Janome 11706 3/4 Size Hello Kitty Sewing Machine

oh my gosh.. I love this machine.. I sew for a living and have 3 other machines, but my older singer started having some issues with skipping stitches. I used it for a product requiring a good straight stitch and zig zag stitch.. My other machines have decorative stitching and are computerized, but for this particular item, I just need a good old straight stitch machine.. The only company in our area that repair sewing machines went out of business, so after cleaning my machine, changing the needle, oiling it, doing eveyrthing I could think of, I knew I needed to replace it.. This machine came up as one of Amazon's Christmas specials on a day when I was just browsing, seeing what type of machine I might want to buy to replace my old Singer.. I'd seen this before and thought how cute it is with it's retro look, but I thought it was a kids machine.. Since it came up at a reduced price, I decided to read the reviews and was pleasantly surprised to find out a lot of quilters use this machine. I did some research on it, and couldn't find very much negative info about it... I know that Janome is a good quality machine, although I've never had one, but I thought what the heck, it's on sale, I'm gonna give it a try..I'm so impressed with this little machine.. It's called a 3/4 machine, and it is a bit smaller than my other machines, but the actual work space is the same size..It shares a table with my serger, so I appreciate that it doesn't take up as much room as a full size. it's very sturdy, very easy to use and gives a great stitch.. It has a front loading bobbin, which I have always read is the sign of a better made machine. Some other reviewers stated that you can buy more bobbins for this at Walmart, but my old singer used metal class 66 bobbins, which appeared to be the same size as the plastic bobbin that came with this machine.. I tried one on this and it worked great.. i prefer metal bobbins by far, so that's a huge plus.. I wish there was a wider stitch zig zag, but other than that, I'm very happy with it.. I use my ms kitty machine to sew cat products, which seems very fitting. I really love the retro look as well as the retro color... This would make a great first machine as well as a favorite for seasoned sewers.. it's just a fun, dependable little machine..

This sewing machine was perfect for me; a beginning sewer. This is the brand my sewing instructor recommended. First, it seems very well constructed. It is sturdy and doesn't feel cheap in any way. It isn't loud at all. Just a soft hum. You can easily control the sewing speed by adjusting how far you press the pedal. The stitches are very cleanly made.I'm perplexed by the reviews saying it can't handle heavy fabric. Because...um...it can. I sewed a bag with this machine using upholstery fabric so I decided to test what the machine can actually handle. (At the risk of breaking my machine). I sent it through six layers of upholstery fabric using size 14 needle and decent quality polyester thread. It slowed a little but sewed just fine. No need to adjust tension or anything (in fact, i have yet to need to adjust tension at all). Stitches stayed even and clean. I then got really brave and sent it through 11, yes, ELEVEN, layers of upholstery fabric and it slowed a lot but kept going, didn't sound like it was struggling and didn't look like it was struggling, it just slowed. And yes, it evenly and cleanly sewed through all eleven layers. It also had no problem jumping from really thick layered fabric directly to thinly layered fabric.I did hit two limits. I couldn't sew any thicker than that. Because I couldn't fit anything thicker under the foot. Also, when I was layering upholstery fabric in making the handles of my bag, I had to sew over parts I'd previously already sewn over and my needle occasionally stopped and wouldn't sew further. After investigation, I discovered I was sewing over knotted/bunched up thread from mistakes in my early sewing. The needle simply couldn't pierce through the knots so it stopped completely. However, since the knotted thread was user error (caused by trying to control the movement of the fabric too much and not letting the machine do its job) and not machine error, I certainly can't blame this fail on the machine. It sews fine over stitching that was even and knotless.I was concerned about reviews saying it struggles with knit fabric when I was trying to decide whether to buy the machine. I haven't tested this because I know there is a technique to working with knits and...I don't know it. But I really think these complaints are most likely user error - i.e. they don't know the technique to working with knits any more than I do and are sabotaging their own work. I just don't think a machine that sews as easily and cleanly and powerfully as this one will just fall flat when it comes to knits. It seems to well thought out for such an obvious design failure.In the end, this smaller machine is very basic, but does the job and does it well.

I actually bought this machine as a fairly intermediate sewer. I bought it mainly because of its size - I live outside of the USA and had it delivered to the USA and then packed it in my luggage. It's lighter than the average machine at about 10bs, and a bit smaller too. I'm a huge HK fan so of course I had to buy this one! But for the work I do, it's not enough. It's definitely great for a beginner, but I will be upgrading soon. I do love this little machine though.The main cons are that the speed is hard to control, as other reviewers have mentioned. Even when I press as light as possible on the pedal it zooms off, and because it's lightweight it tends to bounce around while sewing.

At the beginning worked well, but the threats on the bovine won’t last working.For the price you can get a better machine.I bought a protection plan and got tired of trying to contact the warranty and now is expired, so I don’t expect to hear from them anymore