jenibeni

Hello all! So, I am a 110% sewing machine rookie and need advice on an important decision:

I have been DYING to get my own sewing machine, which I plan to use for the millions of projects that I've found on Pinterest; from hemming jeans & fixing clothing to making a T-shirt quilt and everything in between.

The dilemma: My fabulous Grandmother has very generously offered to give me her Pfaff 1222, which she has had now for FORTY YEARS! I was extremely touched and incredibly stoked to inherit her vintage machine, which I assumed I would turn into a family heirloom.

She took it to the repair shop to get it all cleaned and "tuned up," which has already cost her $150. The shop then notified her that there were further repairs that need to be done which would cost a minimum of $300, but could possibly go up to $1000 (EEK!) and they won't know until they get in there and start the work.

My Mother and Grandmother were devastated to tell me over Christmas as they too had been excited to give it to me. They said that, given the expense, they wanted to know if I want to go forward with the repair or, as technology as come so far since then, if I would rather put the money towards a brand new machine which would obviously have more features. (Gma mentioned several times that she wished her machine had a surger, but besides that, it has worked like a charm its entire life...)

Because my only experience with sewing was to surge a set of curtains, I have no idea which way to go on this. Could you please give me your opinions?

I am extremely sentimental and would love to have her machine, but is it really the best choice or should we invest in a new one? And which would you recommend if you were to go new? (Again, I want one to do jean-hemming, which I hear is tough on many machines, AND quilting.)

Help!

PS. I have a TON of awesome sewing project tutorials/ideas/patterns on Pinterest, so if you'd like to have access to them, just send me a private message with your email address and I'd be more than happy to share!

Candace

Go here http://www.kennsplace.com/pfaff_mail_a_repair.htm I was quoted a minimum of $500 and upwards of that to fix my 1222. I mailed him my machine about 3 months ago and he's still got it as there's a component in the foot control he's having problems with. But, it's being fixed as good as new for $189 plus my cost to ship it to him. I know one lady who told me she was VERY happy with her machine when she got it back. I'm still waiting for mine, but this is something to consider!

The 1222 is supposedly one of the BEST machines made by Pfaff and because you are sentimental and want to keep it, this may be an option for you. I have to tell you that for $300, you would be hard pressed to buy a decent machine. Especially for doing jeans. The machines at that price point would just not compare to a Pfaff 1222. I would imagine you could have a close to brand new Pfaff 1222 for about $200 and personally, that's the way I'd go.

Charlee

Me? I'd take the Pfaff. Not only do you have the sentimental value of G'ma's machine, but you have a better machine that's still going to do everything you want it to.

Sewlmatesister

That is THE BEST machine ever made in my humble opinion.....mine dies after40 years of constant working at my business and pleasure...It didn't owe me a thing!!! I've had new pfaffs since then, but last year bought a 1222 on ebay! Check e bay...they can go up to $1000.00 and more!! Take it, and have it fixed....best thing you will ever do!

Sew happy

I have had Pfaff sewing machines for nearly 40 years and I own a Pfaff 1222. Yes, it's a great machine. I hate to say this but I think the sewing repairman could be ripping your family off by possibly charging up to $1,000. He's feeling the waters to see if your Mother and Grandmother will pay that much for a repair. They need to put a limit on what they will spend or he will pad the bill up to near a thousand. He will most likely repair it for 500 or $600 max. regardless of what is wrong with the machine.

Also, some Pfaff parts are no longer available from Pfaff, though ebay frequently has used parts that are frequently used to replace broken parts. My point is that even though the machine may be repaired today, it can break a plastic cam in the future. YOu would still be able to use the straight stitching but I'm not certain about zig zag. The cams are
for the other stitches.

I'm very sentimental about family also, but sewing machines are sentimental because of the person who owned it and not the machine itself. Hope you will not take this the hard way, but I've had experience with the sell and repair aspect of sewing machines and felt I should post this.

Wintersewer

If the machine has "worked like a charm it's entire life" and only went in for a cleaning and tune up I'm suspicious of the dealer who wants to make extensive repairs. Some parts for older 1222's are not available and if one of THOSE goes after spending the $1000 you will have nothing. Why not just take it and use it as is, since it apparently is working just fine. Possibly you should try another dealer.

Mamagoat

My DH bought me a Pfaff 1222 from the factory 40 years ago. That machine sewed for 4 kids, tailored fatigues, sewed on patches for the GI's. I dragged her from base to base. She finally broke down, was too expensive to repair. My daughter was using her for straight stitching repairs when her home burned down. I have a Viking that I adore, still miss the Pfaff. I would keep it for sentimental reasons.I would try another dealer. Blessings!

mea12

I just feel it would be worth taking the machine to a different repair place. That seems astronomically high to me for a mechanical machine. How trust-worthy is this tech, do we know? I do see 1222's on our local craigs fairly often and if you are able to get this one fixed (reasonably), then it might be wise to keep an eye out for another that you can use for parts. I definitely would prefer the 1222 in working order but I would not sink more than $300 total into the repairs.

miriam

Weird - I had a call from a lady today looking for a 1222 - she loves the one she has so much she wants another one.

noholesyet

How did this ever play out? Somebody has one of these for sale and I was thinking about it. After reading this thread, my thoughts were to suggest taking it to another shop. Nobody should be offended by wanting a second opinion when it comes to $1000 - and if they do, then that isn't somebody you want to do business with. In any case, you wouldn't have to even say that's what you were up to and just say you need to think about it before dropping that many clams. But that is surely all water under the bridge.

I'm looking to hear what the 'lessons learned' were here - ENQUIRING MINDS WANNA KNOW! Thanks.