cmilton

I would go with the Baby Lock. I have three machines and love them all. Please don't believe the urban legend that they are made by the same company.

Sewnoma

I think it's more than an urban legend. If you look at the two, many of the parts are identical. And I was recently told by a Babylock dealer that Brother & Babylock are built in the same factory.

I've never owned a Babylock but I've had 2 Brothers and they were both very good machines. I gave one away to my niece & nephew (CS6000i) and I still have the other (PE770).

IQuiltnFL

I agree with everyone's suggestion to check several dealers. The issue of classes and service can be important or not depending upon the buyers location.

I have an off topic question about the my custom stitch feature you mentioned. I have a new Brother a Dream Creator XE hubby bought me. I'm so quilter primarily. I want to try to create a "double blanket stitch" if I can. I have found tons of video on most features but not anything on the my custom stitch. Do you use this on your Dreamweaver?

MamaHen

I was also told by a Brother/Janome dealer that the Brother & Baby Lock machines are made by the same manufacturer, Brother machines are a tad less expensive than BL's, so either brand are good machines & function almost identically, It's all in what you can afford. I bought the BL Ellissmo Gold, and have to say that I truly LOVE this machine, waaaaaay more than my Janome 7700.

MamaHen

As to the "double blanket stitch" I think that most of the machines already have this stitch built into them. I bought my mother a Kenmore machine in 2007, it has about 35 built in stitches & one of them is the "double blanket stitch", so check your blanket/satin stitches already on your machine, try a few of them out you just may find that it is already there.

Crafty Bee

Brother and babylock are basically the same machine and are manufactured by Brother. I have 4 Brother machines and love every one for a different reason. I went with Brother embroidery machines because of the Disney designs. I called the distributor where I live to ask a question about some software I purchased and I asked this very question. They told me that they are the same machine but in some Babylock very high end machines the computer is a little different so some extra "kits" are not interchangeable. Babylocks are advertised more in magazines and on some quilting shows so that adds to the cost but the machines are the same. My biggest machine is an Innovis 6700D. I have a friend with the Babylock Ellisimo (I think that is the equivalent to mine) and even the built in designs are similar except I have Disney as well. I would go with whoever gives you the best deal and you feel the most comfortable dealing with.

MacThayer

Shop around as someone suggested and find out what range of price the machine is going for. The best negotiating advice is: if you're not prepared to walk away from the negotiations, you're not prepared to negotiate. The rest of that says: In a great negotiation, each side is not 100% satisfied. So don't walk in there with "I have to have this machine" dripping from all over you, and in this economy, start low and go slow. Keep emotion out of it. Forget "bruised feelings" and all of that other game playing they use. Keep your eye on the negotiation. If you think you might get it (brand new) for $2,5000 less than the list price, make an offer, and wait to see what they come back with. They might come down by a grand, but throw in a set of presser feet. So then you say: "That sounds nice, but what if we took $2000 off the list price?" Remember, you get nothing for not trying.

michelleoc

My sewing machine person said that the factory manufactures both machines. She likened it to the machines being on a conveyor belt and going left for Brother tagging and right for BL tagging. I ended up with the BL crescendo, which I LOVE. Initially I was going to trade in an older machine, but they wouldn't give me much for it, so I basically had the woman go to the manager to see what they could do for me. Once I was told, I didn't think it was good enough, so I just walked away (I mean, I didn't HAVE to have the machine). The salesperson called me about 20 minutes after I got home with a better offer. It's so aggravating though!! Why can't they just give you the best price to begin with?!?!

oldtnquiltinglady

Or do like I did--go to Paducah and buy a brand new (used by the strolling crowds at the Elna booth) Elna for about half price (so I was told)....But Elna has been my most favoritest sewing machine since 1959 or so, so I pretty much knew what I was getting. But I did get all the dealer's offers (sewing lessons, call in questions answered by someone in the store who is looking at the same machine you are asking questions about, brand new warranty with, I think, 5 years of maintenance free); the only drawback being that Chattanooga is about 150 miles from Lafayette. But DH and I love road trips, so that worked out OK too.

oldtisme

I too agree about shopping around, I have seen the machine I want online brand new for $1,599, I'm still saving but went to the 2 authorized dealers in our town, one of them wanted $2,300.00!! And the other was the same price I found on line. I'll be going to #2 shop when I have the money or maybe sooner if I can get a better deal at the Houston Show in Oct.