$$$ pricey machine?
 

I treated myself to a Viking designer Diamond a couple years ago. It has everything but an eyebrow plucker! My only regret is I don't have time to learn all it can do. Its my second high end Viking. Love it.

I bought a Bernina Series 8 - Model 820 machine 1 1/2 yrs. ago & was very intimidated at first, but after using it, the adage of "you get what you pay for" is very evident in this machine. I asked for referrals & was told, the Bernina line is so expensive because of "what's under the hood" meaning - no plastic parts here. All I can say is, if you want quality then it costs more. In Canada, the 820 ranges up to $8500. - I paid $7500. & had guilt following the sale but changed my mind within a short time of using it. You must decide what features you want & which features you MAY have limited use for & make your decision based on that. Look at potential future uses so you don't wish you had upgraded in the first place & end up selling (always at a loss) because you "should have" gone top of the line to begin with.

I have purchased two Berninas and two were gifted. My husband made me feel guilty when I bought the first one for 1000 dollars, but I kept him around LOL and twenty years later he bought my second Bernina for $3,600. and then helped me buy my Bernina 820 for $6000 a few months ago. That old saying " You get what you pay for" is so true when it comes to machines. Can you justify that high end purchase? If so, then do it and you won't regret it.

What you decide to purchase depends on your comfort level with sewing and spending money on your hobby. I've had a few issues with my Bernina 830 but all of them were fixed promptly and covered under warranty. Ive had no issues at all with my Janome MC11K SE. In my 40+ years of sewing, purchased a few low end machines, many years ago. I learned quickly that I could only sew as good as my machine allowed me to sew; the tech saw my machine more than I did. Since then, I started buying top of the line(TOL) machines and never regretted it. TOL machines have allowed me to grow into several different types of sewing. Sure, I did not always use every feature of the machine right away but when I was ready to learn something new, I had a machine with the functionality to support my growth. Sewing what I do, everyday, all day long. I have kept almost every machine that I purchased and regretted selling two of them online. I only purchase vintage machines from eBay, Craigslist, and garage sales as these machines can usually be repaired and restored for minimal cost. Only buy higher end machines at a dealer where the warranty will be honored. Many used high end machines sold by individuals do not have transferable warranties. The lower prices on eBay, Craigslist, and garage sales are extremely enticing but they come without a warranty. You owe it to yourself to thoroughly test every machine that interests you before buying and buy where they offer no interest financing, whenever possible. IMHO, every machine company has a 'special feature' not found on other brands. Even though a sales person says their machine is the 'do all-be all' machine, it's really not. Find the best dealer support, then find your best machine that dealer sells.

I bought my Pfaff 7550 back in '95 for about $3,000.+. It has tons of embroidery stitches that I only used a couple of times. I was sorry I paid so much for a machine that had all these stitches that I would never use. I did find that the machine itself was great. When I started quilting I found that this same machine that I had thought of selling time and again was able to do FMQ. I really love this machine now. It still works like a new machine. It is a solid machine and it does what I need it to do. I have no regrets and I found that there is nothing out there that has what I want that my machine can't do.........except for a longarm!

I have the Husqvarna Diamond and the Designer SE -had buyers remorse for about 5 seconds,lol-they are wonderful trouble free machines.If you love to sew and can use some of the features-go for it.

I have two Berninas, a 1630 and a 180 with embroidery module. They were top of the line when I bought them and have never regretted either of them. The 1630 still purrs like the sweet kitten she is. The 180 has many more features and I do use many of them.....sooooo just enjoy what you choose and never look back!!

I bought a Janome 11000SE for $7600 about 2-3yrs ago. I feel the same. I love this machine & wouldn't trade it. But sewing/quilting/embroidery is an expensive hobby. Still I wouldn't trade my machine. I have not had any problems with it.

I bought a Janome 10000 over 10 years ago, and love it to this day. I don't use the embroidery anymore, and for quilting the harp was too short. This janome was top of the line.

Last year I bought the Viking Sapphire Quilting - mid range price. I do not like it, it is loud, doesn't run smooth. I wish I went and bought the top of the line used instead of a new sapphire. I do like the large harp, cannot get it to do free motion quilting smoothly like I can on the Janome. I am a novice in fmq.

I do love this "board", or whatever the correct word is. I have been sitting here for an hour going through all the comments on buying sewing and long arm sewing machines. In all of my collection of a bunch of machines (I used to buy shoes; now I buy sewing machines....) the ones I like best are the Elna Supermatic that I bought new in l986 because it was 50 years old the same year I was; and the Gammill that I bought in 2007 because I wanted a new quilting machine (long story that); I am not a serious buyer of anything--I just buy whatever I am currently in the mood to buy, and am now lucky enough to have a husband who spends as much on toys as he wants, so lets me spend as much on toys as I want, if that makes any kind of sense. Spend your money on whatever you love--you'll never regret it.....