So I’ve been using my new Janome 1600P-DBX sewing machine for a couple of weeks now, and I still heart it big time! It ain’t no industrial, but the thing’s got power enough for me! Aside from the extra oomph and 1600 stitch per minute speed, one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things about this machine in terms of features is the automatic thread cutter. It saves soooo much time and is just cool to use. It pulls your needle thread down to the bottom of your work and nips both threads pretty close to the fabric. Love that.

The second runner up would probably be the simultaneous bobbin winding feature which, because it runs on its own little motor and offers a separate spool pin for bobbin thread, allows you to wind up a bobbin — at the touch of a button! — while continuing to sew your project.

The Janome 1600P-DBX doesn’t come with very many accessories out of the box, but in terms of what it does come with, my fave here would be the adjustable cloth guide. The guide is basically a giant version of the magnetic seam guide that I used to love using on my little Memory Craft Janome 4900QC, except that the cloth guide is way more stable since it screws into your machine.

Since the number of standard accessories the 1600P-DBX came with was so underwhelming, I went and bought myself a bunch of extra goodies. First I got me a bunch of extra feet:

…followed by an 18×24 inch extension table, followed by some more feet!

The only feet that came with the machine are the bottom two in the photo with the machine feet, and I bought the rest of them separately. Unfortunately, I’m having issues with my zipper feet. =/ I was really excited about the middle foot in particular because it looks like you could use that one single foot to stitch to either the left OR the right of it. But, I get loops on the underside of my project whenever I use all but one of them.

WAH! Gotta get back to The Sewing Machine Shop to have shop chief Dan look at it, but I’m not looking forward to dragging this machine along with me. This sucka’s HEAVY!

I tried the compensating foot with adjustable guide today (the middle foot in the middle row) and thought it was pretty darn cool, but I had a hard time getting the guide to go over the straps while top stitching around the top of the bag. Hm…

On a brighter note, the extension table is awesome! It’s perfect for working with the Big Lugs since those use such mongo pieces.

I kinda wish the machine came with an auto needle threader. The 1600P-DB version, which doesn’t have the auto thread cutter, does and I actually didn’t notice that the DBX didn’t until it came time to thread the needle. But, it has a reverse function and knee lift, both of which are key.

Jimmy thinks I should sell my 4900QC now that I’ve got the big boy, but he just doesn’t understand! The 1600P only goes forward and backward, straight up stitches, nothin else. And sometimes a girl just wants to get fancy, ya know? A little zig? A little zag? And maybe someday a few buttonholes! So I’m hanging on to her for sure.

So, the industrial machine that I’d originally had my sights set on will have to wait. I just knew we didn’t have the room, since the industrial sits in its own table, motor and all. But also, I couldn’t decide which one to get! I’d narrowed it down to a couple (a Juki and a Consew), but I wanted to test drive them first and could only find two places that carried used or new industrials locally and neither of them had the model I thought I wanted. Then, when I found out that the instructor of my most recent handbag sewing class  had a “professional” Bernina machine (stronger than a standard home machine but not as powerful as an industrial), I figured thought oughtta be good enough for me. And that’s how it happened!

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