Friday, June 18, 2010

New sewing machine . Husqvarna part II

As I mentioned the other day, I got a new sewing machine. I've actually had this lovely Husqvarna Viking Emerald 183 in my house and unpacked for a few weeks now. I've just been a little too afraid of it to dig right in. It's such an upgrade from my Huskystar 224 but it really was time for a change. The Huskystar is more of a beginner's machine. More like a Toyota Echo. The Emerald is like a Camry.

And here it is. This beast brings with it a huge learning curve. I haven't moved past straight sewing yet but I'm working on another pair of those sailor pants that Zadie loves so much. That means buttonholes.

I had a couple of issues with the reverse button. I used that feature on my old machine all the time to reinforce the first and last stitches of a seam. I was treating this one like that one but since it's electronic (it seems), it acts differently. I'm thinking I have the hang of it now.

I'll do a proper review of this machine later after I've spent some time with it. But it's beautiful and I already love it. There it is in its new home right next to the manual.

6 comments:

Katielin317 said...

Do you use the Fix and Stop buttons?? It took a little getting used but they're lovely. It takes care of securing the beginning and end of stitches for you and works like a dream. Coming from my 40 year old Kenmore, this machine is quite the upgrade;)

Nicole Follow the White Bunny said...

I have a Huskystar too! And I want to upgrade to a slightly fancier machine as well. There are so many out there, and preference for one machine or another is quite personal. I'm going to do a little query among the readers of my blog to hear what they would recommend, I think! :) I do think the Huskystar does a rather good job for a beginners machine.

Beth Lemon said...

Yes, Nicole! I have loved my Huskystar. It's a hard worker and also very smooth. So far I'm really loving all the upgrades of this new machine and once I get it figured out, I'll never go back. One of the big reasons I chose Husqvarna again is because they're sold at my local quilt shop. I wanted to support a local business and they fix them there if they need servicing so that's a huge deal for me.

Katie, I have played around with the Fix button but not Stop yet. I'm not sure I completely get why you would use one over the other so I may email you after I play around with it a bit.

Anonymous said...

Eeek! It's beautiful! Looking forward to hearing more about it. Have fun!

iSew said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm so excited for you. Did they offer classes where you bought it? I found that super helpful when I got my PFAFFs & my serger.

Beth Lemon said...

Yes, they do. Just not yet. I'm going to go in tomorrow and figure this out.
I'm doing something wrong I think.