Thursday, January 24, 2013

She's coming home tonight...



I finally bit the bullet -- I'm getting an industrial machine.  Picking it up tonight in fact:)   Two years ago, when I was thinking of upgrading from my basic Kenmore, I was encouraged to look at an industrial machine by my instructor.  I won't lie, I was hesitant -- I love to sew knits and I didn't have a decent serger at the time that could handle them, so a machine with zig zag was really kind of important (these industrials are straight stitch only).  I did, however, vow to get a good, heavy mechanical machine at the very least.  

I came out with the most beefed up, modern, computerized quilting machine I could afford. Complete. Let. Down. 

In the first couple of months, I tried to sew snap tape onto my nephew's christening outfit, only to have the machine completely refuse to feed the fabric.  I ended up pulling out my $100 Kenmore and, bam, done in no time.  Let's just say, that incident set the tone for the rest of my relationship with this high-tech machine -- I would ask it to do something a little out of the ordinary, it crapped out, I fought with it for 1/2 hour trying to get it to work until, finally, in tears, I'd pull out my Kenmore and 5 minutes later it would be done. I wanted to throw that machine out the window. My dealer was absolutely no help  so I ended up selling the machine (for a significant loss) a year later to someone who will be able to enjoy and use all of the fantastic features it did have.  

Since then I've been using my trusty Kenmore.  Don't get me wrong -- it's a great little machine.  I'd tell anyone who's just starting to sew to go to Sears and grab a basic Kenmore.  They're affordable, sew decently and can tolerate beginner abuse.  But it doesn't have the power nor stitch quality I'm looking for -- it's my back up and not really meant to be my main machine.  

Say hello to Juki...or Judy as I will call her.  She's all metal, all heft and all speed. Purrrrr... I hope I'm not jinxing it by gushing about it before I even get it in the house, but I'm just so excited! 

Oh, and for those knit garments?  Well, I still have my trusty Kenmore...and a new serger (more on her later):)

Wish me luck!

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