This past Friday I took my baby to the repair shop. On Wednesday it became difficult to turn the hand crank backwards. By Thursday, it would not turn backwards at all. So, I dropped it off at a local repair shop to be fixed. It should be about 2 weeks before I get my machine back. I seriously feel just a little depressed inside that I cannot sew right now! It would be tough if it was just wanting to sew for myself, but as I am now sewing to earn a paycheck this really sucks!
As a result I have started looking into upgrading machines and using this one as my back-up. I am expecting a little extra money to come within the next couple of weeks so now is definitely the time to do this. The only problem is I am not sure which machine I want to go with. I have always had Kenmore machines, which were produced by Janome for the Sears brand. I know that before I mentioned how awesome I think the 160th Anniversary Singer is, but I just cannot bring myself to purchase a Singer brand. Ever since Singer went bankrupt and was bought by another company I have heard quite a few bad things about their quality. Also, for the things I am sewing for my job, Singers just do not cut it.
The two machines I have narrowed my decision down to are:
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| Janome 6260QC |
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| Brother SC9500 |
The Brother machine is $250 while the Janome is $450. The Brother machine has 90 built in stitches, including monograms, while the Janome only has 50. I can’t say I will definitely use all the built in stitches but the capability to monogram could be pretty awesome. However, the Janome is available from the trusted local repair shop I took my baby to, while the Brother would have to be order online from someone. I did briefly play around with the Janome at the repair shop and though it was pretty standard machine that will work wonderfully but at almost twice the cost of the Brother it is hard justify. Although my Janome serger is a trooper. I have had it for 6-7 years and have (wince) never had it serviced or oiled and it still runs wonderfully, just a little nosier. Does anyone have experience with either of these machines and/or brands that they can help me decide?
