Am I the only one who puts off taking machines to the sewing doc? I've been putting off taking Gertie, my pride & joy Designer 1 and the machine I would love to love. She's the one I've had so many problems with since I got her, and now that the warranty has run out at the dealer I got her from we're off to a different, highly recommended repair guy. If my suspicions are correct, and she is cost-prohibitive to repair, I'll have to look at my options. Sigh. At least all of the specialty feet interchange with my other Viking, and the Brother embroiders a 5 x7. Wish us luck!

Good luck, Roben. I can't bear the thought of my work partner going to the shop either. So I keep putting it off and putting it off. Probably not the best thing to do. "Janny" has given me no problems and I've done my best to keep her oiled and de-linted. Maybe I should be typing this with crossed fingers for more good luck just in case.

Get well soon, Gertie. Be nice to Roben, who loves you!

Good luck Gertie! :-)

I finally broke down and took mine in for a tune-up. My mom can usually fix anything on a sewing machine, but when she couldn't figure it out, I knew it was time to see a professional. Only $50 later and she doing fine.

Remember, this too shall pass.

I just got off the phone with the repair guy - a 35 minute conversation detailing all of Gertie's woes. The good news is that I'm not crazy (at least not when it comes to thinking things weren't right with Gertie :D ). She needs several new parts and lots of adjustments done correctly, and then she'll be in very good shape. The first words he said were 'You must have been aggravated to no end". All of the things that are wrong with her should have been caught, but some were actually caused by previous 'repairs' over the last year.

The bad news is that I can now not buy $300 - $350 worth of fabric. :cry: The repair guy promises I'll be able to love her when she comes home in a couple of weeks tho.

He did tell me something very interesting that I hadn't heard before, and that I want to pass on. Some of Gertie's stitch and tension issues is that there are grooves cut into 3 of the thread guides, one being a hook that is, in his words, 'about chewed through." He says that rough thread causes this, and he asked what brands of thread I used. His thought was that my machine saw a lot of C & C ( which I don't have - whew! so it had to be from the previous owner.) I was using Guetterman for piecing; guess I'll be using Mettler or DMC from now on! I didn't realize thread could be so rough it actually cuts grooves :cry:

I hate taking my machines and only do it if it the last resort. They like to touch things that are not broken. I took my brother in as I had bent something and said to only fix the problem. I requested that no tune up be performed. Of course when I went to pick it up the guy started in on all he did for the tune up. I just groaned. It never was the same after I got it back. It was like I had to break it in all over again. I would take them in for a little more tlc than I can give them if they would keep their paws off of stuff that doesn't need touching.

After watching my mom for years and a few consults with her I do most of my own work. It is harder now if you have a computerized one like most of mine seem to be.

While working at Wal-Mart, I used to help in the fabric dept sometimes when someone would bring their machine back for not working. Most of the time it was a tension problem or something else equally easy to fix. Sometimes it was a matter of educating the owner.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with Gertie, and for sure here's hoping all will be better when you get her back, having faced extreme disappointment with my Elna, I understand your pain.

I have been using Guterman thread as well, but today I discovered the colors run, so now I will have to be very careful using up the remainder of my thread. I was considering giving Sulky a try next, I had a spool of Mettler and personally wasn't very impressed, my spool seemed to have rather a lot of lint. Ick, and I was glad when it was gone, but as we all know everyone is different and each of us had our own likes and dislikes or else we wouldn't have all these thread choices to make us crazy over.

Speaking of crazy, it must have driven you batty to hear the tensioner has been cut away by thread! That's scary!

I wouldn't mind taking it in so much if it weren't for all of the wasted trips over the past year. I have a lot invested in this machine, and I'm all for taking good care of my investment. Finding out all of these things that should have been caught by the dealer, or that were actually caused by the dealer, is alarming at best. There is a conversation with the area rep in my future.

The tech recommended Mettler Metrosone ( I have no clue how to spell that!) or DMC for piecing, but I've heard good things about Superior Threads too. I told him that I have Madeira, Florani and ARC rayon for embroidery, and he was okay with those. I just would have never suspected that thread could cause that kind of damage.

I'll stick with the good stuff to hopefully avoid another big repair bill. The tech said she is salvageable, and after checking out her innards says she'll last for quite a few years yet before I need to look seriously at upgrading; I'm very thankful for that. I really would love to love this machine :)

Elizabeth, have you resolved the issues with the Elna? I sure hope so!