Are Bernina machines worth it?

[LeapFrog Libby]

My Janome will do denim as long as I remember to put the denim needle in first. I have the Memory Craft 4000 bought abound 92 or 93, it is not an embroidery machine. It has a slew of decorative stitches and I have used them all . But I do have to put a denim needle in it to hem jeans, or else I end up with a broken needle. Only time I have ever broken a needle on that machine.

[plrlegal]

Shellymoon you really should take a piece of denim and go to JoAnn's and try one of the Singer machines, you might be very pleasantly surprised. In case you are unaware, The Singer parent company now owns Pfaff, Viking and Singer. Let's see, I have 5 Singers: a Featherweight, a Treadle (it is now 69 + years old and sews like a new one), a Fashion Mate that sews like it's brand new and is a lot quieter than my $3,000 Pfaff Expression 4.0, a Quantum XL-3400 that has never been in the repair shop (Singer no longer makes that model but the one I have was purchased somewhere around 1998 and a Singer Futura 350 that does everything the more expensive embroidery machines do and it has never been in the shop and it was purchased August 2007. I've never considered these machines as pieces of junk! Plus, everyone of these machines, including the Featherweight will sew through several layers of denim as if they are sewing through regular cotton without any hesitation whatsoever.

Patsy

[LeapFrog Libby]

Ditto on the Featherweight. I learned when I broke that needle that it was easier to haul "Old Faighful" out of her black box and sew denim, be it hemming jeans, making totes or whatever. My 2 sons named "Old Faithful" years ago because several of my friends who purchased nice machines would come and borrow my featherweight to make buttonholes with or to use my ruffler/gatherer foot. I have never found any fabric that one could not sew perfectly.

[VictorianArtist]

OMG... A Bernina walks, talks, and makes you love it. I lost my Bernina in a house fire. At the time, I replaced it, Bernina had not yet gone digital so I got a Pfaff. I still have my Pfaff... but honey... there is no comparison, I loved my Bernina and wish I could afford one now. When God created sewing machines, he put all the right curves into one machine and called her Bernina! If you have the bucks... do it... you will NEVER regret it.

[Sew-Classic]

I've had a couple of Berninas. One was a 1630 and the other was a Vintage 830. Both were quality machines, but I didn't love either one. In fact, I sold both and put a tidy sum in my pocket.

Fortunately, there are many "flavors" for us to chose from in the sewing machine realm. What's "best" for one person, may not be the "favorite flavor" for the next.

[ddreev]

Sew Classic, what brand of machine do you favor in the new machines? I have been thinking about getting a machine with some embroidery capabilities but not the top of the line embroidery. My primary machine is a bernina 1630 that I bought used about 7 years ago.

[MartySews2]

Dorothy, I have heard from many that the Babylock Ellure Plus & the Ellageo are really good combo sewing/embroidery machines that will do up to 5x7 designs. Neither of these are top of the line machines & are generally under $2000. I know that you didn't ask for my opinion so consider its worth. I hope my next machine is an embroidery only Babylock professional or a commercial embroidery machine. I want to be able to do large designs for my church & maybe have a small embroidery business down the road in about 8 years or so if my health will allow it. I love machine embroidery.
Marty

[ddreev]

Marty, I have been looking at an ellure plus but it is just my first foray into those machines. I am interested in peoples opinions, thanks.