Looking for a machine for travelling
 

My husband and I went yo visit my daughter that lives in the mountains. There is a darling quilt shop in the small town. We are planning to visit on a regular basis. The mountains were so peaceful. I an considering on purchasing a machine only for travel purposes. I have a Bernina at home as that is what my local shop sells. The shop in the mountains sells Janome. The offer great classes. I don't know if I should go with a Vernon's because that's what I'm used to, a Jsnome because that's. Whet the shop in the mountains sells or something entirely different since it wont be my primary machine. I would like to keep the cost at a minimum also.

Have you considered vintage? Singer 301 is a lightweight machine. They show up on Craigslist for under $100 pretty regularly; I've even gotten them for free.

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If this is just a traveling machine I would go to Walmart and buy a small Brother machine. You will get more options for your money than with a Janome at the LQS. If you want to buy the machine from them so you can get the classes for free or at a discount then buy the light weight Janomes. I love my Janome MC6600P and my Husqvarna Topaz, but my traveling machine is a Europro bought from HSN many years ago for $100.00. If something happens to it, I don't have a lot invested in it. Since then I have bought a featherweight and that will be my next traveling machine when my Europro dies.

I agree with the idea of a vintage machine too. They are not that delicate and traveling can be hard on a machine.

If you are going to leave the machine there, then I would go with the Janome.....if any problems arise you have a dealer to go to. Walmart machines are cheap for a reason....most repairmen won't even look at them. Sometimes you are lucky and don't need a repairman, but odds are not in your favour. The 300 series of the Bernina are great, they are pricier than the Janome, but again you would have a place to take it to. I bought a featherweight thinking I would use it, but I don't... it is for sale now.

The local repairman has a back room full of Walmart machines. He showed them to me when I stopped to get a new thread holder for one of my vintage machines. My traveling machine is a vintage Singer 99 which cost me $40 at an estate sale. Love it.

Wa Featherweight is great for a straight stitch and smaller projects for the most part. If you need more stitches, I'd consider a Janome. Could you visit the shop with some small quilt sandwiches and see if they'll let you try a few machines out? Most of the machines come with a lot of feet now. I bet if you sewed on a few, you'd be able to tell if you'd like them.

I have my little Featherweight that travels with me but it doesn't have any fancy stitches. If you have a collection of Bernina feet for your home machine you might consider that and purchase another so that the feet are interchangeable.

I have a Singer 301A and a Featherweight. But my favourite machine to travel with is a Brother cs6000i. It has 50+ stitches, needle up/down, a self-threader, a 1/4" seam setting, and is a real workhorse. I've sewn everything from sheers to jeans on it. Amazon sells it for around $140.00. Weighs right between a Featherweight and 301A. I had a Janome Gem, but sold it because it is really limited on stitches and stitch lengths.

I love my Janome Gem Platinum. It is my travel machine and a real workhorse. You couldn't go wrong with one.

Husqvana viiking 100 h. Small lightweight with plenty of stitches needle threader, needle down, needle moves etc..Will you have electric , if not it will have to be an old steady eddy hand singer or similiar.