sewing machine chat

[flummoxicated]

Hey, seamsters and semstresses -

What kind of sewing machines do you have? Do you love it?

I love my Bernina 830 - it's old school, sturdy, reliable, I never have to set the tension, though it does need a tune-up every couple of years. Which usually costs me $60+ at a Bernina dealer.

I do wish it did some fancier stitches though, maybe something that would look like blackwork, and automatic buttonholes. I hates making buttonholes. I was looking at some of the fancier machines at Target in the $150-$300 range. Is it crazy to get a machine just for a few pretty stitches and automatic buttonholing?

Comments

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

I really like my Viking Freesia 415. The Freesia 425 has multiple button hole stitches and more decorative stitches. Nothing really blackworky though. It does have real metal moving parts. I've done multiple layers of leather, multiple layers of canvas, leather to canvas, 8 layers of trigger (fencing armor), silk, linen, velvet whatever, absolutely no problems.

Now for the bad news, it's out of production and the new Vikings aren't as sturdy. If you can find a used one at a reputable dealer, it's worth it.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! I found a sample pic of the stitches yours can do - what I'm visualizing is leafy-type or Greek key type stuff, things to pretty up a partlet, for example - so that looks like a possibility to try and hunt down.

[etinterrapax.livejournal.com]

If you have to make a lot of buttonholes, I'd say it's totally worth it, even though I don't think machine-made buttonholes are superior. I have a ten-year-old Brother that does blind hems and buttonholes, and it does both of them competently enough, but I wouldn't recommend it. If I were sewing more garments, I'd get something nicer. I defer to more serious sewers on this one.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of making medieval gowns with buttons all the way down the front - and since I'm 5'8", that's A LOT of buttonholes!

[banchomarba1.livejournal.com]

I continue to be in love with the vintage Singer that I adopted from you. You shared it with me in such a heartfelt gesture all those years ago, and I am so glad you permitted me to keep it(sorry the dowry was so late!). I find that because it is so basic, it actually makes me do higher quality work- like French seams- and I think that is a good thing.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

Yep, oldies = goodies as far as sewing machines go, that's why I would only use a newer one pretty much just for super-lazy buttonholes and pretty stitches.

[noxcat.livejournal.com]

I have an Elna 2002 - the basic model Elna. It does buttonholes, but other than that, it goes forwards, backwards, and zig zag.

It's been a real workhorse. Never had a problem with it that the occasional cleaning hasn't fixed. I love it.

I would love to have a machine that does more, but that would mean more money...:(

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know if now's the time I need to fork over $150+ for a machine that will just get used for certain applications. Though I do have a serger...

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

I have a crapulent Brother that frustrates me every time I use it. I don't sew enough to make it worthwhile to buy a new sewing machine, I think, but then again I don't sew all that often because the sewing machine pisses me off. Maybe it needs a tune-up, or it could just be a piece of junk. :(

[synique.livejournal.com]

I love my Necchi - I bought it since it was still made with metal parts.

Does most of the standard stitches, including buttonholes. Nothing particularly fancy and works like a charm.

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

I have a Viking 940S (which is my favorite machine, and is the top of the line machine from the late 80s) and a Viking Iris, which is their low-end embroidery machine from a few years back.

I still haven't figured out everything the Iris DOES; it's basically a Freesia with a more complicated computer inside.

The 940S is still found on EBay as reconditioned machines, and it is a metal-based workhorse. It takes the older type of Viking bobbin, but otherwise it will use all of the current accessories and feet just fine.

I have had it cleaned/tuned twice since my mother gave it to me in the mid-90s when she upgraded to the then-top of the line Viking. I had what I though was a pin break on the power supply last winter, which my genius electrician husband fixed by looking at it and basically doing a 'laying on of Master Electrician Hands.' Maybe he wiggled the pin, I don't know-- but it works now.

I love my 940S dearly and highly recommend it. It will do a buttonhole and remember how many stitches it performed for the next buttonhole, but I prefer to do them manually. It also has a range of about ten to fifteen pseudo-blackwork stitches built in, too.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

Cool, that gives me a couple more machines to look for. I can't decide if I should get a cheaper machine that will do the fancier stuff but will likely only last a few years, or invest in a nicer one. Either way, I'm keeping the Bernina to do most of the actual construction with.

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Last time I idly looked, the asking price for a reconditioned 940S ran about $400 to $500 on EBay. This is probably out of your price range-- but I really do believe it's well worth it. Like I said, the accessories are available and it's a tough, reliable machine that will last forever, like a metal Singer of the '60s.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Damn! Took me forever to re-find this post once it scrolled off my main page -

I'm putting in a vote for my low-end Kenmore, on the basis that I can get it serviced at almost any Sears and the thing, while not a warhorse, will "go" for 10 years if I take care of it.

I still fervently covet an old 1930sish cast-iron Singer I saw a few years ago, because those really WILL never die!