New sewing machine : help me

[Deborah W.]

Now that your decision is made, the fun begins. How exciting. Have a great sewing time with your new machine.

[Lotti D.]

great new mireille - enjoy

[Cath P.]

Enjoy your new Janome. I went with the Brother and am worried now, but so far, no issues, and I'm loving it.. So much sewing on the weekend after picking it up on Friday.

[Cath P.]

Congratulations!

[Kathryn S.]

Mireille, I think you will be very happy with your Janome. It looks like you tried out machines and found what YOU liked, which is the important thing. If you have questions about the machine that you can't get a quick answer from your dealer, there are some Janome owners here plus there is a Janome group on Yahoo. There is one just for the 7700 and one for the 6500/6600/7700. Have fun, it's a great machine for quilters.
Kathy

[Rita C.]

That's great Mirielle, 'Health to enjoy it' as we say here and happy stitching.

[Rita C.]

Woohoo--I hope you have many happy hours playing together!

[Rita C.]

Annis I agree with you about the Pfaff 1/4" foot not having enough space to see what you are doing. I too end up using the open-toe applique foot a lot instead. And I also agree about the extension table being not nearly as good as a machine that is set into the table. In fact I find the plexi-glass extension table very frustrating because the quilt catches on the edges and needs constant adjusting.

Rita.

Could you find a handy engineer who could file the needle space of the 1/4" foot wider? I had an 'O' shaped free-motion foot for my Janome, but after a class with Phillipa Naylor who recommended having a 'C' shaped foot, my husband 'adjusted' it for me and it is much easier to see what I am up to.

Mirelle - enjoy your new machine, I am contemplating one as well, but am currently happy with my Janone My Style 22.

[Rita C.]

"Could you find a handy engineer who could file the needle space of the 1/4" foot wider? I had an 'O' shaped free-motion foot for my Janome, but after a class with Phillipa Naylor who recommended having a 'C' shaped foot, my husband 'adjusted' it for me and it is much easier to see what I am up to."

Hmmm, now there's an idea. I will have to speak to 'he who must be obeyed' and see if we can do something. Thanks for the idea Rosemary.

[Hannelore N.]

Rosemary, how much do you charge for hiring out your husband???

[Annis C.]

"Could you find a handy engineer who could file the needle space of the 1/4" foot wider? I had an 'O' shaped free-motion foot for my Janome, but after a class with Phillipa Naylor who recommended having a 'C' shaped foot, my husband 'adjusted' it for me and it is much easier to see what I am up to."

I've thought of that many times, just haven't followed through with it. The engineers in my family are always busy. Maybe one of these days I will remember to ask one of them when they have a free moment.

[Annis C.]

How are you finding your Janome Horizon. I am looking at the same three machines that you did and i cannot decide. :!:

[Rita C.]

I absolutely love my Janome Horizon. There is no comparison between it and the Pfaff Expression 2 which I traded in for it. FMQ on the Horizon is like driving a Rolls Royce. It is so smooth and even. It is able to cope with any thread I throw at it even if I haven't got the right needle in. I am away from home at the moment and I can't wait to get back to it.

Have you made a decision yet?

[Rita C.]

No not yet, each machine has things on it that appeal so it is making my choice difficult. Would you mind answering a few questions for me?

Have you sewn any knit/stretch/jersey fabrics on your machine?
How do you find it for1/4 inch seams and piecing. Some reviewers have said that it eats the fabric. I am intending to make garments as well as quilting on it.
Do you find much difference in the IDT system on you Pfaff and the Acufeed system on your Janome?
How does it perform on thick seams and heavyweight fabric?

These are questions I have asked at the dealers but of course they are going to be biased as that is the brand they sell. All three machines are at different dealerships I cannot find one that has all three brands so that I can get a direct comparrison. Hope you can help with your opions.

[Rita C.]

No not yet, each machine has things on it that appeal so it is making my choice difficult. Would you mind answering a few questions for me?

Have you sewn any knit/stretch/jersey fabrics on your machine?
How do you find it for1/4 inch seams and piecing. Some reviewers have said that it eats the fabric. I am intending to make garments as well as quilting on it.
Do you find much difference in the IDT system on you Pfaff and the Acufeed system on your Janome?
How does it perform on thick seams and heavyweight fabric?

These are questions I have asked at the dealers but of course they are going to be biased as that is the brand they sell. All three machines are at different dealerships I cannot find one that has all three brands so that I can get a direct comparrison. Hope you can help with your opions.

I have not sewn any stretch/knit/jersey fabrics on my Janome but I have sewn wool and that was good. I know there were problems with the original 1/4" foot but they changed that and I find it great. There is a huge difference between the IDT and the Acufeed system. The Acufeed system works so much better. The foot is about 3 times the size of the IDT attachment so it holds the fabric much more steadily. The Acufeed system also works much better on thick seams and heavyweight fabric.

The other feature that I really love is that the single hole plate makes such a difference for fmq. And also the choice of 3 different fmq feet is great.

Somebody else might be able to tell you about how the machine works with Jersey/stretch/knit fabric.