Sunday 19 February 2012

Bernina 820 - Day 1

Wow, there's a steep learning-curve on this machine!. Oops, it's not a sewing machine, it's a 'sewing computer'. That sounds a but pretentious, but it's a fair call!


I spent the afternoon setting it up and looking through the manual, and have done some foundation-pieicng this evening. Here are my thoughts so far; I'll continue to give a few updates as I try new things out and get more familiar with it.

Likes:
  • The lighting - wow!
  • Smooth stitching
  • Curved extension table
  • Good vision of the needle due to the shaped head
  • Built-in clock
  • The denstist's mirror that comes with the accessories - just because it's fun!

Dislikes:
  • It's a bit too computer-y, but I'll probably get used to it
  • The presser-foot is slooow to lift (hover) when I pause stiching - fine for chain-piecing, but slow for appliqueing curves
  • It's just so different from my last machine that for now the basics are taking me too long - but again, I'll get used to it
  • The buttons near the needle (e.g. needle up/down, presser-foor up/down, reverse, etc.) are hard to read - the shaped head means the buttons face slightly downwards, and the images on the buttons are mostly obscured from view


4 comments:

M-R Charbonneau said...

Ah yes, my husband laughed at the 'sewing computer' part of the info that came with my machine. My old machine was such a pain in the arse that my upgrade to the Bernina felt more like a choir singing. ;) Enjoy the new machine, Emma!

FlourishingPalms said...

Great that you're able to post likes and dislikes about this machine. These are good to know. I hope you grow to love it.

If you could remove the word verification from your comments, that would be awesome. Many of us older folks are having an extremely hard time reading them since Blogger change them. That's only in case you're of a mind to do that. I'm just sayin'...

Anne said...

I will follow your thoughts as to whether you liked this machine or not. I took a class and fell in love with it, but a guided class can make everything look easy. i would love to know if it's really the next step from a 440QE since I only want to quilt and only embroider occasionally.

Laura said...

Two of your dislikes should be easily fixed. Knee lift is invaluable for foot up/down. Also, I've got used to the tap your heel for needle up/down and tap your toe to sew. Much easier. You can set needle up/down position by holding in the button. You can also set the presser foot height and hover in the settings.