New Machine! Yes, I did!

I bought a new sewing machine. Yes, I did! A Janome 9450 QCP

I didn’t really take the idea of a new sewing machine seriously until recently. I think many of you know that my Janome 8900 has been a bit of a troublesome machine since I got it (Feb. 2014).

For the first three years I owned it, it felt like it was in the shop way too much. I’ve probably easily bought another expensive machine with all the repairs I’ve made on it. I had sold my Janome 7700 which had no issues to get the 8900.

Anyway, I am hoping that this one won’t have those issues. At least it will come with a three year warranty and possibly a 5 year one - depending if they extend it or not.

My last straw lately was lately when I was making those strips tops and also binding - when the whole bobbin holder came loose two times, jammed up underneath and one of those times it broke the needle and took quite a while to unjam it. The other time I quickly turned it off and managed to not have that happen.

But it all jammed up and took some doing to undo the bobbin case holder. Anyway, you don’t need to know the details. It was painful for me. I began to doubt my sanity in keeping the machine.

Needless to say, that since I did get the long arm, I am not planning on using this machine as much as I did the 8900 but I still want a dependable machine to bind and use the walking foot, apply buttons, etc. I saw this company (official Janome dealer) had a Black Friday sale and so I just decided to think about it throughout the 6 days of the sale and see if I still wanted it by the the last day of the sale. I did. I bought it on the last day.

I also ordered a new bobbin case holder to put with the 8900 when I put it up for auction. I’m going to sell it. I am debating what to say about it, however. I’ve been wanting to let it go for quite a while now, but was just thinking of not replacing it. However, that would mean I’d have to use my Janome 12000 more. And, with the way digital technology is going with machines, I’d like to save my embroidery machine as long as possible.

What I mean by that, is the newer embroidery machines are probably going to be going the way of a digital application method and subscription model and frankly, I’m not interested. (Think Brother Skitch). I’ll link Sewing Report’s struggles with this machine here. FIrst video, second video, third video. And while Brother backed off from their first rendition which was to make the paid application necessary to use it at all, I believe it is a foreshadowing of where the newer machines are going. I’m not interested in paying a monthly fee to use my machines. Anyway….I’d like to hold on to my Janome 12000 as long as possible as I really do like it.

Here it is. The Professional Janome 9450 QCP.

This box has gone back and forth to the repair shop I don’t know how many times in the last 9+ years.

Here is my Janome 8900’s box. The poor thing. I’ve used this box to send it back and forth to the repair shop I don’t know how many times.

I’ll let you know what I get for it. I’m going to start it at $100 on our local auction site similar to Ebay.





 

I’ve been using the 9450 all week as I’ve started working on various things for our local auction for sick children (mostly cosmetic pouches/bags). It has been a great way to practice using different feet, plates and stitches on the machine and just getting used to it.

It is a cross between the 8900 and the 12000. So far I’ve not had any issues with it. Any issues I have had were because I didn’t do something right.

A couple of major differences from my 8900.

  • There is another light on the front which can be pulled down for more light on my sewing surface. As I grow older, more light is better.

  • There is a foot pedal that cuts the thread. I thought I wouldn’t like it very much - but now that I have it - I really do like it - a LOT! I’ve not gotten totally used to it, but really - it’s a really nice feature. It’s sort of like getting used to standard transmission with the clutch and the brake.

  • I also have a nice thin foot for it - called the HP professional foot which makes it feel much more sleek and more like my other professional/industrial machines. The thick, wide foot feels bulky and awkward after using the smaller feet such as I have on the Juki DDL 8700 which is an industrial machine.

They gave me this box of thread as a freebie.

So far these are the biggest differences on the machine.

I got a few bonuses with it such as some Madeira thread, and extension table (I would not have gotten the machine unless that was included), a pair of Fiskars shears which are very nice, and a mat for under the machine. Of course, I didn’t get the machine for the freebies. Oh there is some Janome washi tape as well. I’m sure the Washi tape and the mat were Janome promo marketing things they got to give away.

They gave me a new mat.

What are my thoughts?

So far, so good. I have a 3 year warranty which can possibly be extended to 5 years after they look at the machine between 2 and 3 years of use. We’ll see. Hopefully I won’t need to use it.

As I mentioned before, I like the cut feature using my foot. I’m not totally used to it yet and sometimes don’t hit the right pedal. :)

The needle threader is a bit different, and I had to use the book to understand how to make it work. It’s kind of cool though.

The button sewing feature is similar but different. Complicated to explain and unnecessary here. Mostly the same. Works great.

No turning wheel for finding stitches. You find the stitch you want more like the 12000 than the 8900 so that is something to get used to. You have to find the folder you need and then just hit the touch screen and the arrows til you find the stitch you want. The 8900 made it so you just moved the round dial until you got to the number you wanted.

Of course, overall, I’m praying that this machine will not have the issues my 8900 did. My Janome 7700 was really a great machine and I had no issues with it. Once I “upgraded” to the 8900 so that I didn’t need to unscrew the throat plate, I realized I may have made a big mistake as suddenly I had a machine with issues. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. I should have returned it right away and asked for a different one and not just that one fixed (over and over again).

So far - the main things I love about this machine are two-fold - the HP foot/throat plate and the thread cutting foot pedal. Two nice upgrades. I’ve mostly forgotten to use the extra light, but I’m sure once I get used to it, I will love the light as well.

How much did I pay for it?

I’m sure that is your overriding question. At least it would be for me.

Well, it was 9,990 pln which is just about $2500. I was not at all upset with the price. Pleased is an overstatement, however. Our VAT tax is 23% so after checking to see what this machine is in the states, I was fine with it. (It was 20% off the normal price.) This was also about the limit as to what I was willing to pay for a sewing machine currently. That 9900 PLN was what it cost me - that included VAT tax. They shipped it for free - if you want to call it free.

And that’s all. I’ve been using the machine a lot this week, making cosmetic bags - to be explained in a future blog post.

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this

Becky Petersen6 Comments