard Bernina owners complaining about the high cost of added feet, and that they aren't frivolous wants, but real needs.
Depends on your point of view and needs. My Lily came with quite a few, but I've added to the collection because of what I like to do: the electronic buttonholer came with it, but the walking foot didn't, so I bought it with the quilting kit. I also bought the rolling foot and the teflon foot because they made certain processes easier. I bought several others just because they are fun, and they have proved useful in both classes with kids and on paying jobs. If you quilt, you will need to buy more than the basic feet, as you will if you go in for heirloom sewing. Some machines come with more feet than others, and sometimes you get a whole lot thrown in on a special promotion.
I am just now getting back into quilting. I haven't done in quite a few years. I just bought a Brother pc6000. It came with quite feet and I just ordered 4 feet for it. I got the ruffler foot, the teflon foot, the 7 corded foot and the open toe foot. Now I am shopping for an Embroidery Machine. The one I think I want is the Brother 180D.
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