Sorry about the divorce, first. I'd agree with going to a proper sewing machine shop and try some out. They'll be able to advise you on what will do what you need (so do think about what you're going to be doing with it - not just now - in the future too). My personal opinion would be to get a Bernina - I like mechanical ones, but that's because they're easier, cheaper and quicker to get fixed if they go wrong. And I'm less worried about harming it with some of the (very heavy) sewing I do. Anyway - my experience of the last week or so.... My regular machine (old mechanical Bernina (801 sport to be precise) started missing stitches on zig zag - the sign it needs a service. So in it went to the nice repair man at the market to sort it out, on Saturday. I started using my back up machine which is a cheap lightweight Brother. I have hated every minute of using the Brother. Light plastic body that bounces around all over the place, and I've had the pedal floored to get half the speed my Bernina does. And so inflexible - why do I have to use the width of zig zag that they say I do, and why can I only have the stitch lengths they say I can? Why????!!!!! Why can't it have nice variable dials like my Bernina? Got my Bernina back last night and am now happy :o) Bernina working perfectly again, which is not bad given it's at least 20 years old (used to belong to a friend's grandmother). So if the choice is betwen a Bernina or a *cheaper* Brother, I'd say Bernina every time (yes, I'm a fan!). Janome, Pfaff, Singer, etc also good - but it's like anything - you'll get what you pay for. Just to confuse matters, I also have a more expensive Brother embroidery machine, and that's perfectly good, so it is probably less down to brand and more down to cheap machines being cheap machines (if you see what I mean). Can you get reconditioned machines in the states, like you can here? Worth looking at that too - often (here) you can get a better machine for the same money, and if from a shop or a professional they will often do guarantees (again, in the UK, but can't imagine it'd be *that* much different there). Good luck in your hunt, and let us know what you go for. Debbie In a message dated 07/10/2009 07:39:07 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
So, the short story is that I'm getting a divorce, and her sewing machines are not going to be accessible to me anymore (or her sewing skills for that matter). So, I am looking at buying a machine, and would like some opinions on what I should get. Currently, my wife has a nice Bernina Artista 180e, which does about everything. Basically, I haven't done anything more than be an assistant for a long time, so I'm not sure how much of the extra feature set I'm actually going to need. A couple of options I see: 1) Go to walmart, buy something like the Brother CE-5000PRW, which has every basic thing I think I'd need, and appears to do automatic buttonholes. a) pros - cheap enough to buy another if it has problems b) cons - not as expandable with features, no local repair 2) Buy a Bernina a) pros - local repair, an attachment exists for everything b) cons - costly My areas of interest change often, so I can't say I'll be only doing one period of clothing. One thing the Bernina has is a piping foot to actually make piping out of whatever fabric. I don't see such a beasty on the Brother, but I just am not sure I am well enough informed on that. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice everyone has, and please forgive me if I'm acting too much like a newb... because I am one :) -- Don Quixote -- Takeda Kiyoteru -- [email protected] _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
