Blogging should be fun, not a task, and lately it is a task I feel. But, this is a new year. Last year was a struggle in lots of ways, but I thought an update on the Babylock a nice idea, and then I thought I'd mention the Christmas present! Having nabbed a Janome 8050 on cyber-Monday, I thanked my husband for getting it for me for Christmas and put it under the tree. :) Now that I have tried her out - she's a sweet ride! So to speak. Very light, very capable, nice stitches, new slip on feet. Not the quietest Janome ever, but not loud either.
I will write a review on
PatternReview.com in a few months. Now for an update on the Babylock. This is a nice workhorse sort of machine. Very noisy by my standards after my Pfaff 1222E, and my Janomes and Elna, but she means business. I have done a few projects on the Babylock, and am satisfied. A great mechanical backup. This is a heavy machine. I'd say she weighs only 5 pounds less than my Pfaff, and the Pfaff is one heavy machine.
The thread tension on top has to be rather high - around 5-6 most of the time, and this is probably due to wear on the tension disks over the years. As I suspected, the machine is from the early 90s, and had an owner who actually used the machine! So I feel lucky to have her. As far as sewing goes, I have finished a couple of easy valances for my kitchen and one bath, and have made a sewing machine cover for the Janome and two pillowcases. I am still working on my Lutterloh princess top, but that will be finished this weekend! WOW. After only about 5 months.
Blogging should be fun, not a task, and lately it is a task I feel. But, this is a new year. Last year was a struggle in lots of ways, but I thought an update on the Babylock a nice idea, and then I thought I'd mention the Christmas present! Having nabbed a Janome 8050 on cyber-Monday, I thanked my husband for getting it for me for Christmas and put it under the tree. :) Now that I have tried her out - she's a sweet ride! So to speak. Very light, very capable, nice stitches, new slip on feet. Not the quietest Janome ever, but not loud either.
I will write a review on PatternReview.com in a few months. Now for an update on the Babylock. This is a nice workhorse sort of machine. Very noisy by my standards after my Pfaff 1222E, and my Janomes and Elna, but she means business. I have done a few projects on the Babylock, and am satisfied. A great mechanical backup. This is a heavy machine. I'd say she weighs only 5 pounds less than my Pfaff, and the Pfaff is one heavy machine.
The thread tension on top has to be rather high - around 5-6 most of the time, and this is probably due to wear on the tension disks over the years. As I suspected, the machine is from the early 90s, and had an owner who actually used the machine! So I feel lucky to have her. As far as sewing goes, I have finished a couple of easy valances for my kitchen and one bath, and have made a sewing machine cover for the Janome and two pillowcases. I am still working on my Lutterloh princess top, but that will be finished this weekend! WOW. After only about 5 months.
3 comments:
I'm relatively new to sewing. Just got the 8050. I thought I would practice quilting some layers. Do you know: 1) Do you need an even feed foot to do straight stitch quilting, or will a regular presser work with the feed dogs down?, and 2) Which foot would you recommend for free-motion quilting with this machine? Thanks for your help!
:) Thanks for the comment kr...use the closed toe low shank darning foot, or the new 4 piece Janome low shank set. I just ordered the set, and will come back and mention it in another post. The newest post on this blog has free motion quilting info as I just finished up that post!
To answer your question about feet - you may well need a walking foot. I have straight line quilted very small items with a regular foot, but you get slippage on long lines as in quilts. I have done long lines with my Pfaff and it has a built in walking foot, so I wouldn't probably use the Janome myself for that, but there is no reason NOT to use the Janome, and maybe I will add the walking foot one of these days and do some long lines with it! You don't put the feed dogs down for regular straight line quilting. At least I don't. I would use feed up, walking foot to straight line quilt on the 8050. Only when you do FMQ would you need the dogs down, and some folks leave them up, but that's not the convention. See which works for you.
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