In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Martha Krieg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >At 9:45 PM -0400 8/12/05, Tamara P Duvall wrote: >>On Aug 12, 2005, at 21:24, Martha Krieg wrote: >> >>>I've gotten simpler Vikings for my two daughters. [...] >>>Have never tried a Bernina (though the same shop also sold them);
As with the others, I doubt very much that Bernina and Husqvarna (Viking) are made by the same people. My Bernina 930 is Swiss, the last of the electronics before they moved on to computerised machines, and I think possibly the ones after that went lightweight, too. Although it weighs a ton (though not quite as heavy as Mom's 730 - which is getting on for 43 years old and still going strong!) it does move on the table if I'm sewing something like curtains, flat out on fast speed (it has a half speed function, too). However, an old mouse mat under it at the arm end solved that one. Mom had a Jones treadle before her Bernina, and because I couldn't afford a Bernina (the one I have now was second hand) my first 20 years of sewing away from Mom's machine were with a Frister & Rossman Cub 7. Eventually, the tension on this went temperamental. Also, whilst doing C&G Patchwork & Quilting at college (using the Bernina machines there, but my F&R at home) I found that it didn't like freehand embroidery at all. OK, so it was 20 years old, but a fellow student had one of the same model, only a couple of years old, and she had the same problems. So at one of the major sewing shows (I was demonstrating lace there) I asked the Bernina dealer if they ever had second hand machines for sale, and they replied that they had two in the shop at the time... so I changed machine. I have heard (but have no experience) that Singer have not been so good recently (last 10 years or so?), but it is worth getting an older machine because they, like the Berninas, are workhorses built to last. The main tip when testing machines is to take various bits of your own fabric - different types - to stitch on, because the dealers set the machines up to stitch perfectly on the bit of calico or whatever they present you with, so that problems will rarely show up on that. Also, I would make sure that the dealer knows the machine is intended to be used in several places, not set up in one room and left there - some machines are more temperamental than others where being moved is concerned. (At least then you have the fall back of "fit for purpose"!). -- Jane Partridge -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.8/71 - Release Date: 12/08/2005 To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
