Janome 525S Sewing Machine

I have bought this to share with a friend and really, it is our first 'proper' sewing machine. We want to make clothes for ourselves and our dolls (ball jointed dolls). When deciding on the right machine for our needs, we specifically looked for dress making qualities with an extensive amount of stitch settings and able to handle varying fabrics. This has 24 stitch settings and according to reviews can handle pretty much everything you feed it!The design is great - although I am a more old fashioned girl and love the antique Singer style, it was never going to happen in this modern, minimal, blocky world. But it's still nice with the dials and features on the front being well presented and easy to understand. I won't go into too much technical specification purely because of inexperience and you can read that in better reviews... but I will just say, it's solid and sturdy, although not as 'light weight' as some reviewers have said.Winding the bobbin, inserting it and threading the machine (terrifying at first) are brilliantly detailed in the manual and the layout of the machine makes them easy to grasp anyway. (okay, we only had to watch 1, 2 minute YouTube video regarding threading just to be 1000% sure).As we are not so experienced, can't truly say if this is the best starter machine (taking price and need into consideration) but our experience so far says it is worth everything.Just a lil tip for anyone buying this, the automatic button hole foot is in the drawer at the front of the machine! We made a mistake in thinking they hadn't supplied it until we dismantled the drawer and heard it in there.Go for it :)

Absolutely great machine and I do know what I am talking about - had A Janome thirty-five years ago in UK, then lived in USA, where I bought the nearest model Janome to that one - never any problems, in fact they both were excellent all round.Came back to live in UK and used my daughter's Toyota, which was good and then a couple of years ago, started to go 'tinny' as it was 25 years old, so bought a computerized well-known make - light-weight, needle threader gave up after a week and as soon as it was out of guarantee, had all sorts of nasty problems - all round, in fact, 'rubbish' so took it to the tip and took great satisfaction in actually throwing it into the container!Then decded to get this one. As fantastic as the other Janome machines I had previously and with modern refinements, like needle threader, drop-in bobbin and speed control but still robust with a real feel of being a 'proper' sewing machine. It's great for anything, actually and will sew thick denim, which is one of my tests for a machine.Very easy to use, great instruction manual, capable of doing all domestic sewing and would be suitable for a novice/beginner or a seasoned seamstress.VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WITHOUT ANY RESERVATIONS WHATSOEVER!

It is early days for me to judge as I am still getting used to using my Janome but so far everything is going very well, I find the instruction book very helpful and easy to understand the machine stitches evenly and neat, at this time I am enthusiastic about my new hobby.

Machine works, but instructions hopeless and needle threader is impossible to see and therefore use. Surely this is for those with poor sight? I would NOT recommend it in spite of WHICH rec.

I love this machine. I am used to hand sewing and hand craft projects with only 1 experience on a machine before.This is a dream as it is easy to set up, the instructions are great. I hemmed my daughter's school trousers x2 and repaired a pocket on her school blouse in a couple of hours...that included a practice with themachine and pinning and finishing the items. They look great finished and I know I will use this lots know I know how to use it !!!It has enough stitches and functions that it will do everything I need it to and I would imagine for most people. I wanted a decent straight forward reliable machine without spending too much. I have that now.My mother in law spoke with a sewing machine repair shop and they told Janome are a good product so she also has one though a different model. She has had other machines but prefers her Janine.It is also the machine used in the Great British sewing bee.... I thought..if it is good enough for them then it is good enough for me and I was right

I am pleased with this purchase and the machine seems to be of good construction. However when I initially turned the power on the light bulb blew. I contacted the seller who sent a replacement bulb and it is now fine but this experience took the shine off the machine for me and I am half expecting other faults to appear.

I was really wary of buying another Janome as I had nothing but tension problems with my old front loading, very basic model. A service guy I met in a haberdashery shop suggested that I may have caught some cotton in the machine and damaged the mechanism. Both the lady who owned the shop and this guy recommended the 525S so I checked it out and spent days reading reviews and researching. The price was right - I didn't think I could get a decent machine without buying second hand. It was so easy to set up. I only had to find out how to thread the top loading bobbin case. There are handy YouTube videos on this model! All of my stitches have been perfect. No issues with tension. The overcasting stitch is a great finish for clothes instead of the normal zig zag. Three weeks in I started having an issue with bent needles because I didn't read the manual! You need to unscrew the cover by the feed dogs and clean the lint from the bobbin casing. I messaged Sew Essential at 10:30pm and they responded right away. Don't be put off by buying online. Great service.