New machine fever
 

i am looking at Janome 6700 or the Janome 9400. Does anybody own either of those machines and would be willing to share experiences?
Thank you!

I don’t have either of those models but have had my 6600 since 2010 and then purchased the 8900 about two years ago. I love both of my Janome machines and have never had any trouble with them. Good luck on making your decision.

I have the Janome 6500P....has more stitches than I will ever use. Sew's great for piecing and quilting, but wish I had bought a machine with less variety of stitches and alphabet fonts.

I have a 9400 (traded up from 8900-when the 9400 came out). Love it, especially the HP needle plate and foot....stitch with that is perfect....the machine is quiet, the pull-out light is very helpful for these old eyes. I do not like the Accufeed Flex system....I have the 6600 and prefer the walking foot on that. The quarter inch foot that comes with the machine is not as accurate as the one I purchased, the Janome clear view quarter inch foot.....All in all, though I am happy with the machine.

Does anyone ever use all the stitches on the new machines? I use maybe five other then straight stitch. It frustrates me to have to get hundreds of stitches to get the other features I want on a machine. I wish there was an option to have a machine customized to suit the sewer.

have you taken time to sit down and sew on them? Your opinion is the only one that matters. Take your own fabric and sew something you'd be doing in real life.

that said I had the 6600 and loved it but it has a small throat space.
I have the 8900 now, rewarded myself for a huge life project. Love it but have been kicking myself royally ever since. I only do patchwork now and all the extras probably cost me a thousand dollars. Think Sharyn Think :)

I agree w/Onebyone....

I had a Janome 6600 and liked it. Got a Janome 6700 and like it. I like the 6700 for the programed in 1/4 in stitch width, by pushing a button, and smaller stitch length. Find the one that works for you. The 6700 has several free motion feet.

I LOVE my Janome 6600 and I would be that the 6700 is awesome. If I had the money I would buy that one - darn kids keep spending my money !! ;)

I have a 1958 Singer 401A which has a myriad of stitches. I absolutely love it! The parts are metal and I have some cams also, as if the programmable stitches were not enough.

I have the 6700.......for the same price I wish I had tried the 9400. I was trading in a 7700 that needed a new board and could have either for $2800. I spent so long trying the 6700, and loved it, that the shop was about to close. I would have had to drive back another day, and I was in the middle of a Christmas quilt....so I bought the 6700. When it sews it's a joy....perfect stitches.

I never know when I sit down to sew if it's going to be giving trouble. It's fussy about thread....CANNOT get the tension correct on all cotton C&C....OK, I can live with that. I had a HUGE problem with the corner of a quilt binding. Of course, I had 3 pins in it, but well back from the stitch line.....NO WAY was that machine going to sew that. Even after cleaning out the knot I could not sew at all, even on 2 pieces of quilt scraps, until I completely re-threaded from the spool. This went on several times until I gave up and glued the corner, then it sewed right over that thick corner.

I have trouble with the threader, but maybe that's just me. But, when I try and it "misses", the thread either breaks off or tangles around the needle, so it takes time to be able to try again.

I am not new to sewing or Janome, had 6500, 6600 and 7700, all of which I loved. In all those years of sewing I only once took one of them back to have a nick on the hook polished off. Three times with the 6700 I have said to my husband, "This has got to be taken in.". Usually if I continue to fiddle with it, I can figure out what it wants, and get to sewing. IMHO, I should not be having this much trouble sewing quilts.

OH, another thing is that occasionally the accu-feed disengages....for no reason. I quilted and bound a door quilt (50X72) in the last two weeks, and pieced some batting with a wide ZZ without that happening, yet last night when I went to quilt another quilt, it disengaged 3 times. Then I got about 1/4 of the 57x90 quilt done with a serpentine stitch and every thing was great. My dealer's wife admitted to me that she had had this happen to her, too, infrequently, but could never pinpoint what the was doing at the time to figure out the cause. Same for me. It's not caused by changing the accufeed or the soles. It happened the first week I had the machine (just before Thanksgiving) and then not until last night.

I just wish that I had taken the time to try the 9400.........The dealer does not do trade-ins, so I would have to sell it on my own. When everything is just right it sews beautifully.

Sue, I hope you will read by message about my 6700 and give me your opinion. Have you had any of the problems that I have? I don't think the machine malfunctions....it just seems "fussy". Is it all my fault???? Maybe it is......

I really like Janome. I went from my beloved Elna to a Janome 9500 in 2003 because I found out that Janome now makes the Elnas. My 9500 was a very satisfying machine. In fact, when I decided to bite the bullet and move up again last January, I selected the 140000. I am extremely happy with it too.

Onebyone- my pc420 has nearly 200 stitches +alphabet and I have used every one of them at various times as surface design elements on my fiber art pieces

Rob

I"m a big Janome fan. Love my 8200 , especially the big throat.

I have a Janome 6600P and just purchased a 6700P at Road to Ca. I pick it up next weekend. Hoping it is as good as my 6600!!!

The 9400 is a wonderful machine but you really have to learn to use it properly.
It's pretty fancy compared to the 6600. So far haven't had any major problem.
The needle threader seems to be a common problem on Janomes. Mine worked
on and off and now just doesn't work. Not enough of a problem to take it to the shop.
It can wait. I just want to warn you about the feet. If you want to do ruler work
Janome hasn't come up with the ruler foot yet. It's supposed to come
but we're still waiting. They do have the ruler foot for the 15000.
Like kalamaquilt said, test drive both machines. Check all the feet and
accessories that come with it and ask questions. Hope you'll find one
that you like.

