If you had $1000, which machine would you purchase?
 

I currently have an OLD Bernina....love it! But it is slowly trying to retire itself.....lots of little things do not work like they used to, and the only dealer nearby tells me it is too old to get parts, not worth fixing (its a 930). I have saved my pennies (haha) for a long time, and would like to purchase a new machine. I don't have a need for embroidery capacity, and I don't do machine quilting other than straight lines-may want to play with machine quilting at some point, but I prefer the piecing aspect of quilting. I do a lot of home dec sewing, and with 2 new grand daughters, I will have lots of other projects to sew! :-) What are your experiences with machines under $1000? Thanks!

Hands down, the Brother 1500. Simple machine but a workhorse. My girl is about 10 now and has never skipped a stitch....keep her clean and oiled and she purrs like the day she came out of the box. Have FMQ everything from baby to king size quilts without a frame.....

I think you can get the Janome 6600 for about $1000 -- it is a great machine with a decent harp and has some great stitches. The only issue is that it is not a free arm. It has the accufeed system so you don't need a walking foot.

i love both of my janome.6600 and 10000

If I was buying a new machine, it would be the Janome 6600. A lot of my friends have that one and I have sewn on it and love it! Yet, this is an old vintage machine lover here, but if I were it would be the 6600.

I'd check out the new Janomes and also Berninas that may have been traded in since that's what you have now. You get more for your money with the Janome and attachments are cheaper. If possible try them both out before you buy. I have the Janome 6500 and love it but I find I don't really like to machine quilt either. Mine was a floor model and I got a full warranty with it which I haven't had to use.

I have a Bernina and a Janome and love them both. If I had $1000.00 it would deffinatly be a new Janome as a used Bernina.

I have a Brother 1500s straight stitcher which is very good. My Pfaff died and so I traded it in for a Brother Innovis 600 which I find ticks the main boxes for me as to what I want in a sewing machine:
1.Stop/Start button, 2. Needle position button (stops up or down) 3. Presser foot adjustment dial, 4. Easy button hole 5.Thread cutter 6. Twin Needle sewing 7.Feed dogs can be lowered 8. Speed regulator 9. Reverse stitch.
If it has all of those requirements, the rest is icing on the cake.

If I had a dealer telling me my 930 wasn't worth fixing, I'd find a new dealer! They are still very coveted machines and worth repairing. I'd put the money into repairing what you have, personally. Your not going to find an as nice of a machine for $1,000.

If you could add just a LITTLE more $, I highly recommend the Janome 6600P ... you can likely get one from $1200+. It is such a versatile machine, it offers so much more than other hi-speed straight-stitch-only mechanical machines (like Brother 1500 or Juki etc) You get the hi-speed, all metal workhorse machine, plus built in dual-feed, speed control, a large harp & lots of stitch selection. It's the Best of both worlds !