[pctn]

Hi all:

I need some expert advice here in choosing our first family sewing machine.
http://www.sewingmachines.com.au is having a sale right now, we are trying to decide which of these 2 to go for Elna 340 Xplore or Janome MW3018le. They are both priced at $399. While being new to sewing, these are my requirement: it must be able to handle thick material such as curtain, rolled hemming, elastic stitches, satin and stretch fabric.

My other concern is about the parts and serviceability for Elna, but it has 5 years warranty though.

thanks in advance

[maxshim]

Hi there,

I'll preface this by saying I am by no means an expert

I have the Janome MW3018le. I've had it for about a year now. When I was looking around I was orginally going to buy the Sewist 521 as that's what my sewing teacher has for her students to use. I figured if they could take the "thumping" they get on a daily basis from a bunch of students between the ages of 6 and 76, then they must be okay! When I looked further in to it, at the time there was only $50 difference between the Sewist 521 and the MW3018le so I sought the opinion of my teacher and she guided me towards the MW3018le. I've never had an issue with it. Granted, it doesn't get a full work out as I mainly use straight or zig zag stitch and only sew for a maximum of approx. 5 hours per week on it at the moment. I find it extremely easy to use and each time my sewing teacher has used it she comments what a lovely machine it is and is now contemplating getting at least one for her studio.

The only things I have sewn on it so far that are a bit out of the ordinary are a raincoat made out of "raincoating" fabric from Spotlight, a baby blanket (double sided - cotton one side, minky fleece the other) and a cord dress for my DD lined with flannelette. It didn't skip a beat through any of this (not that I would consider any of those things particularly challenging). Oh - I also did a small repair on a storage bag we own which is made out of waterproof tent material. Again, it was fine, although I made sure to just go slowly as, in one spot, the fabric was quite thick. I've also sewn stretch fabric with it and used foldover elastic as binding on a dress for DD that was made of stretch fabric.

So - I hope that helps. Sorry I can't give you any insight in to the Elna and sorry I'm not a more experienced sewer that can tell you a bit more.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to let me know.

[pctn]

Thanks maxshim, Janome 512 is also one of the 2 Janome that the Lady at the shop recommended (she didn't mention about Elna at all, I wonder why!). and between 512 & Mw3018 it is now a $100 different. After reading some other review and your experience, I'm sure MW3018 will do just fine. The question is if Elna 340 will do better.