The Sewing Place

New Bernina

Lincoln hobbit

New Bernina
« on: July 02, 2018, 19:38:14 PM »
I'm considering replacing my old (but very reliable) Bernina 830 with a new B570 QE. Any thoughts, please, people?

Nicola1968

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2018, 19:50:36 PM »
Only thoughts I have are ones of jealousy.  ;)

Absolutely go for it if you can afford it but that 830 is a beaut, I'd probably keep that as well.

Nik

fajita

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2018, 20:04:45 PM »
I've got the 550QE, about five or six years old.
I love it.
Go girly go!

arrow

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2018, 20:19:23 PM »
It's a quilters edition but I guess it has all the basic but fancy stitches and auto buttonholes a good basic model have. It has all the new features that might make it worth it; stitch regulator, built in upper feed, 9 mm zigzag. The only thing that makes me hesitate is the price, and how much will I actually use the extra features the old 830 doesn't have (in my case a 730). My favorite is still a 201 in a small table, a very simple straight stitcher, but it's a joy to work on it. I don't think I want to get rid of it ;- )

supergran

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2018, 22:36:32 PM »
I just went for the B770QE LH, as the new ones don't seem to be available here. Might be later but I got a discounted price on the 770. I love it, and the main difference I can see is that the 770 has a bigger throat space. Apart from that I don't think there's much difference. Still getting to grips with the BSR. I'd say go for it.

Stitchalot

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2018, 06:40:28 AM »
I bought one about a year ago and am delighted. No negatives as far as I’m concerned. It’s called a Quilters Edution because it includes a walking foot which I use a lot. I much prefer its 5mm foot for dressmaking than the one with a 9mm foot which I had before. Go on, you know you need it  :devil:

Celia

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2018, 08:09:41 AM »
Lovely machines but do think twice about getting rid of your old one,  the new Bernina are great but they don’t feel like the old ones and you might still like to use your old one for some things.

Elnnina

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2018, 20:08:56 PM »
Apparently the Bernina 830 Record is the one machine that Bernina got totally right and many people crave to own one of these so yes it really is worthwhile holding on to this machine.  That is why the second hand prices are quite high, and I find it comforting to know that this is an excellent machine and still performs beautifully after all these years. 

I in fact own several top end machines of their time, a Swiss Elna SU and a Bernina 830 Record (my mother’s)  incidentally both purchased in the same year without either of us knowing that we were doing this and that was 1975, and both machines are still purring away and producing beautiful stitches and are quiet.  Then I bought a top end Bernina Artista 200, + embroidery unit, because of the complexity of it being computer driven, I choose to use my mother’s Bernina 830 Record as my main machine for  evedry day basic sewing, using the Artista for the more fancy work.  I find each machine has its own special features, I particularly like an edge stitch that I use for decorative edges on some garments and this is on the Elna SU – not available on the 830 Record  which surprises me as it is such a lovely neat stitch and I have yet to try and reduce the width of this scallop stitch  on the Artista.  So sometimes like earlier in the week I have had three machines out, eventually finding that it was the Artista that stitched some 1/8” tucks so beautifully and effortlessly all due to the generous 9mm width that the needle can travel.  I had tried stitching these tiny tucks on the 830 Record and the Elna but all I was getting was crooked stitching as the feet got snarled up on the previous tuck and with the feet being rigid it was the fabric that was being pulled away from where I wanted it to be.  Both the Elna and 830 have an ordinary width for the needle to move which has been fine up until I needed these tiny tucks quite close to one another.

So if you can find the space do hold on to your 830 Record machine, and occasionally get this out and have a play.  Also in its favour when your new machine has to go away for its service you will not be without a machine.  Incidentally do not try using any of the feet or bobbins for the 830  on the new machine these are not compatible.  Why not get in touch with Bernina (Bogod down in Cardiff) and speak to Rachel or Jackie and ask them to send you  the Bernina Accessories – solutions for your ideas book – this shows all the different feet and accessories for the Bernina machines and in the very front of the book the machines are grouped into categories so it makes this easy to see at a glance which feet are suitable for which machine.  Bernina’s phone number in Cardiff (their warehouse) is 029 2079 2079 and both Rachel and Jackie are really very helpful.  I tend to always buy my feet, bobbins, accessories direct from them, it certainly saves me having to trail off to a dealer miles away in order to place an order and then to collect the order, and at times I have received my order the following day which is excellent service.

