Sewing machines for me are like potato chips – you can’t have just one. Trust me, I’ve tried, and I fail miserably. Last July, my local quilt shop had a floor model sale. I had been scoping out the Bernina 790 PRO for a while at that point, and was intrigued by the features it offers, primarily around embroidery, but also with an interest in the sewing features. Alas, the 790 PRO wasn’t included in the floor model sale, so I purchased the 770QE Kaffe Edition, and I have loved that machine since I got it home. But I still think about those PRO features all the time.

New Machine Line Up For Bernina

Imagine my surprise and delight a few weeks ago when Bernina introduced a whole line of PRO machines in the 7 series. I was intrigued, to say the least. Immediately, I wondered if I could trade in my 770QE Kaffe on a PRO, but quickly realized that I can’t give up that machine. It’s far too nice, and it is so beautiful, I couldn’t possibly let it go. I also knew I didn’t need another 770, even a PRO edition, because no matter how awesome the machine is, I don’t want two nearly identical machines. That’s when I realized that Bernina is also coming out with a 735 PRO. And that’s when I knew what I wanted as my next machine.

I reached out to my quilt shop and told them what I was looking for, and asked if they could give me a price for it. The machines had just been announced, they said, and they didn’t have pricing worked out just yet but they would get back to me. I told them I was interested in trading in my 570QE, so they promised to get back to me with pricing as soon as they had it worked out. That was over three weeks ago, and they still haven’t let me know about any pricing.

Just Take My Money

I am not a patient person. I am especially not a patient person when I’m trying to buy something and I keep being put off. So I took matters into my own hands and found another shop that would sell me the machine.

Yesterday, I took my 570QE to Sew Vac City in College Station and traded it in on a 735 PRO that should be here late August, early September. I’ve done business with Sew Vac City before, having bought three other machines from them in the past: the Janome 8900, the Brother DreamCreator VM5100, and the Brother Persona 100. I know them, I know they are often the best price, but it takes about an hour to get there, while my local shop is 20 minutes away. I much prefer to shop as locally as possible, but if someone isn’t being communicative, and doesn’t seem to want to take your money, what choice do you have?

Tariffs

I did call a third shop to find out if they were taking orders for the 735 PRO, but it isn’t a shop I frequent, and I’ve never bought a machine directly from them. They also gave me a price for the machine, and warned that the price was set to go up in a week because of tariffs (don’t get me started on that BS). Sew Vac City did say that tariffs are likely the reason my local shop won’t give me a price – they don’t want to be caught in the crossfire of that mess. And I do get that, but I’ve been asking for a price for three weeks.

Does that shop owner really think that customers won’t find another way to buy the machine? Now she’s cost herself the sale, as well as the salesperson in her shop, who won’t get a commission on an expensive purchase. I feel like 3 weeks is more than enough time to come up with a price, even if you have to revise it for the next person. I also know that when/if they find out I bought from someone else, they won’t be happy, but that really isn’t my problem. I tried several times and I got nowhere.

Why The Bernina 735 PRO?

What features intrigued me so much that I was willing to drive an hour to buy this machine instead of waiting to get a price from the shop 20 minutes away? There are so many things about the 735 PRO that I am excited about, but here are some of the top features I’m excited about:

• 5.5 mm stitch width
• Automatic needle threader
• A laser that you can turn on at any time
• Morphing abilities for embroidery

I have a Brother Stellaire that has a laser line for lining up things, and a laser dot for embroidery to help with pinpoint placement. I do love this machine, but the difference is that the laser on the 735 PRO is a pinpoint light that moves ahead of your stitching to show you precisely where the needle will come down for the next stitch. The morphing ability allows you to turn designs any direction you want them, moving them around on the screen to fit into a specific area. This ability also allows for truly precision placement of designs onto your medium.

Main Draw

The 5.5 mm stitch width is the main reason I decided on the 735 PRO. It’s the narrowest width I will have available to me, and I’ve used a 5.5 mm when I bought the 435. In fact, when I bought the 570QE, I’d originally gone in to purchase the 475, and got talked into the 570QE. I think that’s the primary reason I didn’t bond with the 570QE – it wasn’t the machine I really wanted when I walked into the shop. The 5.5 mm feed dogs will allow me to be very precise with quilt seams, and I can do some miniature quilts with that if I want to, which at this point, I have no interest in doing. It’s nice to have that option, though, and I think that my regular piecing will be much improved with this machine.

The automatic needle threader speaks for itself.

Final Thoughts

I am super excited to get this machine, and yes, I do realize that all of this borders on obsession, but I think this will be it for me. This machine is available with an optional embroidery unit, but since I received one with my Kaffe, I don’t need another one; there’s no difference in that at all.

I feel a little bit like I cheated on my local quilt shop, which is why I keep justifying it to myself by saying they should have given me a price. I just feel bad for anyone else who’s going through the same thing, because they may not try another dealer. I’d purchased three machines from the local shop as well: the 570QE, the 770QE Kaffe and the L890 serger. I tried to buy a fourth machine from them, but they weren’t willing to give me a price. I did what I could and got nowhere.

Are you thinking of upgrading your machine this year? All the major brands drop new machines in the Autumn. Have you seen anything that catches your eye?