Sunday, October 2, 2011

My Brother Died

Yup, that's right, my sewing machine, that Josh got for me last Christmas. Kind of regretting giving away my old Kenmore now. I was really happy with a lot of things about the Brother machine, but I was also spending more time fighting with it than actually sewing. Turns out that I'm not the only one, and those machines just aren't that awesome. I took it in to the sewing machine repair place and the technician said it wasn't worth fixing (it would cost more than the machine), and that I shouldn't buy another Brother.

So I started researching sewing machines, and I told Josh that I really wanted a Bernina, but that they are just too expensive and I've never let myself even consider one. I've never been very good about buying expensive things for myself, and I really can't think of anything that I own (besides my car, and well, my bakery) that costs more than a couple hundred dollars.                    nn     ,                                 j m mdsf       r r u5555555 7n 7n  x  x c   z wz  l,
Ada just typed that last part, she's really good at the space bar.
Anyway. We went to this great little local shop today called Modern Domestic that sells Berninas and gives sewing classes. The owner was working and spent half an hour talking me through all the machines. I told her I'd like to spend under $1000 on a machine, and she of course immediately upsold me to the $2000 machine based on my sewing skills and what I'd like to sew. The bottom of the line Bernina (which is still an excellent machine) is $879, and it is kind of below my skill level. It actually does less things than my Brother, but it is a much higher quality machine. So THIS is the machine we decided would be best for me, to allow me to do what I'm doing now, plus some room to grow my skills. And of course it is $2100. Eek! It does come with a 20 year mechanical parts warranty, and I'm pretty sure that I will have it for 20 years.
The cheaper machine is also very nice, but I'm guessing that if I keep sewing like I have been, I'll want to upgrade in the next year or two. Everyone always says that you should spend the money on good quality, right? I need help deciding! I think we can afford it if we pay it off over the next couple of months. Josh is all gung-ho for me to buy it, but I'm having commitment issues. I definitely don't want to end up in a situation again where my sewing machine doesn't even last a year.
What do you guys think?

$2100!


$879!


4 comments:

  1. OOh. tough one! I'm the same way....I have a hard time spending over a certain threshold that is sort of arbitrarily set in my head- why is that?! Well, if you break it down, and consider that you will have the machine for 20 years, that works out to $8.75 per month for the $2100 machine. Not too bad, and you certainly seem to crank out enough stuff on a regular basis to make $8.75 worth it. But, then, on the other hand, do you think as Ada (and any other possible kids) get bigger you will still be able to commit the same amount of time to it? Or, if you ever decide that something you make is worth your effort to duplicate and sell, then you would be making back some of your cost, which then totally makes it worth the investment, regardless, because ka-ching! Just my 35 cents. :) Hope it helps...

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  2. Let me quote dad here....YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR:)

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  3. I hate that title! It gave me a jolt!

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  4. i know mom, but i didn't think it would scare anyone since i don't have a brother. we bought the expensive machine yesterday. pictures coming!

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