Need a new machine, but which one?
 

Hi, everybody. I last bought a sewing machine in 1982, a trusty Pfaff 1463.
It's time to buy something new, but which one? Are there any brands that are
made sturdier and better than the others? I need a machine that will be able
to work on fabrics for making new seat covers for a '79 Prelude as well as
everyday repairing and sewing. I have a bunch of cotton duck to use to make
tote bags for a local children's hospital, so I need a tough machine. OTOH,
I don't do quilting (now) but who knows about the future?

Any ideas?

thanks,

Pat

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

BEI Design wrote:
::: Any ideas?
::
:: Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
:: impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.

Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
older two-step buttonholer, though.

I looked at an industrial machine today, but I'd have to give up the
free-arm and accept a heavy duty permanent stand. Where to put that? I
already turned the dining room into the computer network room (after I moved
the bicycles out, that is!)....That's where the space constraints figure in,
I guess....

As to budget, I was going to start around $1,000, but that's flexible. After
all, we only get a new machine every 20-30 years....

I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
1982 Pfaff!

Just tryin' to do my due diligence....

Pat

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

PatTX wrote:
BEI Design wrote:
::: Any ideas?
::
:: Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
:: impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.

Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
older two-step buttonholer, though.

I looked at an industrial machine today, but I'd have to give up the
free-arm and accept a heavy duty permanent stand. Where to put that? I
already turned the dining room into the computer network room (after I moved
the bicycles out, that is!)....That's where the space constraints figure in,
I guess....

As to budget, I was going to start around $1,000, but that's flexible. After
all, we only get a new machine every 20-30 years....

I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
1982 Pfaff!

Just tryin' to do my due diligence....

Pat

An older Pfaff is a hard machine to beat. My favorite in the buttonhole
department was the older Singers that you just dropped the button into
the foot, and it made a buttonhole to fit, but I wouldn't recommend
those particular machines for general sewing. If you have room, though,
you could have a "dedicated" buttonhole machine. I've used the very old
Singer buttonhole attachment, which uses cams to select the desired
buttonhole and has several different "styles" - regular slot, slot with
a rounded end, bound, and gotten excellent results. My Pfaff 1475 is
notorious for poor buttonholes. Other than that, it's a great machine.

For $1,000, you may find yourself looking at good used machines as the
new ones tend to run multiples of that price.
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

Pogonip wrote:

An older Pfaff is a hard machine to beat. My favorite in the buttonhole
department was the older Singers that you just dropped the button into
the foot, and it made a buttonhole to fit, but I wouldn't recommend
those particular machines for general sewing. If you have room, though,
you could have a "dedicated" buttonhole machine. I've used the very old
Singer buttonhole attachment, which uses cams to select the desired
buttonhole and has several different "styles" - regular slot, slot with
a rounded end, bound, and gotten excellent results. My Pfaff 1475 is
notorious for poor buttonholes. Other than that, it's a great machine.

For $1,000, you may find yourself looking at good used machines as the
new ones tend to run multiples of that price.

I love the buttonholes my old Singer 301A makes with the buttonhole
attachment. I always find it worth switching machines to use it for the
buttonholes and often switch to it for straight stitching too.

--Betsy

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

Betsy wrote:
Pogonip wrote:

An older Pfaff is a hard machine to beat. My favorite in the
buttonhole department was the older Singers that you just dropped the
button into the foot, and it made a buttonhole to fit, but I wouldn't
recommend those particular machines for general sewing. If you have
room, though, you could have a "dedicated" buttonhole machine. I've
used the very old Singer buttonhole attachment, which uses cams to
select the desired buttonhole and has several different "styles" -
regular slot, slot with a rounded end, bound, and gotten excellent
results. My Pfaff 1475 is notorious for poor buttonholes. Other
than that, it's a great machine.

For $1,000, you may find yourself looking at good used machines as the
new ones tend to run multiples of that price.

I love the buttonholes my old Singer 301A makes with the buttonhole
attachment. I always find it worth switching machines to use it for the
buttonholes and often switch to it for straight stitching too.

--Betsy

I love my 301s, better than the Featherweights. The 401 is my next
favorite - unless I need zigzag, in which case it's the fave. But then
there's the Pfaff 230......
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

PatTX wrote:

Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
older two-step buttonholer, though.


I don't know if they have buttonholes, but you might try looking for a
Sailrite machine, which is strong enough to do sails.

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

PatTX wrote:
BEI Design wrote:
::: Any ideas?
::
:: Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
:: impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.

Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
older two-step buttonholer, though.

I looked at an industrial machine today, but I'd have to give up the
free-arm and accept a heavy duty permanent stand. Where to put that? I
already turned the dining room into the computer network room (after I moved
the bicycles out, that is!)....That's where the space constraints figure in,
I guess....

As to budget, I was going to start around $1,000, but that's flexible. After
all, we only get a new machine every 20-30 years....

I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
1982 Pfaff!

Just tryin' to do my due diligence....

Pat



In 10 years I've had no trouble with my Husqvarna Lily. I use it almost
every day, making all sorts (I sew professionally). For the leather
work you might want to consider a heavier duty machine, though... You
may have to compromise on the buttonholes if you only want one machine.
Take a look at the Bernina 950 commercial model.

Remember tha the Elna name is now owned by Janome, and the machines are
merely badged these days.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

PatTX wrote:

I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
1982 Pfaff!

Have fun deciding Pat! I can report that all my Husqvarna Vikings - both
sewing machine and serger - bought about 3 years ago are good quality
and robust, and the sewing machine does a mean button hole!

HTH

Sarah

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

:: Have fun deciding Pat! I can report that all my Husqvarna Vikings -
:: both sewing machine and serger - bought about 3 years ago are good
:: quality and robust, and the sewing machine does a mean button hole!
::
:: HTH
::
:: Sarah

Just because he said he didn't like Vikings does not mean they're not a fine
machine. He was saying he has trouble getting parts from the company and
didn't like their customer service....He said the Euro-Pros (I think that's
the brand) have to be sent to Canada for a major problem and even some minor
ones like burned out lightbulbs (this has to do with a computer card inside
them).

Pat

Need a new machine, but which one?
 

Sarah Dale wrote:
PatTX wrote:

I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at
the shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and
maybe not Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair
guy cursing those machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the
difficulty of getting repair parts, too. She showed me a new Elna
which appeared to be a clone of my 1982 Pfaff!

Have fun deciding Pat! I can report that all my Husqvarna Vikings - both
sewing machine and serger - bought about 3 years ago are good quality
and robust, and the sewing machine does a mean button hole!

And brilliant stitched eyelets for corsets... ;)

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!