DonnaC

I am a customer of Allbrands and get their weekly newsletter. There was a very interesting item in it today about Sears' sewing machines. Here it is:

"Sears Kenmore sewing machines have been made by Maruzen Japan or Janome New Home over the last 50 years. Janome was the last private label manufacturer to make Sears Kenmore branded sewing machines in their ...Republic of China factory. All future production of Sears Kenmore sewing machines is moving to Singer and Jaguar factories in Mainland China, People's Republic of China or Vietnam where Singer has established manufacturing."

Allbrands has four different Kenmore machines which supposedly are the LAST models to be manufactured by Janome. They are the 11803, the 11206, the 19106 and the 19233. These include a mini, a 3/4 size, and two full sized machines, all reasonably priced between $49.99 and $399.99. (Again, I have no affiliation with Allbrands, I'm just a customer.)

I have posted here before about all of the heartache and problems I've had with my new Singer machine. I ended up buying a Kenmore (not one of the models above) as a backup when my Singer wasn't running, and I've had no problems at all with the Kenmore (which was about 1/10th the price of the Singer!). So I'm passing this along as a public service, I guess! I most definitely would not buy another Singer and if the new Kenmores are now really going to be Singers, I wouldn't buy one of those either.

Of course, everybody has their own opinion... just offering mine.

sewingladydi

I have a 30 year old Kenmore-not fancy but works well. It's my back up and I'll never get rid of it.

Caroline S

Very interesting article. I think I will also stay with my vintage machines.

sewbeadit

I have a Janome Kenmore and it works great. I had a Kenmore I bought new in 1974 and was a wonderful machine. I won't buy another one after hearing this. Will go look it up too, and see what I can find.

AprilG

A few years ago, when I was 16, I bought my mother a Kenmore sewing machine. She passed it down to me, and I passed it down to my oldest daughter when she left home (I really miss that machine! LOL) My DD has now passed it down to her daughter. 4 generations owning and using it. The machine is now 46 years old. And still going strong. We just make sure that it gets a yearly check up.

sewnsewer2

I bought this Kenmore at Sears about 5 years ago for a back up machine and use it all the time and take it to classes. It isn't fussy about what thread you use and it's a real work horse! I love it, but hate the foot pedal. It is metal and very hard to step on.

I have had Kenmores for the past 15 years.

DonnaC

I just had to comment, sewnsewer2, that I love the curtain that's hanging behind your machine!! You must be one of the "lucky ones" who has an actual sewing room......

sewnsewer2

Thanks Donna, I made them a long time ago. They are faded now and I haven't been able to find any more of that fabric.

barbo117

Just for conversation. Christmas of 2010 my 2 year old Brother machine died and I wanted a new sewing machine, didn't want another Brother or a Kenmore. I knew I wanted a Janome. After shopping all over the internet, found a nice one on Overstock.Com for around $300. It had all the bells and whistles that I wanted and was a great price, they said the machine was originally $600. When I received it I was surprised to see that the Janome brand name that was on the machine was a little clear sticker that was obviously stuck on the machine after another brand name had been removed. The owners manual stated the machine was a Janome. Well I made some phone calls and did some investigating and found out that the machine had originally been branded a Sears Kenmore, produced in the Janome factory, but for whatever reason (???) had been returned to the factory (probably for defect repairs or was a customer return)) and at that time was re-branded as a Janome. At first I was highly upset over the whole situation, but my local sewing machine repair shop advised me that if it was made in a Janome plant, it was made to Janome specs and he felt I got a great deal on it. So I kept the machine and I have been using it for over a year now and I simply love it, has a beautiful stitch and is a really strong machine. Only goes to show we don't know where our products are made or in whose factory.

Earleen

I bought a Kenmore 1947 year.for $10.00 at a resale. It purrs like a kitten and sew great. Talk about old age.