Anonymous wrote:I’d love an update. Currently sewing machine shopping and the Juki is on my list.

A bunch of people are going to respond to the OP who posted four years ago and not notice your post that resurrected this thread.

I am in my 60's and have been sewing ever since I earned that junior girl scout badge for sewing at age 10. I always used Kenmore machines just because that is what my mom had and I knew how to thread it. But about 3 years ago my 32 year old Kenmore machine needed some repairs and I didn't want to bother with getting it repaired, so I went to walmart and spent $150 on a Brother machine.

I love my Brother machine. It is practically idiot proof. It is lightweight. It's easy to thread. It has a top-loading bobbin and it is easy to thread the bobbin as well. I sew 1 -2 hours a day.

So my advice is to not overly complicate your world and just get a simple Brother machine as a starter machine. You can get a more complicated machine once you have gained more sewing experience if you want to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d love an update. Currently sewing machine shopping and the Juki is on my list.

Pattern Review would be a great site start looking at reviews, there are tons of people who love this model. I have two of the Juki's cousins, a Janome and Brother straight stitch - my favorite machines for garment sewing. I occasionally make quilts and these machines are perfect for piecing and quilting.

+1 for Pattern Review. They are very helpful.

Jukis are industrial machines so they are quirky. I am not surprised it is different from your past home machines. Once you learn its quirks it should serve you reliably and sew very fast and steady. Post a request for help on PR and look at YouTube tutorials. Don’t get frustrated!

Anonymous wrote:I strongly suspect that you don't have it threaded correctly. You've probably missed a spot where the thread needs to hook to work properly. Tension issues wouldn't make the thread bunch up and break in the machine. Something is off with how it's being threaded.

This, 100%.

Guarantee it’s something simple like this.

I strongly suspect that you don't have it threaded correctly. You've probably missed a spot where the thread needs to hook to work properly. Tension issues wouldn't make the thread bunch up and break in the machine. Something is off with how it's being threaded.

Anonymous wrote:I’d love an update. Currently sewing machine shopping and the Juki is on my list.

Pattern Review would be a great site start looking at reviews, there are tons of people who love this model. I have two of the Juki's cousins, a Janome and Brother straight stitch - my favorite machines for garment sewing. I occasionally make quilts and these machines are perfect for piecing and quilting.

This same thing happened to me and I gave up.

That’s not what you do. Find someone, even someone online who gives sewing lessons. They can help.

I’d love an update. Currently sewing machine shopping and the Juki is on my list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes bobbins cause a lot of inconvenience. Do you use metal or plastic bobbins?

What other kinds are there?

Strange question. Personally, I prefer metal because it's more reliable. I've been experimenting with making baby clothes for my son for a year now, and I'm pretty good at it. By the way, perhaps someone will be interested to visit this website and read a review about kids sewing machine. I started from scratch and so I know how important it is to choose a convenient sewing machine with a clear instruction.

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes bobbins cause a lot of inconvenience. Do you use metal or plastic bobbins?

What other kinds are there?