marilynr

I have a Babylock Decorators Choice; a lower end model. I love it.
Especially appreciate the self threading, drop in bobbin, but many machines have those features.

Rhonda Lee

I have a babylock and really love it!

Phyllis nm

Gather up all types of fabric you sew on and spend an afternoon at a shop trying out different machines.
One brand a day would be great, that is what I did. You need to know now before you buy it, if it will do what you want to.
If a dealer does not want you to try them out, you do not want that dealer!Gather up all types of fabric you sew on and spend an afternoon at a shop trying out different machines.
One brand a day would be great, that is what I did. You need to know now before you buy it, if it will do what you want to.
If a dealer does not want you to try them out, you do not want that dealer!

Path50

I have the Babylock Jane, which is the price range, but not the machine you want. It is a straight stitch only machine and it has increased my enjoyment of quilting enormously. The stitch on it is beautiful and I finally have the confidence to FMQ. The threading is a little complicated, but it reminds me of my mom's old White sewing machine I learned to sew on, so I don't mind. I also have a Brother NX-600 which is a good machine but I just couldn't master FMQ on it. Good luck! I hope you find the machine that will give you many,many hours of fun and happiness, as I have.

Mdaniels

I had a BL Espire which I bought used this year and recently traded in for a Janome. I never bonded with it. It had some very nice features, but I wasn't happy with some of the stitches and their accuracy in how they should look. It was thread-fussy. It just did not feel like a solid machine. Many Espire and Symphony owners love their machines, it just wasn't for me--and I was not really too thrilled with the dealer, which kind of put a nail in the coffin.

If you have the opportunity to sew on some BL's and then on some others, do that and decide what feels best for you.

quiltnut4ever

I own a Babylock Audrey and Melody. The Audrey is light and I use it to take to classes. The Melody is my most used machine for quilting and it has the auto threader and automatic thread cutter. Try several brands of the BL machines as well as the Brother ones. You may find a better price with the Brother ones tht do the same as the BL ones. Good luck!

MamaHen

I just bought the top of the line Baby Lock, if the rest of the baby locks sew as well as this one, I wonder why I was so stuck on Janome for so long. I can't speak for the lower price models, but please try out many different brands before buying. Like me, you might gradually move upward in features & price. I have gone from an Elna 6004 to a Janome 7700 to my Baby Lock Gold II, of all of them, which I sewed on each for many years before upgrading, I enjoy my new Baby Lock the most, and I still have the other two.

sahansen44

I have Babylock Esante (embroidery) and Babylock Melody (take to classes). I really like both of them. My fave tho is my old Pfaff (30+ years old). My sister (infrequent sewer) just bought the Babylock Rachel. I showed her the ropes of using it and I liked it also (I think, around $500).

mandyrose

I have a babylock ellure but it's combo embroidery/sewing paid $1000.00 in 2006 I love it and I agree with skratchie about the trade in good luck shopping

lclang

I have a small Babylock that I can take to classes or to quilt guild meetings. It is an okay machine but not top quality and is missing several of the most important features for me, such as a needle threader (vision problems) and a the thread cutter. It has few fancy stitches, just the most basic stuff. I also have a Babylock sewing/embroidery machine. It is a big heavy one but has every feature you can imagine. It is good for heavy duty sewing, and is without a doubt the best machine I have ever had. However the price was in the thousands, not the hundreds. If you want a top quality machine it is worth paying a good price for it. Many times you DO get what you pay for.