A tale of 2 machines

A big thank you to everyone who liked my little twist on the Elisalex dress. I wore it to work today, and my colleagues were really impressed with it. 

In my last post, I mentioned that I bought 2 sewing machines in 2 days. I did not intend to buy two machines. Oh no. My intention was to buy a basic machine to use while my Pfaff went to the repair man. Normally I would not even think about buying a new machine, because I really love my Faffi, and the only other brand that would make me bring out my card, is a Bernina. However, I am travelling back home to Cameroon in 2 weeks, for my cousin's wedding, where I am the chief bridesmaid, and I need to sew my dress. So, I had to convince Mr.Dibs to let me buy a new one, and what better way to do it, than to tell him a good bridesmaid dress would cost me the same as a basic sewing machine. The major difference? I get to keep the machine, and get my money's worth as opposed to wearing the dress a handful of times.

So armed with his blessing, I ran to John Lewis after work on Monday, to look for a good basic machine. I settled on the Janome 7025. I ran back home, very excited. I decided to continue sewing my Elisalex dress with it, but I got really frustrated when I could not get the tension right. I spent about 1 hour fiddling with the machine. I finally got it to the right tension, and began sewing. It is a nice little machine, very quiet, BUT, I found it very slow, and a tad lightweight. When I told Mr.Dibs, he said I had been spoilt by designer sewing machines. I did not even attempt to tell him that my Faffi only cost £485, and that there were machines out there even more expensive than cars. So I told him I did not like the Janome, and that I was taking it back on Saturday. It is not a bad machine, but it is not just for me. The needle threader, the main reason why I choose it, is nothing like that on Faffi, but then again, they are not in the same price bands. She is currently all boxed up, waiting for Saturday to return to John Lewis.

On Tuesday, I went back online, looking for a good machine. I decided to go for a an old Bernina. Ebay had auctions that were going to take too long, and I was not even sure I would win. Then the was the matter of delivery. I called Bamber sewing, and they said they had an old Bernina for £330. I think it was the 730. I tried to haggle, but he would not bulge. Apparently, if I had paid cash, he would have given it to me for less. I was going to take it, but then he told me it only had 1 foot. I know how expensive Bernina feet are, so I decided not to buy the machine. Next I called Direct Sewing Machines, because they had a couple of Bernina 1008s without boxes, and were selling them at a discount. 

As luck would have it, they had 1 left, so during my lunch break, I jumped on the tube and went to buy the machine. I got there, he demonstrated how it worked, got a brand new one out for me, and then I turned around, looking at other machines on display, and I saw HER.

 She, Nina, is a used Active 240, just over a year old, and the woman who had it, had recently upgraded to the 350 I think or 380. It has been serviced, and comes with a 1 year guarantee. I had never thought about owning the 240. They don't make them any more, but when I started looking for a second machine 2 years ago, the Activa 220 was the one I was thinking of getting. Nina came with  came with all the original feet, and an embroidery foot . I also bought an invisible zipper foot, just because I love invisible zips.

I set it up this evening, and tried it out. I can't describe the way I felt when I saw the stitches. I had read before that Bernina machines produced beautiful stitches, but nothing could prepare me for the beauty I saw. I am not exaggerating. I love my Faffi, but Nina produces more beautiful stitches. I am still tying to understand how she works, but I have a feeling I am going to have an enjoyable relationship with Nina. Does anyone have experience with this machine? Is she as nice as I think she is?