SherylM

I've got 14 machines, ranging in age from 110 years to 30 years old; and I love every one of them. Some are straight stitch only, some are straight stitch and zig zag, and some of them will do a limited amount of "fancy" stitches, which is fine with me, because I hardly ever use them (maybe twice, that I can remember.)

One of the stitches that none of them will do is the serpentine stitch. I do straight stitch walking foot quilting, big stitch hand quilting, or send them to a longarmer. But I really like the way quilts look with that serpentine stitch, so I've started looking for a machine that's reliable and won't break the bank, that can do that.

I've heard a lot of good things about the EverSewn machines, so I've been looking at them online. I looked at the Celine and the Charlotte, and downloaded a couple of manuals so I could see if they will do that stitch, but it's hard to tell. One of the stitches looks like it *might* be, or it might just be a scallop.

If you have one of these machines, can you help me out here? I don't want to pay more than $3 or 400.00 for a machine that I'm basically buying for one stitch, and that won't be my daily driver. Though if I really love it, it could become my new travel machine. Honestly, I've never paid more than $100.00 for a machine, and most of them were around $25.00 so this is a leap for me.

I'm also willing to look at a Janome, as long as it doesn't go over my budget.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Tartan

My Bernina 440 does not have a serpentine stitch per say. I use the multi stitch zig zag that is for sewing on elastic. It does a few stitches in one zig and then a few stitches on the zag and when I open up the stitch length, it becomes the serpentine stitch. If any of your machines have a multi stitch zig zag, you have a serpentine stitch.

KalamaQuilts

I have the Ever Sewn 30 Sparrow, it has zig zag which is adjustable in both length and width so would do what a serpentine would do, just more angular.
That said, I've used my 30 a lot and wouldn't use it for machine quilting, I love it and don't want to wear it out, it is a lovely piecing machine.

I also use my Janome serpentine stitch and walking foot for all the machine quilting I do do and like it very much.
But... you can do a serpentine on any straight stitch machine by gently moving the quilt back and forth yourself, I've done it twice on my old 1960's straight stitch before I had this machine. Buying a machine for one stitch doesn't seem practical in my book.

SherylM

Well, I tried the multi-stitch zig zag on the machines that I have and it just doesn't work. I used the longest and widest stitch settings and what I got were some very nice, but very pointy zig zags. Not at all the look I want. This is what I'm looking for - nice smooth curves :
Here's the Serpentine stitch

KalamaQuilts - I'm pretty sure that we quilters make a lot of purchases that aren't strictly practical, but there ya go!

Jo Anne B.

There is a used Pfaff 2.0 Expression on Ebay for $400, looks like it has a serpentine stitch. No current bids on it, Bidding ends in 6 hrs. Good luck. Thinking you will like the built in IDT.

Onebyone

My Brother low end machine has a nice serpentine stitch. It use to be Brother 420 but now is called a Project Runway model. I think I paid about $250 on Amazon. I think all Project Runway models have this stitch.you can return it if you don't like it if bought at Amazon from Amazon not a third party. Right now the machines are way over priced.

sewbizgirl

My 1975 Bernina Record 830 has a nice serpentine stitch. I used to use it a lot for elastic around the legs of swimsuits (when I made them). It is small tho, for quilting. Have you tried any ruler quilting? There are rulers that do a big serpentine st.

KalamaQuilts

You were the one with the specific budget. Were it me, I'll sell 10 machines, keep a few favorites and get a good practical machine that does pretty much what you want.

SherylM

Thank you...this is helpful. I've been looking on Amazon and I've got it narrowed down to two machines :

This Janome
https://www.amazon.com/Janome-Fully-...ct_top?ie=UTF8

And this Brother
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Proje...s%2C277&sr=8-9

I'm reading reviews for both of them, and I'm leaning toward the Janome. One of my Kenmore machines from the '80s was made by Janome and I've always liked that machine. And this Janome has a metal frame, which is something that I can appreciate.

The only thing I don't like is that the stitch chart is a separate cardboard card, but I don't think it's a dealbreaker. Don't know...gotta think about it.

RavenBlack

My Brother cx155 Laura Ashley does a nice serpentine stitch. Made many kid quilts using that and the walking foot. Cost was less than $200. No metal frame on the Brother though.