Fran, I think I understand what you are looking for, but, in my experience, the quality of any electric tool (iron, sewing machine, etc.) today is a crap shoot. No matter how good a reputation a model of an electric tool has, some of those items will operate wonderfully and some of the exact same model will perform poorly, and I have no idea how to tell which is which before I buy.
In order to sell things today, it seems that a company must price the item low, so the quality is mixed. It seems that "quality control" today is just a word in the dictionary. So one person may have wonderful success (good luck) with a particular electric tool, while another person may have only failures (bad luck) with the exact same model of that electric tool. So I don't think there is any way to assure you that if you buy XX model of sewing machine, no matter what brand or model, that you will have success with it. Because the "race to the cheapest" is fairly recent, older machines may be more successful than new ones. Adding to this problem, the warranty period for electric tools is quite short. In years past, electric tools were "over-engineered" so that they would work for much longer than the warranty period, but today we are lucky if they last through their warranty period. My solution to this dilemma, when I was looking to buy an iron, was to buy only from retailers that have a very good return policy. The retailers I purchased from were Costco and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Fran, one of your requested features is infrequent need for service. I'm not sure if you mean routine maintenance or service to fix an problem. In order to keep sewing machines operating properly, they all need routine maintenance, some that the user can do (such as cleaning out lint or oiling) and some that a sewing machine repair person generally does. For example, I have a Bernina that I love, but when I purchased it I was instructed on how and how frequently to clean out lint and to oil, but I was also instructed that it should have routine maintenance by a qualified sewing machine repair person annually. I hope this helps. Bobbie bkal...@msn.com http://tailoretta.wordpress.com/ Message: 1 Date: Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:52:11 -0700 From: Lavolta Press <f...@lavoltapress.com> To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> Subject: [h-cost] Advice on new sewing machine Message-ID: <5043e31b.6080...@lavoltapress.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed I do not want a serger, or an embroidery machine. I want a machine with the following features: * Metal body * Durability * Infrequent need for service * Not quirky * Really good straight stitch * Zigzag capability * Easy buttonholes * Ability to sew both light and heavy fabrics easily, including crossing seams * Free arm or narrow bed? so I can sew sleeves easily * Probably the ability to lower the feed dogs * Mechanical machine, except I'm confused about the term. Even the "mechanical" machines (new not vintage) clearly have some computerization * A machine that doesn't try to make my decisions for me! * Probably a new machine, since I don't want to inherit someone else's problems and want to be able to get parts easily * Good track records. I have bought two expensive machines (over time) that were supposedly good machines from reputable manufacturers, yet they turned out to be a chronic PITA I am considering the Bernina 1008, since as far as I can tell the 1015 is no longer made. But clearly other manufacturers are also making mechanical machines. Thanks for any advice. Fran Lavolta Press Books of historic patterns www.lavoltapress.com www.facebook.com/LavoltaPress _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
