Useless functions

[sewmuchmore]

My machine (Pfaff expression 4.2) has an auto thread cutter which you can activate/deactivate on a lot of the stitches but on others such as the sensormatic buttonholes you cannot turn it off.
Is it just me but do you find that the function really is a waste of time? Only seems to work on the thinnest fabric and seem to have to clear the thread jam after every buttonhole.
Another useful useless function, the auto needle threader. There is nothing auto about it, you have a plastic thingy you have to pull down, line up with needle and fiddle getting thread in right place. Much easier and quicker with a pair of tweezers.
Oh and the auto sewing button, if you find you touch it by mistake you end up going about 100mph with no control and panic sets in.

[SkoutSews]

I don't like automatic stuff. Ah, wait, I do like the one-step buttonhole foot for my machine. But that's about as far as it goes. Otherwise I'm much happier to be in control of the machine. Once automatic things go wrong, they're just a pain.

[Lachica]

@sewmuchmore if your thread cutter only works some of the time it probably needs new blades or maybe just a de-fluff.  It's (one) of the best features on my Pfaff but on the odd occasion when it doesn't cut properly I take off the needle plate & find there's fluff or a thread jammed in it. The needle threader is perhaps the best thing but it doesn't work with size 70 needles, their eyes are too small. Sometimes mine doesn't line up properly, I check the needle is pushed all the way in, if it is I bend the threader hook slightly with forceps to make it line up.

[Greybird]

My machine is a lot more basic than many (Husqvarna Emerald 118), but it did have an auto-threader when I first got it. I say did - OH had me trying to repair the strap on a Darth Vader helmet and gave it a shove because he didn't think I was stitching in the right place. Broke the auto-threader and it never worked after that. I can't say I've missed it though I just thread the needle normally - don't even use tweezers.

My automatic buttonholer is temperamental too so I just use the ordinary buttonhole foot and I find it easier.

[Ploshkin]

I really like the needle threaded on my Pfaff, wouldn't be without it.  It's also a handy check, if I have put a new needle in, that it is in properly because if it isn't the little hook won't go through the eye. 

[Bowerbird]

I have the Pfaff expression 2, and find that the needle threader works sometimes & not others (perhaps it's operator error). When it's good it's very good, and when it's bad...

It doesn't have auto thread cutter, so no worries about that being temperamental. It does have a gazillion stitches that I never use. I was obviously sold more machine than I really needed-I don't quilt or embroider so a more basic machine would have done fine. Ah well, live & learn, but I do like the wider harp.

[Acorn]

I had to replace the needle threader on my Husqvarna Topaz because it had a fight with a microtex needle and they both lost.  Very easy to replace and fit (£13).

I like it very much, especially when I'm embroidering, but I really don't think it should be called automatic!

[WendyW]

I got the Pfaff 4.2 for Christmas last year. I have not fallen in love with it as I was with it's predecessor- a Pfaff 1467 from 1992ish. The needle threader is one of the things I dislike. My old machine had a simpler threader and in 25 yrs it never missed. Why do they "improve" functions that don't need improving? They invariably end up worse. I like the thread cutter in general, but it does jam up occasionally. I like that it saves making long tails of wasted thread, and it will start sewing again without pulling out a tail to hold onto, but I don't like the messy knot it makes on the backside as a result. The pressure of the foot is another thing I dislike. The default is set at the highest setting, and it does not like any thickness or bulk. Even a pin can make it bog down and not move forward. If my seam is thick at the beginning- forget it. It will NOT move forward with nothing yet under the rear feed dogs. I have to repeatedly make single stitches and lift the foot until I have progressed enough for it to grab hold well. I took it in for a spa treatment while it was still under warranty, and they adjusted the threader - it's better but still occasionally misses - and showed me how to take apart more of the bobbin area to de-fluff around the cutter and the feed dogs. There is so much to love about this machine, but the little things that are annoying are things that annoy nearly every time I sit down to sew.

[Renegade Sewist]

I've got a Brother, SE 400, combo sew & embroidery. It's low end, introductory for that sort of machine, around 300 USD. It has the same needle threader as the 10,000 USD machines my friends have. It's a dream to use. You pull the thread through a couple of places to the left and into a little cutter, then push down a lever. Takes all of 2 seconds and works. My old eyes and hands appreciate it. For the most part, except for a few stitches I can choose to have it auto clip the threads or not. I'm in love with needle up or down; down please.

@WendyW the Brother has a little button on the side of the presser foot that levels the foot when you start a seam like you describe. Once it's begun stitching the fabric it releases. Maybe you've got that too but never knew about it? Hope so.

Since it embroiders too it stops stitching and sounds an alarm when I've got about 2 feet of thread left. I can over ride, sew 12 stitches, then it stops again.

And I love the auto stitching on this. You need to disengage the control pedal then can choose your speed. I've used it when sewing with friends at the quilt shop. This machine tracks really straight so I like to put two jelly roll strips on to sew, get up and go get something and come back. The expressions on their faces were priceless  It also means if you are going to sew with friends so long as you brought the power cord you can sew.

[Iminei]

I have always said that if I didnt have the needle threader I would not be able to sew.

Even my first, most basic,  Janome (525S) had it and my eyes are so bad .... yet ... just before the end of The Village I buggered it up somehow and since then have had no problems manually threading the needle ... maybe, just maybe its because The Splurgess has a multitude of Leds around the needle area and I can see a lil bit better than on the more basic machines.

Having said all that The Splurgess is going in for a well deserved service (Gulp! £££  ) and as I have already bought a replacement NT, its going to be fitted. I also hope the chap will look at the cutter as well because it occasionally doesnt, and the lettering despite the test lettering being Ok when I tries it out recently.

As for useless features, I always thought the one step buttonholes were rubbish until I set the speed to fairly slow and then disconnected the foot pedal and let it do its stuff! Since then every buttonhole has been fab! I also use this method for the lettering, just being present to make sure it keeps on the right track.

Sure there are a zillion stitches I will probably never use but that says more about me than The Splurgess!

[Silver Rose]

My modest Alfa Next 30 has a needle threader whch I cannot do without, my eyesight is not good and I am short tempered too . It has got a 4 step button hole thingy which I haven't used much, the results were a bit scruffy but passable and I still don't feel confident using it

[sewmuchmore]

@sewmuchmore if your thread cutter only works some of the time it probably needs new blades or maybe just a de-fluff. 

I clean and de fluff every time before I start sewing, and to be honest the thread cutter has been temperamental from the machine being new. Before this I had the Expression 4 and that was the same.

[Gernella]

I have the Pfaff expression 2, and find that the needle threader works sometimes & not others (perhaps it's operator error). When it's good it's very good, and when it's bad...

Same with mine and yet I have a Pfaff Select 4 and that works every time, no idea what is different it just seems to work without any fuss.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

I have the 4,2 and love all those features! 

[sewmuchmore]

OK so I thought I would splash out £6 on a new blade, just in case it is that that is at fault. But found my basket also contained a pin tuck foot and guide when I got o the cash out. Now how did that happen.