Thank you all so much for your input on my machine quandary! I was just rereading all the fantastic comments, and one really stood out at me. Marlena raved about her Bernina 1008, and then added: "I find it fun to have to turn all those knobs!" My goodness, I could not agree more. Whilst trying out the 1008, I kept thinking how delightful it was to turn KNOBS! (It really is the simple things in life, I suppose.) This all got me thinking. I've developed a theory that there are two kinds of sewing machine enthusiasts in this world - button pressers and knob turners.So, I'm a knob turner, I've discovered. But there are plenty of button pressers. All those people who exclaim you can do something "at the touch of a button!"? They're button pressers. That's all well and good for them, but give me a knob to turn any day.
So, how about you? Are you as thrilled as me by turning a knob? Or are you in the "touch of a button" camp? Do tell.
Also, this is a very roundabout way of telling you all that I decided on the 1008. I put a deposit down today and will pick it up next Friday! I thought hard about my options, but I just really liked using the 1008. I must have been swayed by all those glorious knobs.
Thanks again for your help!
Definitely a button presser and a gadget freak, to boot!
ReplyDeleteKnob turner all the way. Digital just feels too modern when sewing vintage items, you know?
ReplyDeleteKnob turner!
ReplyDeleteAngie R.
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ReplyDeleteVintage fashion, 21st century technologies. We're blogging about vintage right now, aren't we?
ReplyDeleteI like how my machine trills electronically when I plug her in. Like saying "Hello Steph, let's get sewing."
Most definitely knob turner! And a switch flicker, lever mover...etc. I like to take the road less traveled.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of both. I have two digital machines and 4 manual machines, if you include sergers. I also use the manual machine to teach sewing. If I had to choose, I would call myself an old button pusher. My first digital machine is almost 15 yrs old is very much buttons. My new machine doesn't even have buttons, just a touch screen like an iPhone (but not as user friendly). The newer one is too complicated for me to learn and I keep telling myself that I should sell it.
ReplyDeleteI am a knob turner. And I secretly in my head voted for the mechanical machine!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your new prize - may it bring you many, many hours of sewing bliss!
Yay for knob turners! So excited you're getting the 1008! I'm still pretty infatuated with my mine. It's ridiculous really; I've got quite the crush. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'll be happily following your adventures with your new machine. I hope you reward yourself for the money you're "saving" by buying a couple of the special feet. The Bernina website has short videos showing how they each work.
Marlena
I'm a button presser, but an all around Bernina lover! You'll love it!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm TOTALLY a button presser kind of girl!! I realized that understanding the physicality of what I'm doing makes the process make more sense.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I have a 1006 and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteBoth, love my older Bernina with buttons and my old Kenmore with knobs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have listed vintage patterns in my etsy shop and need to find homes for them. Any referrals would be greatly appreciated. I will be adding more almost every day.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugDuds
I'm... undecided. But my machine has both! Things like triple stitch are buttons, and others are knobs! Yay!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a knob turner. My main machine is a Singer 401, so knobs, definitely!!
ReplyDeleteKnob tuner and slider alonger.
ReplyDeleteDoes that count as a knob?
Knobs all the way!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! Looking forward to future post while you get to know your 1008!
ReplyDeleteKnob turner here. Love dials, gauges and sliders, and don't get me STARTED on levers!
Button pusher ;) I think knobs kind of freak me out. I usually turn them too much or not enough. lol.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your decision! Isn't it strange that when it comes down to it, it's small things like button pressing/knob turning that makes us make up our mind? To me it's a bit surrealistic pressing a button when reversing; lifting the handle makes much more sense, haha. I guess that makes me a knob turner. Nevertheless, I'm like Winnie the Pooh: I would like one of each. Both the mechanical and the electrical have some appeal to me, but I think that's related to my curiosity to where are the differences apart from buttons and knobs? You can't really find out from reading comments and instructions, you'd have to feel it... (maybe this is just some frenzied excuse to buy a new sewing machine???)
ReplyDeleteI'm a knob turner. With the digital ones, I wonder if there's more that could go wrong and need more repairs. I haven't researched this, though.
ReplyDeleteA button presser here. I was a knob turner for ages, but then I met my Pfaff 2134. And I fell for her head over heels. So i guess I switched camps :-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new machine! ;) I have to say, having not used a machine with buttons excessively, by default I'm a knob girl. ;) When I have used machines with buttons I spend far too much time searching for the right one though--simpler is better, imho! ;) lol
ReplyDeleteknob turner - its so nice to feel something mechanical happening in there when you turn a knob. Lots of very satisfying 'clunks'
ReplyDeleteI've never used a sewing machine with buttons but I love using the buttons on my knitting machine. So I guess I am a buttonaholic! Who would have thought?
ReplyDeleteI think of myself as more of a button PUSHER, which is a whole other thing...
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new Bernina -- can't wait to hear about it.
argh!! I know that I will soon be seduced into buying one after I have seen what you turn out with yours!! x
ReplyDeleteSo delighted you went for the 1008! I think I'm more of a knob turner--there is something more satisfying about understanding just how much to adjust a knob or dial to get exactly what you want. It feels like more of an accomplishment than just pushing a button. Although should someone present me with a button-laden new machine, I'd certainly give it a try...
ReplyDeletevery nice choice!
ReplyDeleteKnobs for me, unless I'm in an elevator-then I want buttons!
