Monday 15 October 2012

Wordy, much! Or - beware Janome machines...

My sewing machine is going back to the place I bought it today for a service.  Gulp! Is it wrong to feel a little panicky about not having a machine for a week or so? I do have an old janome, but frankly it squeaks like someone is torturing one of my daughters gerbils, and I'm not sure I need to sew that much. Probably...

If anyone has a recently purchased machine that they would recommend, I'd love to hear what it is, because my machine and I are having...issues. For my 40th birthday this summer I treated myself to a new machine - a machine I fully intended to be the ONE, until death do us part, etc etc. Well, if she doesn't get her act together during this service, I'm considering a divorce.

 I bought the Janome Horizon Memory Craft QC7700 (at considerable cost), and for the first few weeks she felt like the absolute bees knees. Ok, she didn't cope with bulky seams like my old (and MUCH cheaper Janome) and there were some chewing issues at the start of seams if you didn't position your fabric just so - but I thought that these were my issues, not hers. Then, after a few quilts, she began to click when I was free motion quilting. And the top cotton started snapping with annoying frequency. Now, we've got to the point where I can hardly chain piece because the cotton snaps so much, and I can't FMQ at all because the clicking appears to be the needle hitting the metal plate below, this weekend resulting in an almighty bang as it missed the hole completely and smashed the needle. This weekend I spoke to the manager at the company  I bought her from, and to be honest he didn't fill me with confidence. He denied point blank that this machine may have design flaws (he doesn't believe customer forums, including Janome's own, where all these faults seem to be cropping up with undeniable frequency.) More worryingly, he also said that because this is such a precise and powerful machine,  if it were to snag up at all during sewing, (which mine did for no clear reason a few months ago, after some of the symptoms listed above had started) then that would be enough to completely misalign all of the internal mechanisms and it would have to go back to them to be fixed. At cost to me. So, eight months old and I am paying carriage costs, and because the bobbin holder was scratched when the machine snagged up, I have to bear the cost of replacement because it is a 'consumable' and not covered by the two year warranty. Now, I've been sewing for a very long time, and am no beginner when it comes to sewing machines. So if the damage is my fault due to 'user error', then heaven help a beginner. Steer clear of this machine. So, recommendations please, because if she doesn't work properly on return I'm going to trade her in for something else - but nothing made by Janome or any of their other brands. And nothing from Sewingmachine-sales either!
Sorry for the rant - I didn't even get to recount our night time fox alert (no chicken harmed, thankfully) or works in progress or anything! So if you've made it this far, well done.

3 comments:

  1. gaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! That is beyond annoying :-/

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  2. Hi Kim, I have a Janome and have ALWAYS had the self same problem with threads breaking etc to the point I now do not use it at all!I treated myself to a Husqvarna Sapphire 875 Quilters Edition in April after hearing several of my friends talk very Highly of their H. Sapphire 875's, one friend is on her 3rd Husky machine as she keeps upgrading!!. I have to say that I am absolutely delighted with mine (tho still learning and getting excited about all the inbuilt gismo's (around 160+ in built stitches, 4 alphabets, in built FMQ & FM embroidery, 3 automatic buttonholes, I could go on and on.....) and would highly recommend this machine. I Bought it through the dedicated Husqvarna shop in Bath (husqvarnastudiobath.co.uk)and even got a FREE day workshop to learn all about my machine. They have a very good website, where you could check it all out and though I know you're not local to me I would recommend having a chat with Mark Pickles the owner to ask any questions you may have.
    Good luck
    Lorraine

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  3. I have a Singer, which I bought refurbished about 9 years ago. I absolutely love it but they don't make it anymore. I've thought about upgrading to one with more bells and whistles (or at a minimum, a "needle down" setting), but I'm afraid. Looking forward to seeing what everyone recommends!

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