My sewing store who sells vikings, has a class called Machine savy. I think it is $10 or $15 for the afternoon. Doesn't matter what kind of machine you have, she helps you learn all about it, and use all the attachments. I loved that class!!

I think machine snobbery is quite nonsensical and a useless waste of my time and energy. I know a lady that has the top of the line Bernina embroidery/sewing machine and lives pretty much at the poverty level, but she still insists on being very snooty about people who sew on other machines are way beneath her skill level in quilting and/or embroidery. Who cares. Each person has the machine and equipment they can afford and should be encouraged to learn their skill to their highest level. I sewed on a Kenmore machine for 20 years that I purchased at Sears in Chicago. I donated it to a church friend who had two daughters and couldn't afford to buy a machine. Since that time I have been fortunate enough that my dh has graduated me through several Pfaffs (2034, 2056 and now Expression 4.0). I have a Singer Futura 350 embroidery machine that I truly love and it does everything I need it to do in the embroidery field. I personally think being snobbish about what machine someone uses is to help improve the self-image of the person doing so.

Typical of some lqs. Don't let is bother you, your machine works, that is all that matters!

I send out an AMEN for Val in In. Good Luck with the new purchase. Teresa

Years ago I took a class and offered at a lqs, I was the only one with a kenmore and every time I had a question or problem it was 'because I had a kenmore'. I even heard the owner / teacher whispering to someone else about 'the kenmore'. The class turned me off free motion work because it just wasn't going to be possible to do this on my machine.
Fast forward a while, now I have a janome and bernina. I take the smaller bernina toclasses. I was having a problem in a class at my new lqs, and I have taken several there without trouble. But this time something was going wrong for me, and the owner and another student were saying, Oh it's just the way bernina is.....
So now I know that the least reliable part of a machine is the loose screw operating it.

i had the same problem with my brother se350 my local dealer even told me that my machine was a cheap piece of crap. but i love y machine and i would love to have the se400 because mine doesnt have the usb port. i dont understand why dealers think theirs is better just because they have a higher price they do the same thing.

ASK 100 people the same question and you will get 100 different answers,,,IMHO,,,, I have 3 brother machines that are 12 to 15 yrs old...I have made thousands of $$$$$$ doing window treatments and bedspreads to complete room make overs in homes ( some yrs up to 20 complete homes in one yr)...I love my Brother machines...I have taught many people how to sew...I don t care what make their machine is...the first thing i tell them is to bring their manual with them......I teach them what their machine is capible of and how to take care of it so it will last longer.....I have had many to ask for guidence on what to buy in a sewing machine......I try to advise them as best I can by what they will use the machine for and tell them all the options that they can choose from....not the brand to choose.....I have found too that over the years,,women have looked down their nose at a brand that is not their "choice"....To me that is a lack of confidence for a person to be that judmental....have they ever had or tried ALL the other brands ??? ...I also have a singer....a kemore and 2 Babylocks.......I love and use them all.....and I just purchased 4 inexpencesive Brother 3125 machines to use in teaching beginner sewing classes.....They sew like a charm too......!!!! Happy sewing to everybody.....there's more in life to be concerned about than "brands" of anything !!!!!

No one should make you feel bad about the machine you purchased, Do you like the machine? Does the machine do what you want it to do? If you answered ye to these questions you bought the right machine for you. If someone has an issue with your machine, then it's there problem. I say, enjoy the machine you bought

It dosnt make any sense that Brother would make a machine that is not up to its standards. This would give them a bad reputation and they would lose business.
I have a Brother that cost me $129 at Tuesday Morning 5 yrs ago. It is a great machine and has never been to a repair shop.