Originally Posted by
GrandmaSewNSew
The closest dealer (the one with the highest price) has said repeatedly that they offer free lessons IF I buy the machine from them, otherwise they charge for the lessons. Maybe this is particular to Janome and other brands might be different? I certainly would never insist that the shop that didn't sell me the machine give me lessons. I think the lessons must be built into the price of the machine.
So drive farther to get the machine, save tons of money, they may have a floor model and you could save even more. Then you can take that saved money and help pay for the classes you want at the store closer to you. You could set up a time when you buy the machine so that you could get a class at that time. My store has a out of the box class for all of their machines, used or not and then the monthly classes and if you need more you can come in at a different time to get one on one. I think you'll still save lots of money by doing it this way, even if you buy some classes. Alot of stores charges for classes if you didn't buy it from them, even if the machine is brand new but if the teacher is good, its worth it. My teacher even has retreats for our emb machine, yes that's extra but so worth it. She'll also have special classes when alot of people want to learn something special, like the cutwork needles. I don't know if you are getting the emb machine too but if its just the sewing machine you may not need that many classes.