Janome Memory Craft 9000

Well, folks -- it has been a long time.

I'm still at it, collecting machines and sewing a few seams here and there.  Lately I've been getting rid of machines that cannot be fixed without considerable time and expense (not many) and acquiring more modern, computerized models at bargain prices.  While I've generally stayed away from these machines in an effort to avoid failing motherboards and circuits, bad sensors, and blown capacitors, there are a remarkable number of working machines that are still going strong after decades of use.  

Here is a venerable addition to the collection, a Janome MC 9000.  This is a sewing/embroidery combination from 1994 and is an upgrade of the 8000.  While the machine continues to accept the CF memory cards with embroidery designs made by Janome, it can also accept .jef files from cards with a PCMCIA adapter and has several other upgrades including a larger, better-designed UI with a larger LCD and logically placed controls.  As an embroidery machine, the 9000 is, by today's standards, a bit clunky and rather limited by the small hoops the machine can accept but as a sewing machine this is still quite a strong model with quiet, smooth operation, beautiful stitching, and the usual controls one finds on higher-end computerized models, excepting the missing automatic thread cutter -- a feature that at the time was only just becoming common.  That a '94 model still works this well indicates this machine was made to very high standards of quality, especially its electronics.  While the paging through the menu from the main screen and the beeps the machine emits with each and every input evoke an earlier, less sophisticated time, the stitches it produces are stellar.  I prefer a manual upper thread tension assembly but the electronic override does the job adequately.   

Mine has slight discoloration and a few light scratches but overall this machine is in excellent condition for its age.  And the price was simply too good to pass up.

 

I'd like to monogram my shirts and a few other items in a quick, efficient manner without having to set up a machine I use for sewing these items just for doing so, only to break it all down again.  (It's not really all that time-consuming but I'm trying to justify keeping as many machines as possible.  Indulge me.)  This would be an excellent candidate for that role.  

I hope you're all well.  2021 isn't much of an improvement over 2020 -- at least mine isn't; here's to a brighter 2022.  Enjoy your Fall and the upcoming holiday season.