When I sewed my Le Précieux coat, I encountered the same old problem with my machine’s distate for thick layers. I have a Janome Jubilee 140 with lots of feet, including the dual feed foot. I bought it 8 years ago and it’s rather good machine.
But it hates layers. So I can’t sew jeans because I know that the waistband and belt loops will be impossible to stitch in place. I tried to sew the coat because I really wanted to and my woollen fabric wasn’t that thick, but I left the hood unpicked because 5 layers would have been just impossible to sew. Topstitching my Envigado vest proved to be tricky, if not nearly impossible.
Choosing a machine is difficult!
I live in the countryside and there’s no close to me sewing machine shops. I also want a Janome machine because all of my machines are Janome and that’s a brand I know.
What I need (or want!):
- a machine that can sew all types of layers: from 5 layers of denim to 2 thin layers of delicate lace.
- no worry with butthonholes…!
- Acufeed! I want to have it installed on my machine, it’s so useful.
- A lot of feet included. I don’t want to have to buy foot after foot and pay a lot.
So some machines got my attention.
Skyline/Atelier 5 and 7
These two models are really close to what I want.
The #5 is older than the #7 so it’s a bit cheaper. I bought my Janome in Great Britain ( Sewing machines Direct is a real good place to shop), but today the British pound against the Euro is not that great (and we don’t know how the Brexit will impact future deals). So I’m looking on continetal Europe and the Italian Shopty and the Belgian Stecker do seem to have nice prices. The latter has a very convenient tool for comparison, btw.
Skyline 5 doesn’t have the Acufeed, but a similar system (DualFeed). The S7 is on sale at the moment on the Sewing Machines Direct’s site, it’s called the Atelier 7 btw. 
In the Skyline/Atelier series, my dream machine would be the Skyline 9 which combines embroidery and sewing machine. I’d love to machine-embroider. These designs by Urban Threads are awesome (the machine and the cat tree!!!). But it’s way out of league, too expensive for me.
I’d really love to delve into embroidery, but I must be reasonable and there’s no way I would contract a loan to pay for something that is a hobby. I may buy a 500E or the newer 550E (more frames) one day, but it’s just a dream.
Memory Craft 6700P
This one is a bit more rustic, but it also has very interesting features and it looks sturdier.
However it doesn’t have the free arm. I don’t want to get rid of my Jubilee so it’s not such a big deal.
Way too expensive, but we can dream, can’t we?
These two below are really nice and have extra features.
And just for the fun, the BEAST: Continental M7 Professional. No troubles sewing through layers.
All in all, it’s difficult to make a choice without ahving the possibility to try them. I think that the 6700P is the one that may be chosen in terms of functionalities and price.
Do you have one of these machines? Or maybe another brand/model that you really like and you would like to share?
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