Light weight travel machine
 

HI! My sewing machine is a Bernina 440 QE which I love. The problem is I have a craft room in the basement, and it's heavy to carry up and down the stairs on arthritic knees. I'd like to get a light weight machine for travel that I can leave in the trunk of my car. I go to sewing days with friends and weekend retreats frequently. I want something for piecing as I'd still do my quilting at home. I'm thinking a Bernette or a Featherweight, but have never owned or used either.

I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

A Featherweight is the ultimate piecing machine IMHO, but it doesn’t do anything but a straight stitch if you want to do other types of sewing. I took one for a number of years in my RV. It is a bit of a challenge to get perfectly matched seams between two machines, nut the FW has some aftermarket accessories that can help. I prefer the acrylic seam guide on mine. I don’t know if you would be happy with a Bernese after the 440. They just aren’t as solid a machine. The FW, though light, feels solid. Getting one a bit scratched up is much less expensive than a pristine one, but it sews just as well.

To say I love my FW is an understatement! It is great for those travel days where I go with my quilt guild or to sew with friends or family. My Janome just went down until I can get it in the shop for repair so I pulled out one of my FW's and have been piecing a lot ever since and I love it. I can get a nice 1/4" so easy and it is as smooth as velvet. If you have the choice that is what I would do. I also have a light weight Brothers machine that I take with me from time to time but the FW still reigns supreme.

I have a FW but it lacks any features. So if bare bones is what you like it will be great. Any new little portable machine will be find for classes and sew days. I have an older Janome Jem and it's great. I wouldn't pay a lot for one because it may get dropped or jolted about.

I have a Janome Gem Gold with an acrylic extension table that I use for classes. I like it very much with one exception: I have to change the needle position to get an accurate 1/4" seam. But it's light weight, reliable and easy to use. And, with the acrylic table, it looks good!

Will you be leaving the machine in your car between classes?

Will it tolerate temperature extremes? (Assuming you stay in Michigan all year?)

Featherweights are great. I have two. But it took me a long time to find them at a reasonable price.

I have some low end Brothers with some nice features that I take with me. Never had an issue.

I have a janome gem it is light weight alot lighter than a fw

I had a Gem Gold and I really did like taking it to classes where I did not need the fancy stuff....I had a little fabric carrying case for it and it was easy to fit my accessories in it too if I took just what I needed. I could carry everything in one load...unfortunately, I gave it to my nephew. So, I bought a Bernina 215 (red machine). That one is lighter than the 440 but heavier then the gem gold was. Also it has some computer boards in it although it is a simply machine. I would hesitate to leave any modern machine in the car in a Michigan winter...I live in Minnesota and my understanding is that you can damage screens in old weather and also you need to let the machine warm up for a couple of hours if left in a cold environment before using.

I also sew on a Bernina 440QE, which stays upstairs in my quilting room. I have several other machines, including a featherweight, but the one I use most when I want to sew downstairs or go to a class is a Singer 301. It's known as the big sister to the featherweight, weighs just a bit more but is larger and faster.