When I first inherited my mother’s Bernina I went and bought some extra feet specifically for that machine including a straight stitch foot and needle plate – very useful indeed.  Now I have the Artista, I also wanted more feet and found that if I asked my family to give me feet and accessories for Christmas and Birthday presents and in doing so I have built up a lovely collection  for this machine – and far better than chocolates and lovely toiletries for bathing.



Deafoldbat

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2018, 19:11:39 PM »
Assuming you don't want it now, why not wait until you go to FoQ, where all the dealers will be, and go and play with al the goodies on offer, just to be sure only a Bernina will do, and exactly which version you want most? :devil:

Marniesews

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2018, 01:19:59 AM »
I'd also suggest you take some time to decide and try out the machine several times before deciding. The reason I say this is that after returning from a sewing break I discovered my lovely Husqvarna 6570 bought in 1979 had developed a cracked camshaft and was beyond economic repair. That coincided with my retirement and so I bought an expensive Pfaff Performance 5 in the days when they were just under £2K. To begin with its huge range of fancy electronics was great fun but a year or two later I bought some old Berninas (1020 & 1130), mostly because I'd never owned a Bernina and thought it would be interesting to get a used one.

After that I found myself using every excuse to use them instead of the Pfaff because (it turns out) I just love mechanical machines and like that my overlocker and Bernina coverstitch are both mechanical too. Although the 1130s are early computerised machines (the 1020 only has needle up/down via its electronic foot) they still feel like mechanicals but with the convenience of push buttons. I feel like I really sew with these machines but feel more like a machine operator with the Pfaff.

Of course the new Bernina will do all sorts of wonderful things so if you get it I hope you absolutely adore it... but you could also find you miss your 830 Record far more than you might expect if you get rid of it.
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

hiltonclare

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2018, 09:41:20 AM »
I bought a 570QE about 18 months ago. It’s a lovely machine with lots of features and I thought it was pretty much the same as the Artista 630 I’d previously owned. It was, but isn’t nearly as smooth to sew with as the Artista...

I’d drooled over all the bells and whistles. Particulately the safety features such as telling it the straight stitch plate is on which stops any zig zig stitches being selected. And it had sooo many lovely decorative stitches but sadly no snowflake pattern which I really wanted. In reality I don’t need all of this. I know what foot to select for which stitch, and which stitch I need for what I’m sewing.

So much of the computerisation behind the lovely colour screen is all about advice which an experienced sewist really doesn’t need. It’s far too expensive for a beginner which all the advice seems to be aimed at. It’s a shame Bernina doesn’t sell machines with ‘options’ for things like the BSR and the walking foot. That way the basic machine could be purchased for a lot less money and the expensive ‘options’ could be bought if needed.

So, moving on to today and I’ve sold it. I found myself constantly using my Activa 240, which is a Swiss made, more straightforward computerised model. This has all the features I like, needle stop position, knee lifter (big thank you to whoever invented this!), and pattern end.  It was my ‘go to’ machine and I like it’s simplicity.

The 570 model is the best machine in the range at the moment and is about 80% Swiss made. It’s the only model my engineer recommends with his hand on his heart. The 5.5mm stitch machines are way better than the 9mm even though those patterns on the 9mm machines are so pretty! The 570 is still in the Bernina line up - at the moment - but if the newest 5 series machines really take off then you can expect the 570 to be discontinued. If you can wait a while there will probably be deals to be had (but not huge ones as this is Bernina we’re talking about!).

All in all I can whole heartedly recommend the 570 but I do think it’s a lot of money especially if you’re not going to use the BSR. BUT... keep the 830 they’re in a league of their own. I recently had the old bakerlite foot control on mine reconditioned (for about £60) and the speed control on it is superb! As good as any new machine I’ve ever sewn on and I sew very tricky items and need good slow speed control.

Choosing a machine is a very personal thing and it’s easy to get lured into buying one with all the gizmos. I found I just didn’t use the vast majority of them and preferred a simpler machine that would start up as soon as it was switched on without having to ‘boot up’ for 2 minutes. Mind you I did enjoy seeing it say ‘Hello Clarie’ while I was waiting.  :D

It’s so much fun choosing a sewing machine enjoy whatever you decide to buy!

Efemera

Re: New Bernina
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2018, 09:56:22 AM »
Like most folks on here I have quite a few machines but all you really need is a good straight stitch, a zig zag and a really good buttonhole stitch. It’s nice to have a new machine but will you use all those bells and whistles.