As some of you may know from my previous posts, my 30-year-old Viking-Husqvarna 610 took a big nosedive and died about 2 weeks ago. After getting two different technician opinions that both said essentially the same thing ("IF we can get the parts, it will cost more to fix it than to get a new machine"), I started shopping for a new machine.

First thing I looked at were some lovely Baby Locks at one of the local sewing shops. Yes, they were lovely. Lots of features I had never seen in action, though I've read some posts that talk about these things. The dealership showed me the Brilliant, with its equally brilliant (astronomical) price. Then when I stated that was about 3x my budget, she showed me the Jubilant. Well, at least that one was affordable. But I wasn't buying the first machine I saw. I went home and did all the reading I could, online, about Baby Lock. I do have a Baby Lock Eclipse serger, which I inherited more than 10 years ago from my late aunt.

Another day, I went to a different dealership in my area (we are fortunate to have two besides what Joann's, Costco and Walmart carry). This gentleman's shop *used* to be a Bernina, Pfaff and Viking dealer. Now he is exclusively Bernina. He said Viking machines "just aren't what they used to be". The machine he showed me was closer to my budget, but still over it. It's the B330. Lovely, lovely, lovely, but why only one buttonhole stitch when other machines have 3-5? I did my online research again when I got back home. Bernina has dropped the B330 in favor of the B335, which is probably why my dealer had them discounted. Alas, not enough for my budget.

This past weekend, I drove up to a Sewing Machines Plus in San Marcos. That store has lots of brands, but I went up there with the sole purpose of looking at Janome. My mom has owned a New Home for 28 years and recently added a Janome to her sewing room, and loves both machines. Alas, they did not have either of the machines I wanted to look at. They showed me a Janome Skyline S6. Another gorgeous machine with an equally gorgeous price. I'm a teacher on a budget and I don't spend hours in the sewing room every day (though I'd love to). Also, that particular machine would not have fit on my electric lift cabinet.....too wide (over 19" wide). But I got a look at the quality of the Janome.

I also liked that dealership -- if they'd have had the machine I wanted, I'd have purchased it, right then and there.

Instead, I ordered it online. The machine I bought was a Janome DC5100. For the $500 price (about my budget), it has a lot of bells and whistles on it that were part of the $1000+ machines I saw. It's pretty heavy so it isn't going anywhere when it sits on my cabinet!

I spent about an hour and a half tonight, learning to thread it (about the same as my 3 previous machines), wind a bobbin (similar to my very old Necchi that I wish I still had), and playing a little bit with a piece of scrap fabric and some of the presser feet that came with it. After I've had a week or so with it, I'll post a better review. But right now, I'm very excited about this machine.

If you'd like to see this machine, here's a link to it on Janome's site. I bought it through another site:

https://www.janome.com/machines/sewing/dc5100/

Donna