Friday, June 11, 2010

Viking vs. Janome?

I got out my Topaz to see if there is a difference in doing the strips.  Big time difference as there is little to no bowing.  The fabric just feeds through beautifully.  Now I'm confused about the Horizon's ability to piece.  I went through again and had the same results.  Topaz has near perfect strips and the Horizon has bowed strips.

The only thing I can think of is that the Topaz's 1/4 inch foot seats perfectly on the 7mm feed dogs and the fabric feeds through both dogs.  It appears that Janome machines only has fabric feeding through the left dog.  Oh..I hope I'm not going to have the same problem that I had with the 6600 on piecing and the fabric moves to the upper left.  Janome REALLY needs to design a 1/4 foot that truly seats the fabric on both feed dogs.

Or am I just crazy?  I think I will always be a Viking fan, despite having the Horizon.  I will say the Horizon beats my Topaz at FMQ big time so maybe it's a trade-off.

Any thoughts?

5 comments:

Sewing Junkie said...

I have experienced the same trouble with a machine I am using. I thought maybe it was the way I was handling the fabric. I have to try this experiment with the other machine I use and see if it doesn the same. Thanks for the idea. Chris

Kelly Ann said...

It could also be the sensor system that your Topaz has that doesn't smash the fabric down onto the feed teeth allow it to be pulled through more evenly. TO FMQ on your Topaz, pop on the Spring loaded darning foot...works like a dream...

Jen said...

When you used to piece with the 6600, what needle position did you use? Mine DOES take advantage of both feed dogs.

Lynn said...

I don't have your kind of machine but try to lower the pressure on the presser foot and see if that helps. It may just be too tight and holding the fabric to snuggly to the feed dogs.

Jennifer said...

Hi-

I had the Janome Horizon on layaway and ended up not getting it because we are moving soon and I am worried about the warranty. I also really like the Viking topaz but I really want to be able to fmq. Since it sounds like you have used both these machines which one do you recommend? I need a good all around machine that will sew through layers and layers of jean as well as fmq well. Does a machine like that even exist? I appreciate your input and insight. Thanks!