new sewing machine and 2008 SWAP

It was probably one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in a while to drop out of the 2008 Timmel SWAP. My sewing machine dying a week before the contest deadline made me feel only slightly better that I wasn't frantically trying to finish up 11 garments with nothing to sew them on! The broken sewing machine problem is no longer, though - thanks to my wonderful hubby, I am now the owner of a brand spaking new Janome HT2008!

I did quite a bit of comparison shopping online and testing at the various dealers in town before deciding on this machine. Of the machines I looked at, my favorites in my price range were the Brother Innovis 80 Project Runway edition, the Viking Emerald 183 and the Janome that I ultimately purchased. I also looked at some Singer, Pfaff and Babylock machines but wasn't as impressed with the models that were available at my local dealers - or the pricetags of some of them. I was most torn between the Janome and the Viking - the Brother was very similar to the Janome in terms of ease of use and available functions, but felt much more portable and not as sturdy as the Janome. The biggest reason I decided not to go with the Viking was that the electronic display wasn't as user-friendly as I had hoped, and it was $200 more than the Janome. If my old Viking feet were compatible with the Emerald, I would have spent the extra money since Viking feet are notoriously expensive...my walking foot cost more than $100! Since the feet were not compatible, I didn't think it was worth it and went with the Janome.

This machine doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of the higher-end machines, but it also does not have the high-end price tag at $399. What it does have is 50 stitches, including 3 one-step automatic buttonholes and several different utility stitches. These utility stitches include several different stretch stitches, straight stitch variations and overlock/finishing stitches. It even came with a special foot for the overlock stitches. There are also darning, heirloom and decorative stitches - most of these I probably won't use...which is one of the reasons I decided not to go with the more pricey Brother or Viking models - extra stitches = extra cost that I just couldn't justify.

I have to say that so far I really love this machine!! I have only had it a couple of days, but so far it's great. I have only sewed the strap onto my Hooter Hider (nursing cover for baby Andrew), but it sewed through the 6 layers of fabric/interfacing and the rigelene boning like BUTTER!!!!

Now I have so much reason to sew. I go back to work in 3 weeks and would really like to have some new clothes to wear when I go back. Also taking into account that we have decided that hubby is going to stay home with the baby, I am forced to be on a budget - that means I have an even better excuse to sew since I do need new clothes and can't really justify a trip to the mall in my budget since I can sew and have the stash from my original SWAP plan...now to put that plan into action!

So even though I've missed the deadline (and only really completed 2 garments before the baby was born in mid-February), I am now going to work on making the SWAP garments. Instead of doing the original 11-garment plan, I'm going to make mini-wardrobes of 5-6 garments that consist of 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms and a jacket. I hope to have at least one or two new outfits to wear when I go back to work. We'll see how that works. Maybe I can get a full mini-wardrobe completed.