Princess Kokopuff

Meet Princess (because everything Jac is involved in naming is either ‘Princess’ or ‘Rose’) Koko (Kokochi is the model name) Puff (because how could I not??) Her friends call her ‘Koko’. 

My main sewing machine - an 8 year old Janome 8200QC - has been glitching since before we went to Maine, skipping 2 stitches here and 3 stitches there, just often enough that I have to double check every.single.seam. for problems. So annoying.

Three separate visits to the repair shop spa, 30+ minutes each way, with no resolution, has been frustrating (they are very nice but have no idea what’s wrong*).

I’d been daydreaming about a new machine for awhile, especially with sister Teena singing the praises of her Juki, but probably wouldn’t have followed through because $$$ and learning curve and inertia. The repair saga changed that. 

I narrowed my choices to 2 models each for Janome and Juki, contacted a few shops to see what they had (not much ☹️), and had hubby talked into a day trip to a shop in Huntington Beach on Saturday so I could test drive a Juki, even though they didn’t have the models I wanted (they’d ship it to the store from the warehouse next week and I could drive back again to get it, since they didn’t ship …. Oh joy). Then I found a new-to-me shop, only 45 minutes away who, when I called, said they didn’t have the models I wanted but they did have the next model up (top of the line), on sale for half price since a woman had returned it after 3 days to buy a different machine. (She did that 3 times with 3 different machines. I can’t imagine!)

Good news - the price was $1000 lower than the less expensive models I’d been interested in. Bad news - there was only a 90 day warranty since they were selling it as ‘used’. But… they offered a 3 year warranty that was basically the same cost as having the machine serviced/cleaned each year. Add in the tax and it was still cheaper than the others! I feel like it’s Christmas. 

Learning curve is going to be steep - I’ve already broken a needle and jammed the machine - but this is going to be fun!

* I’ve a feeling repair issues are only going to get worse. The old repair guys are retiring, taking all their been-there-fixed-that knowledge with them. The new guys mean well but if cleaning or re-timing the machine doesn’t work, they have no idea what’s wrong.