I have a Viking machine and I paid a lot for it and I don't like it. What machine do you have and why do you like it? Would you buy it again?

I love my Bernina 1230 and would buy it again. What I like about it -- always reliable and ready to sew, no tension problems ever, "hums" softly while it works, has needle/down, easy to adjust stitch length and stitch width, etc.

There are some additional features I'd like, such as auto-cutting of thread, a better memory, default to the last setting I put on the machine (rather than the preset factory setting), but I can live without all of those things as long as my baby remains so responsive to my every whim.......

I particularly like the sound of my machine. It's soothing!

I love my Pfaff 7570. I would buy it again and again.

I've heard that's a really great model. If I could afford it, I'd get a Pfaff just for the IDT.

I currently sew on a 1950's Pinnock named Jasper ('til I get my treadle renovated and working well). Paid around $20 at auction about 29 years ago. Solid, dependable, easy to fix/maintain, runs perfectly, never baulks at the tough jobs (denim, corduroy etc.) and is an art piece as well as functional (very cool 50's look). Would I buy another....YES! The only machine/equipment I would probably pay good dollars for is maybe a longarm setup and I would do masses of research before-hand.

I love my 2 Pfaff's. I love the IDT and have absolutely no problems with either of them.

I have 2 viking one is 13 years old one is 4 years old .i wouldn't own anything but vicking. The one that is 13 years old has been in shop. 1 time for cleaning and never for repair.Its A real work horse.

Bernina 930. Had it for over 20 years, it's only ever had to be cleaned for maintenance. Nothing fancy, just reliable. I thought about trading for a newer model but opted to stick with this one until it dies and bought a new embroidery machine instead for fun -- Memorycraft 3000 -- haven't been too happy with it though.

I have all Janome's. My favorite is my 2007DCLE. It has 30 built in stitches, it does exactly what I want, has the best blanket stitch out of all my machines. It is a no-fuss machine, basic and has the best needle-threader and that saves me putting on my glasses and lots of fumbling.

I have a Janome 6500 now for the last 7 plus yrs. I like it because it has no tension problems, needle up or down option, knee lifter (lifts the foot by pushing my right knee), automatic thread cutter (push the button and it cuts it), larger throat opening, for the features more afordable and more quilting smart then many other nice machines. I would not buy a machine that does not have the needle up or down position option or does not have an automatic thread cutter. I would buy it again and feel no need to get the 6600 or the newest Horizon as I am very happy with the 6500. There are several more people that feel the same way including a LA quilter who uses the Janome 6500 along with her Gammil for quilting jobs. Some things that come to my mind are dependable and a pleasure to work on. We own 4 Janomes. I looked at buying a used Janome 6500 for my DD but cost prevented me from it. She works on my 3/4 travel machine Janome Gem, which is a wonderful little work horse too.

I have a friend that has a Viking and she did not like it so she bought a Janome Gem Gold and quilts on that. The machine she bought is a small travel machine but she likes it and does all her quilting on it.

I'm really sorry to hear you don't like your Viking. I have a Viking Platinum that I just love. It's got all the bells and whistle's that I wanted for the type sewing I do (and many more that I'll probably never use). It's purrs like a kitten, has yet to be in the shop and doesn't complain about anything that I've yet asked it to do. I also have a FW for classes and just for grins. I have a Singer 66 that I may get rid of...not sure if it fits in the restored table/case that was my g'grandmother's. Hopefully will get that question answered this weekend when everything is put back together. Then I'll be looking for another vintage singer for that piece. Wish I had room to keep them all but that's just not so. I recently got rid of my old White school machine after 25 yrs. Just no room but worked great. It's new owner is a happy camper.

i love my Juki's, i own 2.

i have the 98Q for frame quilting and i love the beautiful stitch, the consistent tension (i've never had an issue), and its a work horse.

for piecing i have the juki F600, its a 9 inch throat which is great for FMQ, i love the stitch, all the fancy stitches, the fonts for doing labels, needle up/down, thread cutter, knee lift lever, i love the extended base, all the feet that are included, and its a work horse.

and to top it all off I LOVE THE PRICE!!!!

my 98Q cost $500 new and the F600 cost $700 new.


so you get over the top quality for an excellent price.

I have had Janome machines for several years and now have a Horizon 7700 which I love. I hear lots of you talk about old machines that you love and I feel like they are much better made and have so fewer things to go wrong.It makes me think maybe that's a good way to go,yet I would greatly miss the scissor cutter,needle-down,lock stitch,space between needle and head,needle threader...and many features that I use all the time.So I guess there's lots of choices and preferences. Good luck if you go shop!

