Any opinions on the Brother Innov-is 400?

[srClaire]

Hi,

I went into my local smd and the first person I spoke to recommended the Innov-is 900 to me but I went back in after I had thought about it and expressed some concern over not being able to sew while my machine was busy with a time-consuming embroidery design and said that I would rather have a very good machine (as I intend to have a home industries business) and that I will invest in an embroidery machine at a later stage (I was then talking to one of the engineers as the lady who runs the shop had the day off) and he told me that the Innov-is 400 would probably be better for me as it is a more powerful machine anyway.

I just wondered if anyone has any thoughts and feelings about this machine?

Any opinions welcomed!

Thanks,
Claire

[Esiotrot]

Hi Claire ~

I have actually ordered this very machine from Sewing Machines Direct online and it should be here today. I ordered an A Grade as it had a saving of £130 and still the same guarantee etc. I have my fingers double crossed I have done the right thing!

I considered a more basic machine but my gut feeling told me buy cheap buy twice so decided to stretch my budget a bit. I love a bit of technology so the computerised aspect really appealed to me and also liked the variety of stitches/ fonts which will enable me to make name tags and other fancy bits.

As I havent owned a machine before I am not sure how valuable my opinion will be but I can certainly let you know my first impressions of it.

HTH
K x

[srClaire]

oh lovely!

I look forward to your comments on it

[TopCat]

We have a second hand Innovis 600 (actually it is my daughter's machine) which is very similar in spec to the 400 (a few more stitches) and have been very pleased with it. It was a bit of an investment but it was an excellent - although she is a beginner on a machine at the moment it has proven easy enough for her to learn on and I know she'll grow out of a more basic machine in a couple of years. It certainly has enough functionality for me aside from not having machine embroidery, but if I ever replace my combined sewing/embroidery Janome I will choose separates.
It was used by a sewing teacher as a machine to deliver workshops on so probably had a good amount of use before we had it. My daughter hasn't given it heavy use but I had to do without my usual machine that I'm very familiar with for 6 weeks (service and repair), and I used the Brother so much I found it strange going back to my Janome after.
I still find the left hand needle position on the Brother a bit odd but I was getting used to it.
Look forward to hearing how you get on with yours

[srClaire]

Ooh! Second hand?

Where do I find one of those?

[Esiotrot]

Copied and pasted from my hello thread - hope this is ok?

Well my baby has arrived and I am so delighted with it!

The last time I used a sewing machine is about 15 years ago in school and I didnt think I would have a clue so decided to take it slow. I unpacked carefully and started reading the manual, tried about 10 practice rows of different stitches and even managed to stitch my daughters name. Got on really well and got a bit carried away - forgot about the manual for an hour and am now the proud owner of a very cool animal print morsbag complete with fancy stitched handles! The machine is a dream to use, pretty self explainatory and straight forward which is fab for a beginner like me, it feels like Brother have thought of everything - the LCD screen which is really clear and little extras like the integrated thread cutter etc make life easier. I havent attached the foot pedal yet as I have been using the stop/start button which is great - I felt in total control. My baby even sounds amazing..... I think I am in love!
Even hubby who previously commented this was just another gadget to go in the cupboard is impressed. He even said you should have got one that did the embroidery too ~ I thought these were way out of my league - both budget and skill wise but am more than pleased with my choice so far!

Cant wait to get going with a challenge tomorrow - off to study the manual in bed.

K x x

P.S. Would highly recommend Sewing Machines Direct - prompt, efficient service. If I didnt know it was an Agrade machine there is no way I could have told as it is absolutley immaculate.