Bought my 830 in 1974 and after many, many sewing machines, this 830 is still one of my favorites! Bought both of my daughters other sewing machines just so they didn’t take my 830!
I bought my Bernina 830 in 1976 when my oldest daughter was born. I used it continuously until 1997 when I purchased a Viking, but I never put away the Bernina. It always worked the best for free motion quilting, could quilt for hours with no skipped stitches, was never able to do that on my Viking. Just purchased a Bernina 790 Plus, have been playing with the Bernina stitch regulator, and I am now in heaven. Bernina reliability with Bernina innovation in one machine. I’m a happy lady!
I looooove this machine! Gosh i miss the 80s🌈🧚when aqua net, big hair and shoulder pads were a thing. I have yet to find a better sewing machine than this one and i have tried many.
Too funny, when I got my new Bernina 830 it was sort of on the sly, I traded in my old Kenmore but was to pick up the new machine the next day after the tec went thru it and checked it all out. That evening my youngest son came racing into the living room screaming "moms sewing machine is stolen" whoops, the gig was up and I had to fess up. How zi loved that machine.
Gayle, I have the same machine from 1976. I bought the legacy foot and ruler that you use for ruler quilting. My machine does not make the thunking noise that yours does rather a tinging noise. My stitches do not show up as separate stitches like yours do either. Mine are more gathered together without spaces in between them that are visible. I cannot seem to get them separate. I like the way it looks when you do it and wish that my machine would do that. Do you have any suggestions? I have played with the tension and it is not that and I have tried almost every stitch length that I have. Since it's free motion and the feed dogs are down I didn't think the stitches length made that much of a difference. I'm at my wits end. I really want to do this but I really want it to look like yours. Thank you for your assistance, Christine. Happy New Year.
Hi Christine, The stitch length doesn't matter because it is up to you to move the fabric through the machine, not the feed dogs. I'm not sure what you mean by the stitches not showing up. Are the top and bottom threads not making a connection? Does the machine sew normally for regular use? Did you remember to lower your feeddogs? Have you tried changing your needle? You should put your tensions back to the default setting and consider bringing your machine in for a Clean Oil and Adjust.
Hi Gayle, Thank you for getting back to me first of all. What I mean by the stitches not showing up is that while you're doing ruler work each of your stitches looks like it's an individual stitch. My stitches all look like they're together with no separation in between them. The top is connecting to the bottom it just looks like a run-on line. For regular use I can see the individual stitches. Which is part of why I'm confused that I can't see them for the ruler work. I did have the feed dogs lowered. I will try to change the needle. The tensions have all been set back to where they were. I bought this machine in September and it had a full service at that time. I do have to bring it in anyways though because the foot pedal gets extremely hot and then the machine stops sewing until the foot pedal cools off. Thank you for your help with this.
@@christinemacpherson2698 Please be careful with that Foot Control. If there is not a "T" on the bottom, it is a fire hazaard. You may want to start looking for a new machine. The stitching is probably the fact that you need to practice your freemotion (perhps a class at your local dealer).
Gayle, just after I got the machine the foot pedal had a problem and I took it to the nearest Bernina dealer. He changed a fuse and put a T sticker on the bottom of the foot pedal. If I'm sewing in spurts it's fine. It's when I'm sewing continually, like trying to do the ruler work, that it has the problem of getting warm. I do intend to contact the dealer on Monday when they open and find out what I can do. I really hate to give up the machine so maybe I can just find another foot that doesn't have a problem. I will look into taking some free motion classes if you think that will help. I love watching your videos and I love buying things from your store. If I'm ever in Naperville Illinois I plan to stop in and visit for real instead of just online. You're super at teaching and you make the videos fun and interesting. I'm actually afraid of the woman at my Bernina store so I avoid going there unless I absolutely need to. She's a mean teacher and not patient.
@@christinemacpherson2698 The thing of it is, you are sewing on an antique machine. they overheat and the foot controls are now at the end of life. No parts available and no replacements. Free motion sewing takes a tole on an old machine. If you are wanting to pursue this technique, save your 830 for straight pieceing and get something else for free motion. Just my 2 cents.
