Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When this came in, I couldn't wait to get it out and play with it. I had no actual projects planned because I really just wanted to play with all of the beautiful stitches and features of this machine. The first thing I have to recommend is that you watch the included DVD as you set it up and as you go through each of it's functions. It would have taken me forever to get it up and running had I not watched the DVD as I sat it up. It isn't that it is very difficult, but I had never used a computerized machine at all before I got this, so I had no clue what I was doing. My regular sewing machine is the older model of the Janome Sewist 500 Sewing Machine with 25 Built-In Stitches and Hard Case, which is a great machine as well, it just doesn't have nearly as many stitches and functions, and it doesn't come with the wide plate for quilts either. This machine will operate without the petal, so the instructions on the dvd for winding the bobbin start out explaining it as if you didn't have the petal plugged in. This confused me for a minute because I couldn't get it to wind by pushing the button it said to push. The reason for that, was that it sensed the pedal and I had to push the pedal rather than the button. I used the pedal when I used the machine because that is how I've always sewed, but I did test out the machine without the pedal for a large square just for the sake of testing it out. It worked flawlessly and I highly recommend trying it to see if it is the technique for you. I guess I'm a little old-fashioned, because I prefer using the pedal over the button. For the rest of the set up, I just watched the DVD while I was performing the winding of the bobbin, threading the machine, etc and paused it as I needed to. It made it so easy for me. The dvd takes you right through how to do everything, even the character stitches and how to do letters, one after the other, like a name or date, so that there is no break in the letters and it tells you how to add letters etc to whatever you already have programmed and then how to delete them, because they are saved in the machine until you delete each one. The machine sews the regular way with very straight stitches and has no trouble sewing through thicker fabrics. It was a little different getting used to the reverse button. I've always had a manual one that I pulled down, like a lever, but this is a computerized button that you just press. It was no big deal after using it for an hour or so. The fancy stitches on this machine are so nice. I took a few pictures of a name I sewed and some of my favorite stitches. It is extremely easy to go from stitch to stitch. You simply enter the stitch number and the group it is in on the chart, then it tells you what presser foot you need for that stitch. The presser feet are clearly marked, as you can see in my photos, so there's no guess work in it. The buttonhole function worked extremely well and there are several styles to choose from. I watched the dvd and did that with one try and flawlessly as well. I highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for an inexpensive computerized machine. I had never used a computerized machine before getting this one, and I had it up and running in no time. All I can say, is watch the dvd as you set this up. It made it effortless! I hope this helps you with your decision.