I try to take mine in once a year. Last time was when I was 7 months pregnant - I was feeling too tired all the time to sew as well. Then again, I definitely didn't use it for the first couple of months after my daughter was born!

Good luck with the delivery!

For the three vintage machines I got recently I had them all serviced. I found a place that will do it for $65. I think I can oil them myself now. My older singer that I got in 1964 (I think a 327) has only been serviced a few times in it's life. And it hasn't ever been a problem. The cheapy Brother from Costco in the $100 range has had the most use in the 7 years since I got it, and has never been serviced - I did put a drop or two of oil where I thought it should go, and cleaned out the bobbin case once after the flannel/chenille quilt. This little machine is a workhorse.

I had my Brother 9 years before I had anyting done to it. It started acting funny with the emb. unit on it. I described the problem to the repairman, he knew right away what it was. he had it for about a week. His only comment was-you use this machine hard, you might want to bring it in a bit more often.
Really? between the kids and myself the poor thing never had a day off. Now it's just me and one DD so it does get a bit of rest.

I just took in my Viking 1 for the first time in 10 years and just brought her home today. Sadly, there are four college boys playing video games in the room I use for sewing so she's sitting on the floor patiently waiting to get back into her cabinet.

They told me that she's running very quietly now, had been clattering a bit when I took her in. I guess she should have gone in sooner.

My Pfaff dealer recomends having a tune up done once every 12 to 18 months. I don't always do that but i make sure it's done once every 2 years.

I do my cleaning weekly as need arises and keep an eye out on several of my quilter friends as well. The surprises you find when taking off the underplate. :shock:

As Quiltingaddict suggested, keep an eye out for a back-up used machine. I have 10 machines mostly nice but vintage and some that I have paid no more than 5 or 10$ for. Congrats on the expanding family and I doubt you will be sewing up a storm for a few days/months.

piney

well, I must be the worst "owner" in the world. I never take my machines in. I service my mechanicals myself, just following the instructions in the manual, and my computerized ones I just keep clean according to the manual. If something were to go terribly wrong and I couldn't figure it out, I would have the machine in the shop in a heartbeat, but so far I guess I've been pretty lucky.

I take my Bernina in once a year. The last time I took it to a local Bernina Dealer, they had it 6 weeks and it still was'nt done, so I called another one 3 hours away, because I was from out of town, he gave me same day service and charged me less!! Now I won't go anywhere else. My daughter goes with me and we have lunch and shop while we wait.

I take my Viking Rose in once a year for cleaning etc. and wait until I am planning a vacation so I won't be without it. I do have a backup (Viking 100) just in case.

Yearly unless it gets over worked then 2x a year..