Janome 6500P No. 2

One day several years ago, I looked at a stack of mending that needed doing and heaved a sigh.  I had become frustrated with a pair of Lucky jeans that I really liked but had shrunk just enough that I could not wear them in public.  It dawned on me (it takes a while sometimes) that I had waited long enough and that I needed to learn to sew. 

So, I went online and shopped around.  I wanted a machine that was modern, with features that would make sewing easy and enjoyable to learn, one with buttons and lights and beeps.  I also wanted one that was reliable as well as easily serviced should the need arise.  After a week or two of reading reviews and learning about features and options, I selected the Janome Memory Craft 6500P.  The consistently great reviews sold me as well as its being situated right about in the middle of the range of sewing machine price points, a buying strategy that has generally worked well for me throughout my life: buy a product from a well-known, high-quality brand but not the most expensive, not the cheapest. 

I bought a used one from a sewing machine technician and although it showed some wear, it worked flawlessly.  I made a perfect buttonhole on the very first try.  I loved that machine.  It sat upstairs, patiently waiting to tackle my first projects.  With a mere click of my mouse, I had purchased a truly excellent piece of machinery that provided my first entree into the world of sewing.  Without knowing the difference between Chanel and chenille, I had arrived.

However, while reading all of those glowing reviews, I had read about something else, something that has plunged my life into a vortex from which I cannot seem to escape no matter how hard I try: the vintage sewing machine.  Yes, the dreaded world of the VSM (a disease, truly) has consumed me utterly.  My family enabled my addiction and I fed it with cash and a willingness to drive long distances, engage in long conversations, and yes, occasionally haggle.

My condition is beginning to calm and enough time has passed and enough house space is full that I am now able to look back, rather than peer only forward with the tunnel vision of a fiend.  I looked back on the Janome with fondness and perhaps even regret, regret that I had sold it for cash for more vintage machines -- easy fixes, literally and figuratively.  Somehow, that 6500P and I had bonded and the loss was real.

Ergo, my finding another at Goodwill(!) seems like I have come full circle.  Yes, I have found another 6500P that is in pristine, unused condition.  This thing has seen literally zero sewing.  I have no idea of the story behind it but I am guessing someone bought this as a gift and it was repossessed or perhaps the person died or had to move quickly and couldn't take it with them.  If you ply sewing machine collectors with a shot of whiskey, they will privately confide that they sometimes hear The Call.  Sometimes it's a siren song, sometimes a plea.  But more than a hunch, it's a voice the collector comes to respect and to heed.

I had to buy a set of 42 presser feet (the machine included a very fancy quilting/darning foot and nothing else) and the knee bar but it works perfectly and is in absolutely perfect condition.  I also bought a bias tape-making kit and I downloaded the manual.  There it sits in the exact same spot as my first, although this one has the 'New Home' moniker in addition to 'Janome' in red.

It's odd, yet here I am with what is a virtually brand new machine purchased for $179.99, less than a third of what I paid for my used original, a price I thought at the time was very good (and still do).  Is it all part of some big plan?  I'm not sure.  But now I really have no excuse not to begin learning to sew.  Right?