I have that machine! It sews great but I had trouble with skipped stitches. A tech told me to use metal
bobbins and no more trouble.

I am totally a vintage machine user. I have purchased two new machines, sold one, and the other one is sitting in a closet. My favorite is and has always been my Viking 6430. Also have a Featherweight, 301A, and Vintage New Home D372.

I like mine so much that when the first one's feed mechanism stopped working after 5 years of heavy use (and a trip for routine maintenance which I am convinced is what messed up the feed mechanism) - I kept it as a dedicated fmqer and bought another one to replace it- Home Depot had a sale on them $320- so I lucked out. A lot of the stitches can be flipped using mirror image and you can program it to combine decorative stitches to get some pretty cool effects. Plus you can create your own original stitches so it actually has way more stitches than the ones shown in the manual. Love that machine! Will have to try the metal bobbbin trick when doing twin needle work since that’s the one area where I have had problems with skipped stitches on this machine.

Rob

I have "moved" up through all the Janome Memory Crafts from 6600 to the 8900ACP. Like EasyPeezy said, you have to learn to use it. My needle threader works like a charm, Acu feed feet interchange easily, I have used every letter in the alphabet, every blanket stitch, the stitch for stretch knits (mending), I do a lot of machine applique and have tried a variety of stitches. If you don't see yourself using all of these elements, then I wouldn't pay for them.
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Thanks for the responses! I'm really on the fence about it, I used the heck out of my 6600 until I acquired a juki. Just seemed to me as the 6700 would be the best of both worlds. I really should see if a service might help the 6600 perform better, it is eating fabric like crazy, seemed to have gotten worse after the last repair☹️ . The easy change plates appeal to me, not sure about the accufeed feet, they seem kinda flimsy. The dealer is willing to part with the floormachine (6700) for 2k . I have the feeling that I wouldn't use what the 9400 has to offer. This machene is not stocked by the dealer here in town.

Inge, there is a very easy fix for "eating fabric". Get a straight stitch
plate and use leader/enders. Don't forget to put a sticky note or
something to remind you not to use zig zag/decorative stitches when
using the straight stitch plate.

I do that! Still just sucks fabric down the hole! I have to lift the pressure foot for each piece of fabric or it won't transport. Asked tech to adjust feed dogs on the last trip to the shop, no help. Leader enders , things don't move through without shoving!

That's why I'm wondering if I should just cut my loss on this and move on. Sadly I don't really care for this dealer or specifically the tech

The 6700 "reads" the plate and will not allow any but straight stitches when the SS plate is on. And when the left hole ss plate is on the machine only allows SS in the left position.

"Inge, there is a very easy fix for "eating fabric". Get a straight stitch
plate and use leader/enders. Don't forget to put a sticky note or
something to remind you not to use zig zag/decorative stitches when
using the straight stitch plate"

I have a Viking S affire 960..Just got it love has all features I need

Yes, so does the 9400. I was referring to Inge's 6600.

If I were you I'd look for a different dealer to buy a new machine.

[QUOTE=Chris Denno;7987351]The 6700 "reads" the plate and will not allow any but straight stitches when the SS plate is on. And when the left hole ss plate is on the machine only allows SS in the left position


Great information, messed up quite a few times with the wrong plate!

I know, right? Slim pickings in my neck of the woods though. Next dealer is an hours drive away. I thing I found a good tech now , but still would need a dealer for warranty work.

The nearest dealers and quilt shops even Hobby Lobby or Joanns are over an hour's drive for me. I drive 2 1/2 hours one way to buy fabric at my favorite place. But it's common for me to drive half a day, shop, spend the night and come home the next day if I need some me time. One day I won't be able to do that but until then I say let's go!

I just bought the 6700P and I am super excited! I haven't even unboxed it yet so can't give you a review but I can't wait to put it throughnits paces.

I am a Janome gal and lucky that I am own the 9400. I purchased it three years ago and have not had one problem and I sew most every day. The needle threader works, the accufeed system is awesome and its just a wonderful machine. They now sell an upgrade for about $100 and it comes with a ruler foot and a few other items. My understanding is this upgrade would make it comparable to the new 9450. My first computerized machine was a Janome Memory Craft 3500 and I still sew on it as well. I trust the Janome brand as this machine makes the 4th Janome machine I have purchased. It also has an indicator as to when the bobbin is running low (you can change the setting), great lighting and just completely satisfied. Also there is a great tutorial on YouTube that the Chatterbox Quilts has put out there for the 9400 and the 9450. She does a very good job of explaining the machine.

All I can say is you can't go wrong with a Janome I have three Never a problem

I have a Janome 6600MC and absolutely love it but I know every model is different. I have had mine for 10 years and have it maintained every other year at my LQS and it runs great. good luck on what you decide and let us know.

I have not had any issues with the 6700. I traded the 6600 for the 6700, for the features the 6600 did not have. Both the 6600 and 6700 need to be cleaned more in the bobbin area. I keep a small vacuum near by, and use when I see fuzz building up.