new sewing machine
Today we bought a Janome DC3018 Décor Computerized Sewing Machine. We got a card in the mail from G Street Fabrics, and we went to the nearest store Saturday. They were advertising $200 Singers (which we expected wouldn't be very good machines), and of course we were soon looking at more expensive machines. We liked Janome's Sewist 525S, but decided to look around on the web first. That revealed a similar machine, Janome's Décor Excel Pro 5124, but we had trouble finding any detailed info comparing the various models. One store's site revealed that Janome allowed only specific models to be sold over the Internet. That may account for the absence of any prices listed on the web for some machines. (And that doesn't make it any easier to compare models.)
We consulted with jelazakazone (who has a Janome, and is happy with it), and decided to check a local (Fairfax, VA) store with a wider selection. We learned that the 525S and the 5124 are both discontinued models (which is not necessarily a bad thing, if the price is good and service is supported). anniemal decided she likes the 3018. G Street had some extra accessories bundled with the 525S, but Annie decided she didn't really need/want most of them.
Now anniemal has to decide what to do with her 25-year-old Bernina Nova 900. She was planning to use both machines, but that creates the problem of where to set up a 2nd sewing machine. I asked whether there's anything the Bernina does better than the Janome - whether there's any reason to keep the Bernina set up on her sewing table. I think it makes more sense to just switch, and get used to what's different on the new machine. And I've left her pondering whether her mom might be happier with this Bernina in place of her cranky old Singer.