That is an interesting question. I have a Janome, a Juki and two featherweights. My favorite is my Juki because it is a workhorse. It sews super fast and can sew through anything. It's only a straight stitch, but it's perfect for piecing and FMQ on my frame.

I love my 1813 kenmore (from the '70s) because it will sew thru most anything, has lots of nice attachments and features and it is in a cabinet, it was free. I love my Brother xr70 because it is light and portable, sews a good stitch dosnt have tension issues and likes all kinds of thread. I tolerate my janome memory craft for some things but I find it too picky to use for most things.

I too, have two Pfaff's and love them to bits! They both have built-in embroidery stitches, the new one I can hoop-up and do other more intricate embroidery. My older one is sounding kind of "clunky"- I think it needs to go in and get a good cleaning. They both just hum along, never give my any trouble. And I really love the walking feet that they both have...

I have a Singer, a Pfaff, A Viking, a Janome, a BabyLock and a Bernina. They all have different features and I use them for different things. Love all of them in different ways.

I have a Pfaff 6230 and love love it.
Needle down button and the built in walking foot.

I have a Pfaff 2170 with the IDT for sale. It has all the bells and whistles but I never could learn the embroidery part. Too difficult. Now have a Janome 11000 and love it.

I have a Pfaff 2027 that I do not like. Terrible tension problems. Horrible buttonholes. Lots of time and expense with repairs. I found a new technician, and it's slightly better. Technicians can't ever find anything really wrong with it, just constantly needs adjusting to factory specs.

I do LOVE the IDT. Not sure I want a machine without that, so I don't know what to purchase in place of the Pfaff.

I have a Viking ruby and I love it! It sews smoothly and the embroidery function works beautifully even when I screw up it is easy to go back and fix my mistakes. I'm sorry you are not satisfied with your Viking.

Does your 2027 have top or bottom problems? Is it with all threads? I've found my 6230 hates certain thread. Also a few weeks ago I was throwing stiches with my Plaff serger and after racking my brain, and doing everything I could think of I changed the threads, (all 4 spools) and not tossed a stich since. Go figure it was the last trick up my sleeve before it was going to the DR. for a check up. :shock: :roll:

love my babylock elissimo. great embroidery smooth regular sewing. had 2 viking diamonds, one was a replacement. they wouldn't emb without creating birdsnests. definitely look into the babylocks.

I have a brother nx450q and it sews through most anything.
it is also not as loud as some of the machines I tryed out at the store. automatic threading , feed dogs that drop, programmable stitches. not the most expensive machine but it works great.

I have a Viking Mega Quilter that I absolutely love. I wanted a machine for blanket and other fancy stitches, so I bought a Viking Sapphire which was expensive for my budget and I hate it. It is in a box going to my sister next month as her old garage sale machine finally died. I replaced it with a 200.oo Brother that works so much better. Then I have a Singer 201 made in 1952, it is my fav, go to machine for piecing.

I have to keep tightening the top tension. When I reach the top number, I take it in for an adjustment. I haven't noticed that the type of thread makes any difference.

I have Pfaff's: 2046 for piecing/sewing & the Creative Vision for embroidery and sewing/sometimes piecing. I love the IDT. I try to not take the CV out of my home.

Basically I really think most all major machines are good. It matters only if you can bond with machine and know how to maintain it.

Me, I bonded with my 2046 and the cost was good.

Hope this helps,
ali

I have a Bernina 910 that I bought new in 1986. I have loved it every day since the first day I sewed on it. I have only had to have her cleaned, in all these years. I can use any kind of thread in it, no tension issues, very smooth running, beautiful stitches.So far I have only played around with free motion quilting, but the stitches are great, none of the loops and eyelash issues I read about, I just drop the feed dogs, change to a darning foot and go to it, I need practice to get my stitches even but the machine is doing her part perfectly! I sometimes get caught up in "machine envy" when reading here about some of the fancy new machines and all their bells and whistles, and start thinking about getting a new machine, but I would never get rid of this machine, and so which one would I use? I also recently was given a FW, it is wonderful for taking to classes or anytime I need to take a machine with me. The Bernina is all metal and very heavy, it is also in a cabinet, so not real easy to take out. I love both of my machines.

I guess Babylock is my favorite machine. I have a 7570 and featherweight and 301, but Babylock motors sold me. I will take my 301 (big sister to Featherweight) slant needle, direct drive and it uses the same accessories as the FW!

