sewingpup

This has been my experience. My little "Red Machine" Bernina 215 with the 5mm stitch width, does just fine while piecing especially when I have my straight stitch plate on. My 590B (9mm stitch width), is much more finickily when piecing. I found the following things help. 1. Use a straight stitch plate, the wide needle hole on the regular plate just sucks fabric into it, 2 If you have your machine set up for the "hoover" function, turn that off while piecing, while it is absolutely wonderful for doing applique, it is not good for piecing. 3 I am using the 97D foot which also helps as the left toe covers the feed dogs. 4 I also find it helpful to use a stiletto when going over the seams and 5 also use the knee lift to lift the foot while placing the fabric right up to the needle. I think basically, the 5mm machines with a nice straight stitch are the best for piecing. I am determined to learn to work with my 590 as it has so many wonderful features.... but because there are so many options and ways to set up these fancy newer Bernina's there definitely is a learning curve. I have found googling my question or concern and then watching the you tubes that come up on Bernina's are way helpful..

sewingsuz

I have had a Bernina for 16 yrs and it is a 440QE. I have not had that problem with this machine, I hope you get it figured out. Hang in there!

audsgirl

I have one of the 570 QE machines, and I have the same problem. I think it is because of the wide space between the feed dogs. That allows the machine to stitch wider specialty stitches, but it prevents the fabric from being in contact with both feed dogs when you sew a quarter inch seam. I have resigned myself to using my walking foot to give a little more control. I don't need the wider space, since I don't do machine embroidery. For a supposed Quilting Edition, I was disappointed in some of the short-comings it has. It didn't come with a walking foot, but it did come with a buttonhole foot! I hope you find a work-around for your piecing.

Leslie

PurplePansies

You can also join the Bernina Land Group. They'll be able to help, too.
https://berninaland.groups.io/g/main

sewingpup

Those are my thoughts exactly about the 9mmm feed dogs on some of the Berninas. They are absolutely wonderful for all those wonderful decorative stitches and for garment construction where you have a wider seam. I am seriously thinking about getting a cabinet insert for my little Bernina 215 with the 5mm stitches so I can place her in my sewing cabinet to use while piecing. I have been using the 215 while constructing the blocks and she is just fine. Then I take the blocks and go over to my Bernina 590 with the 9mm feed dogs and construct the rows and borders as this machine is in my big cabinet and is easier to manage. However, Bernina does have a number of machines in the 3 and 4 series with the 5mm feed dogs and I think these are the machines that should be advertised as "Piecing machines" by Bernina. The 9mm machines just don't handle our 1/4 inch seams all that well because the feet do not cover the Right feed dog entirely. I also don't think this issue is isolated to Bernina. Other Brands of machines with the wider feed dogs have the same problem. I do want to do more embroidery and sit down quilting and I think my 590 is going to be great at those things, just bumbles with the piecing because of the wider feed dogs. So, I am just using my little 215 for piecing and it was not that much money. As they say "the right tool for the right job" Tee Hee. See we all know you can't have just one sewing machine!

Onebyone

I have an older Bernina. A 1260. I have sewn on the new models and they can't come close to sewing like the older ones. They have new features and do amazing stitch work but can't compete with the perfect feed of my old one. No problem going over humps, even jeans seams. I don't understand why if something works and does what it's suppose to do and does it well why can't it be left unimproved.

Patg

Same here! I have a 1090 from the early 90's. It's a dream to sew on, so is my 830. I have no desire to own a newer Bernina.

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sewingpup

I think a lot of machine manufacturers wanted to make the newest and best. So they made machines that can embroider (did you know an embroidery machine actually only uses a straight stitch), could do all those wonderful decorative stitches, could even stitch a horizontal seam (higher end ones stitch sideways), had self threaders, could free motion quilt, could have needle up/down, could program your own modified stitches including decorative ones. Well, I think they made a mistake as actually very few of us use those decorative stitches. I think they should have kept their top of the line piecing machines with that narrower feed dogs and just added the extra wonderful things like needle up/down. When they made those machines that "can do everything" they messed up the things that made for wonderful piecing of the quarter inch seam. Ha! I could redraft every quilt pattern I want to do and replace the 1/4 inch seam with a 5/8ths inch seam and I bet my newer machine would piece up a storm. Umm, I may have to try that with a simple nine patch and see how it goes. I think that is some of the attraction with the old straight stitch machines....that is all they can do...and they do it well! So, more thought is being given to get that cabinet insert made for my little 215 Bernina and then she could live in my cabinet and I could be piecing while my new, fancy, Bernina 590 sits on top of the cabinet to the side and happily embroiders up a storm. Ha, the 590 could stitch the fancy embroidered quilt blocks while I am using the litte 215 to stitch them together, win, win.

sewingpup

Oh, just wanted to add, two of the berninas mentioned here as good piecing machines are the 440 and 630, neither of them are made anymore, both of those had the 5mm stitch plate, I had both, and they were fairly decent at piecing. The newer 9mm machines as far as I know, are the ones that have problems piecing. Again, Bernina does have some newer model machines that actually are the 5 mm ones and I really would like to try one of those. Does anyone here have one of the 4 or 5 series machines with the 5mm?

Onebyone

I was at the AQS show in Branson this week and the Bernina vendor was telling a customer to use the no.71 foot for binding. I had to look that number up. Anyone ever used that foot for binding?