Yes, I decided may as well have some machine fun, and since I had been wanting a larger Brother machine, I called
Pocono Sew and Vac and had a talk. This is the one I wanted and they had one in stock. Ordered on a Wednesday and delivered to me on the Saturday! WOW! Good prices, good people, good service! Folks, this is my new Brother Innov-ís Pacesetter PS500. Identical to the Brother NQ575, and the Babylock Presto II. It came with a nice set of accessories, including the Brother nylon soft cover which I am really fond of. Hard covers are a pain because they just require storage. For information on accessories the Quick Start Guide which is on the description on the Brother site has the real info. The manual is for more than one model I think, and the list of accessories isn't complete. I love the Brother manuals and the fact that you get two - one in Spanish and one in English - not one in three languages to juggle through. The Quick Start Guide does have several languages and nice pictures as well.
The accessories weren't that important although they include a very nice selection, but I have lots of feet that came with my other Brothers and I have bought the
Side Cutter and the
Open Toe FM Foot and the
Open Toe walking foot - all Brother products as well. And I have a large set of generic feet that fit Brother machines, although do not fit Janome machines (had to add that because generics do not do well on Janomes).
The machine has a nice selection of stitches - 100, and then four fonts - block font, regular caps font, script font and a nice Japanese font. AND, the Quick Start Guide gives many nice phrases and the Kanji equivalents so you can enjoy this font no matter if you speak Japanese or not. I like that touch! Very pretty fonts too. The deco stitching is very very nice and I will be using some on my doll dresses for sure. There is that cute little Brother and Babylock alligator design - it is just so cute! The stitches are very nicely done. The machine stitches utility stitches as nice as any machine i have ever used. Nice tight straight stitch and lovely stitching all around. Onboard storage is the best. This machine doesn't need a separate box for its accessories because it has two bins built in. One in front and one in back.
Even the rather large second spool holder goes under the foot holder int he front, and all my screw drivers fit in the back bin. NICE!! OH and of course this machine has the lovely auto threader that just works terrifically. I love that on my SE400 and love it here!
So far I have only used the Stop/Start Button. It is so easy to use once you get used to it, but if you want the feature of the Speed Control being the width control you have to use the foot pedal. So far also most of the deco stitches seem to have no option for width or length adjustment - they are like beautiful little embroideries. :) No problem there for me either. There may be one or two you can adjust and if so I will mention it farther on in a post.
THE LIGHTING!!! WHOA!! One LED over the needle area in just the right place and one in the harp! I didn't pay attention and was sewing along and suddenly realized: "I DO NOT HAVE TO ADD LED STRIPS!!" WOW....Sewing is a breeze with enough light!
First project was cutting down a pair of jeans to shorts - finished edges and hems sewn without issue. Next I quilted a kitty bed I made from strips of left over Asian prints, and I used deco stitching and the serpentine stitch and it is quilted nicely - a picture will appear int he next post. The kitty quilt needs binding and then there is another one to quilt and bind as well. Smaller projects. Then more doll dresses I think!
I will be posting on and off about the machines, and the importance of using the correct needles, sewing at a moderate pace, and using your manuals and in general treating the machines right! And the machine is larger than I thought. It will not fit a Gidget Table, although probably would fit my Gidget II, but that one is owned by my Elna and the Elna isn't going anywhere anytime. :) Here's s shot of it in the 24 hour quarantine in my garage!
