Janome Memory Craft 6600

This is the Janome Memory Craft 6600. I’ve had it for almost a year. Overall, I love it. It’s got some great features that now that I’m used to having, I wouldn’t want to be without.

This is the third sewing machine I’ve had in the last three years. The first one I bought at Target. It was cheap, but it was a great starter. After sewing for several months, I knew my hobby would stick. If I wanted to get serious about quilting, I’d need something better – a machine with more features and a more sturdy design.

My second machine was a Bernina 1630. It bought it on ebay after researching the type of features I wanted. I’d always heard great things about Berninas, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford a new one, so I bought a quality used machine. The machine I bought was over 10 years old, but it was computerized and had some great features. It only lasted a year. It had a computer board problem. Mechanically, it was in excellent shape, but to repair the computerized board would have cost around $500 and I would have been without a machine for over a month while it was being repaired. Because I was doing commissioned quilts and didn’t have a back-up machine, I couldn’t afford to be without it for a whole month, and that was my primary reason for buying a new machine. Also, $500 is a lot to spend, and if I was going to shell out that kind of dough, it might as well be toward a new machine. I traded in my broken machine towards the purchase of my current Janome.

Keep in mind that this Janome MC6600 sewing machine comes with a gob of stitches, most of which I will never use. I guess that comes standard on most machines today. Nice to have on a special project, but I rarely have a need for a decorative stitch.

I’ll highlight some of the features that may be unique to the Janome MC6600 or features I really like. My favorite feature of the Janome MC6600 is the AcuFeed system! It is really awesome. Basically, it’s a built in walking foot. When you sew a normal seam on any machine, the feed dogs under the fabric move it under the needle. With the Acu-feed feature, the fabric is fed through the machine from the top as well as the bottom. An optional accessory that I consider a MUST HAVE is the 1/4″ seam foot and plate for AcuFeed. It’s like sewing perfect 1/4″ seams with a walking foot only more convenient and with the ease of using a regular 1/4″ foot. You’ll notice when sewing two 42″ strips of fabric together, you get one nice, even seam throughout. I use the 1/4″ AcuFeed foot for all my piecing; it’s made me a more accurate sewer.

Another feature I love about the Janome MC6600 is the ability to move the needle position one increment at a time. Using a 1/4″ foot, I sew with the needle in the 5.5 position. It makes for very accurate sewing when you can fine tune the needle position when needed.

Before buying the Janome MC6600, I read about how users found it very intuitive. I thought, great… but what does that mean? After sewing on it, I believe intuitive could describe the way one begins a seam. It gently eases you into the sewing speed you have selected. There is just a slight hesitation when beginning, but it’s nothing annoying, it just gives you a second to line up your fabrics and go. It’s brief but surprisingly helpful.

The selling point for me was the large bed. It has one of – if not the – largest beds of domestic short arm machines. For the amount of quilting I do, that was a big deal. It also comes with a large extension table which is a very nice bonus.

One quilting related feature I love on this machine is the automatic thread cutter. I don’t use it while piecing, but I use it every time I’m quilting. It pulls the top thread to the back of the quilt and trims the top and bobbin thread neatly. Once I’m done quilting, I do go back and trim those threads even closer to the quilt top, but while in the act of quilting, it’s nice not to have to turn the quilt over every time to clip the bobbin thread.

Ok, now for my gripes. I got used to free-motion quilting on my Bernina 1630, and the Janome cannot touch the ease of free-motion like a Bernina. It took me a long time to get used to free-motion quilting on my new machine. Actually, after I first bought the Janome MC6600 and was getting used to it, I thought I’d made a mistake in my purchase because it was so difficult transitioning. Eventually, I did transition. If you’re just learning to free-motion on the Janome machine, you probably won’t think it’s any more difficult.

The other thing I really wished the Janome MC6600 had was a more sturdy, sizable foot pedal. It seems small, and I’m always pushing it away from me on the carpet to where I can barely reach it. Even when putting a mat under the pedal, it’s still awkward. And while we’re on the subject of the “gas” pedal, I wish you could bring the needle up or down with a tap of the heel like on a Bernina, but alas, no. There is a needle up/down button, but only on the machine body above the needle.

I wish Janome and Bernina would get married and have a Jannina. Then I’d have the perfect machine!