[PW] ?reviews for high-end sewing machines

[Sarah Ziegenbein]

I'm another person who's sewn for 50 years and I agree with Karen on
this point.  I sew with a Bernina--in fact, I purchased my 4th Bernina a
year ago and would recommend Bernina to anyone.  I think all of my
friends use one of three brands Karen mentions--Bernina, Viking, or
Pfaff.  Consumer Reports or Consumer Guide has recently designated the
Bernina 730 (the top of the line) as a best buy.  I don't think the
evaluations from Consumer Reports & Consumer Guide are as helpful or as
good as the evaluations one can find in Threads Magazine or in Sew News.
Threads has excellent reviews in their online index, although sometimes
they're not as recent as I would like.

I would add to Karen's excellent advice that the buyer should consider
what kind of sewing they plan to do before purchasing a sewing machine.
If they're planning on making most of their own clothing, then they
should buy a model toward the top of the line.  If they're avid
quilters, they need to buy a model toward the top of the line.  If
they're only going to hem a garment once in a while or maybe make some
drapes once in a while, then they don't need a big machine with all
those lovely bells & whistles.  Many machines now come with machine
embroidery modules, but again, is that the user's interest in a sewing
machine?

Pam, if your patron isn't in a big hurry, they might want to check into
classes at one of the many sewing festivals that are held in various
places. She should be able to pick up any quilting or sewing magazine,
and find ads for all sorts of activities.  I attend the International
Quilt Festival in the fall in Houston TX, where machines are provided
for classroom use by the various companies.  You get a chance to use
machines that are generally from the high end of a line, with technical
assistance available, on the kinds of projects you would normally work
with.  Also, at least at Quilt Festival, the machines are frequently
sold off the floor, and you can usually get a little break in the price,
while your dealer gets the credit.  And, you know they're gently used.

Above all, they need to find a dealer they're comfortable with.  And
they need to take advantage of any classes that dealer offers.  New
owner classes should be part of the deal.

Sarah Ziegenbein
Central Arkansas Library System
Little Rock, AR


-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
Karen Lofstrom
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 5:37 PM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: Re: [PW] ?reviews for high-end sewing machines

On 4/6/07, Pam McLaughlin <pmclaughlin at fremontlibrary.org> wrote:

> My patron is interested in consumer reviews for high-end (we're
talking
> list prices of $3000 and up) sewing machines.

> Consumers Reports doesn't seem to have this, and a search of our EBSCO
> database was equally fruitless.

Try Threads magazine:
<http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00130.asp> for basic machines
and guidelines on testing machines. I can't find any reviews of
high-end machines either.

All I can say is that I've sewn for 50 years, and read sewing
magazines and blogs for decades, and my impression is that three
brands (Bernina, Pfaff, and Husqvarna) are considered top-of-the-line.
Hard to say which is best, because individual preferences vary. It's
like arguing the BEST guitars or the BEST pianos.

Threads advises making a stack of test swatches (fabrics from very
light to very heavy, crisp to slithery) and sewing through the stack
on every machine you're considering. (The stores give you squares of
starched cheesecloth for testing -- those are no good. Everything sews
well on starched cheesecloth. Try chiffon and canvas for a real test.)
Save and label the swatches. Then go home, look at the stitch quality,
think about the machine's ease of use, etc. Might want to Google for
comments on that particular model, to see if there is cluster of
complaints about one or another feature, durability, and so on.

--

Karen Lofstrom
_______________________________________________
Project Wombat
list at project-wombat.org
http://www.project-wombat.org/