The Babylock is the most user friendly to my mind and has consistant stitches. Almost everyone is my quilt group has bought the Decorators Choice for class and many have Janome and Vikings.

I want thread cutter, up down, needle threader, etc on my machines anymore.

The most important thing is that you go sit and sew at these different machines. Listen to motors, look at ease of use.
Know what you will be using the machine for. Babylocks are not cheap, but it is my understanding, and I could be wrong however I have been told that Brothers are made in the same factory. The specs are probably different but if I bought a Brother I would make sure I had a place that could work on the machine instead of sending it off somewhere.

NO Way would I buy a Singer, tho some do. They are not made by Singer.

Try them, see what you like, don't be afraid to go back to shops again and again. Bring your own fabric to see how machine goes over seam intersections, etc, instead of little scraps they have for sewing in the shops.

Find out about sales, warranty, reconditioned by your local shop or new on Ebay or post a notice once you find the machine you love in wanteds.
Very best of luck.

What model of Viking do you have? What don't you like about it?

I have the Viking Sapphire 830 and love it. I quilt with it and decorative stitches on it. When I first got mine, it was an adjustment because it was so different than any machine I've ever used. My dealer offered unlimited lessons on it, so I brought it in a few times and learned from her how to do the common tasks I do. I think that made a big difference to me. I've also got a Featherweight that I do most of my piecing on. I do have a Singer 201 in a cabinet that is great, but I don't have anywhere to keep it set up, so it rarely gets used...it was a freebie, so I couldn't pass it up. :)

I have a Janome Memory Craft 6500. It came with all the accessory feet, it has the ability to do writing. It is very smooth and not loud. It is easy to thread and change bobbins. I do not have to mess with alot of stuff. It sews even the heaviest material to the lightest. It is a quilting machine so I can do what ever I need with out alot of messing around.. LOL..

Prism99 wrote "I love my Bernina 1230 and would buy it again. What I like about it -- always reliable and ready to sew, no tension problems ever, "hums" softly while it works, has needle/down, easy to adjust stitch length and stitch width, etc.

There are some additional features I'd like, such as auto-cutting of thread, a better memory, default to the last setting I put on the machine (rather than the preset factory setting), but I can live without all of those things as long as my baby remains so responsive to my every whim.......

I particularly like the sound of my machine. It's soothing!"

I have the same machine and agree with every point! I also love using it for FMQing, I never have tension issues!

Ditto!! I don't embroider on my 2170 either, but I love how it sews. I do all my embroidery on my Janome.

I have a Brother HS2000 & I love it because it's easy to use, very lightweight & has lots of fancy stitches I can use. It will sew over blue jean seams to fix my DH shorts & it sews like a dream. I would have liked a bigger throat, but it's about standard from what I've seen, so it's a great little workhorse!

Sorry to hear you don't like your Viking. What don't you like about it?

I have 2 Vikings, a Lily and a Sapphire. I love both machines. They are very low maintenance, I've never had problems with tension and you don't have to oil them. And they sew like a dream, from the lightest weight fabrics to heavy layers of denim and leather.

I have a Singer Futura 150 Sewing and Embroidery machine and I just LOVE it! I would buy it again!

I have a Brother 2002ULTD. I have used it a lot for both sewing and embroidery. Not had too many problems with it, just a few times in the shop, only drawback is using the floppy now for embroidery. Might be getting a new one this summer-we'll see.

Love my babylock espire so much, wouldn't trade it in for anything, including a bernina. It runs beautifully, stitches are nice, and can't beat the price compared to the berninas, still learning lots of new things about it, haven't used it to its full ability's yet, Just bought a bobbin work kit for it last week while dropping off for its yearly service, can't wait to get my baby back and use it

I have a 70 Elna Super - my favorite. Doesn't take that extra stitch that the electronic do and has the best stretch stitches. Second favorite is the Viking 1100 - has enough power to sew through 4 layers of leather for my biker friends, the real work horse of my studio. Least favorite is the Viking D1. It does nice embroidery work, but I hardly ever use it for regular sewing. I believe we all have our favorites for the type of sewing we do and what works for me most of the time is to keep them all. The other two machines are about to find new homes. I haven't used them in the last 6 months. It's hard to use 5 sewing machines, serger and long arm by one woman LOL. There isn't enough hours in the day.

I have a Janome Horizon 7700. Love it, has alot of great features including the 11" throat space and wonderful lighting. I must admit though, that even though it didn't have nearly as much to offer...I miss my Janome 2007LE, it was one great machine!!