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ReplyDeleteI am presently a button pusher but only by default. I'm just excited to have a machine that works and I don't feel like throwing out the window EVERY time I try to sew.
ReplyDeleteGive me knobs any day! All I want is a sturdy machine with basic functions. Am also a bit mistrustful of computerised machines - am sure the product life will be shorter in the long run, but am not going to spend lots of £££ just to find out. I bet you can't wait for the new machine!
ReplyDeleteKnob turner. My sewing machine is a Viking SLE 6570. The manual was printed 8/79. I love it, it is almost like the machine I learned to sew one except all the workings were reconditioned as part of a teaching course for the dealers so it was like the machine was brand new when I bought it. My SIL has a newish embroidery/sewing machine with lots of buttons. I showed her how to work it and clean it but I was thinking the whole time that if it had been my machine it would have been simpler to do.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new sewing machine. I'm a button presser, but don't have a problem turning a knob or two. ;-) My back up machine has knobs.
ReplyDeleteI'm a knob turner. I think it has something to do with knowing what is happening when I turn a knob and being able to turn it a half stop if needed. When you push a button... what's going on back there?! Its like those commercials when you pop something in the microwave and there is a whole team of chef's behind the scene cooking your meal... =)
ReplyDeletePresser. Fer sure.
ReplyDelete~Sewjourner
I have a Bernina 1008 and they are great for free motion machine embroidery.
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your new machine.x
Knob turner. Still going strong on a 1976 Singer Stylist. I... trust it. When it breaks, the parts will get replaces. Something about the computerized ones feels risky to me. Like it it breaks, it'll need to be replaced. But my sister has a button-pushing machine. So be it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a knob turner. I get a little sense of glee every time I hear the internal gears switching while I turn the dials. So I guess I'm really a sewing nerd and a knob turner.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new machine!
I like your distinction between button pressers and knob turners--I hadn't thought of it that way.
ReplyDeleteI'm a knob turner--somehow I feel that turning a knob gives me more control over the machine.
I've got both and am stalking a treadle machine (last time the power went out I nearly died!!!) I love my new computerized machine although I admit I'm secretly terrified it's brain will fry mid project someday.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new machine! Looking forward to hearing all about how beautifully it sews.
ReplyDeleteI'm envious...a new machine. You could say I am a combination of being both a button pusher and knob turner. There are merits in both types of machines. Congrats on your new machine and ~Happy Sewing~.
ReplyDeleteYou will love your new Bernina! Congrats. I would suggest one thing...buy the zipper foot #4 that is all one piece. It is much slimmer and works much nicer than the clip on jobbie you get with the 1008. This is a great machine and Bernina still makes them because they are so popular for schools.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new Bernina! You will LOVE it! I am a button pusher, though!!!!!!! I have the 430 and think it is just the greatest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteGood choice! I have a Bernina 1001 (older model of the 1008), love it, very simple to use. Its 19 years old and still going strong!
ReplyDeleteLike kiwichick I also have a 20+ year old Bernina 1001 and I adore it. It's never had to be serviced (but I'm very anal about cleaning and oiling it) and it always works perfectly. You made an excellent decision my dear!
ReplyDeleteI'm all knobs. There's something satisfying about the "click click click" noise the knobs make on my machine. It's like I'm really doing something.
ReplyDeletei didn't THINK i was a button pusher until i met my husqvarna 118. it was at the top end of my price range but after testing out a lot of machines i just kept coming back to the 118's "needle up / down" button. simple, i know, but it makes sewing so much easier for me.
ReplyDeleteI'll take knobs over buttons any day! They're much more satisfying. :) I have my mom's old Singer, from the 60's, love it - used my MIL's new machine the other day and all the button pressing drove me crazy, and for some weird reason I was terrified I would sew through my fingers the whole time....
ReplyDeleteAnother hand up for the knob turner team. I have a Bernina 931 Record and my favourite thing is the knee lever. (I think I could swing both ways though if I had the option of a machine with buttons.)
ReplyDeleteI'm a button pusher. It always feels more accurate for me, and very familiar since it's similar to my computer which I'm on almost all the time lol.
ReplyDeleteI'm a button presser. Congrats on your new machine! :)
ReplyDeleteI am totally a knob turner! My mom has that same Bernina, and I have her old Singer from when she graduated from high school.
ReplyDeleteknob turners ftw!!!
ReplyDeleteI guess it doesn't help that i learned on this incredibly ancient thing in my Gma's basement though...
I have just found your blog. Not really since last year when I travelled to 1955, did I find the joy that is sewing. Now I have on its way my coveted vintage sewing machine dream, the 1959 Singer 500 'ROCKETEER" which I am so excited about. IT has every foot imaginable and can do so (or should I say SEW) many things. I have a website now and have started to focus on one vintage minded blogger a month, though feg and march are taken, how would you feel about being interviewed and such for APRIL? Love your blog and idea. (oh the site is www.theapronrevolution.com thanks)
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the farm and I was forever hearing that when you add electronics to a machine, it is one more thing to go wrong!! My experience is that the machine part tends to far outlast the electronics part and so I would have to say that I'm a knob turner until they can make a better button to press. I would love all the bells and whistles... but I can't afford to fix them when they break. Knob turning it is!!
ReplyDeleteGoodness, I missed this post! Yey, congratulations - I've been wondering since reading the mechanical machines post what you went for! I hope you will be very happy with your 1008. And knob turner all the way. It feels more real in some way, a direct corralation between the action and reaction.
ReplyDelete