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Look what I've got!!! A shiny new Janome 6600 Professional, courtesy of the good people at Janome themselves. I LOVE this machine!
Up until now, I've sewn at home on a Janome J3-18, a basic cheapo model that I got when I didn't know whether sewing was going to be a passing interest or a long-term love affair. Well, you know the rest of that story. The J3-18 has served me very well for the last few years and has done everything I needed it to do, and I'd still definitely recommend it to others starting out or on a budget. Yet it's great to finally have a professional machine to work on.
So how is the 6600 Professional different? Well, the first thing you notice is the weight. Cripes, this bad boy is heavy! While I can easily swing the J3-18 around and about between surfaces, I've had to give the 6600 a semi-permanent spot to save my back (I'm only little). I consider its heft an asset rather than a hindrance, reassuring me that its guts are strong, and that it can sew through practically anything.
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Indeed, the sewing experience is totally different. So smooth! So sturdy! So digital! My older model was a mechanical machine, whereas this one has stronger needle "penetration power" (behave). It includes a crazy number of fancy stitches, comes with a huge set of presser feet (hooray!), and does lots of wizzy things such as memorising stitching sequences and automatically snipping threads. Like, what?! It does feel a bit like cheating, but I'm not complaining. I haven't yet figured out how to programme it to make me a cup of tea... anyone know where that button is?
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And did I mention that the Janome 6600 Professional is also a looker? Swoon. I'll still keep my J3-18 as it's good to be familiar with a machine suitable for the beginners that I teach to sew, but right now it's getting a well-deserved rest...