Bye Bye Baby (Lock)

I don't think I mentioned this but my BabyLock sewing machine died. I purchased this machine about 8 years ago for $1200. Yes, it was a lot of money but it was a compromise because it had the necessary stitches I needed and several decorative stitches I wanted. I really wanted a sewing machine that also did embroidery but I could not afford it. Well, for the most part, it sat there for 7 years not getting used much. Then when I started my little doll clothes business, it got used about 5-6 hours a day. Two weeks ago, I took it into the repair shop but I had a suspicion that it would cost at least $200-$300 to fix so I told them to call me before they made any expensive repairs. So I told Brent about the problem and he told me to still get it fixed because maybe one of our girls would want it. I didn't tell Brent that after I dropped that machine off, I ran some errands and as fate would have it, I ended up right next to a sewing machine store. I just had to go in. (I should mention here that I had previously looked at machines at the fabric store I frequent and had one in mind that cost only $699 and did both general sewing and embroidery). I was talking to the manager about what I was looking for and that I wanted to keep it under $1000. She showed me a Brother machine that was normally $999 on sale for $699. It was everything I was looking for. Utility stitches and embroidery. The basic functions on this machine far outweighed the Singer machine I had previously checked out. Needless to say, I bought it. Bad news though, they didn't have any in their store so the manager called their other stores. None of them had one. She checked on ordering and found they had already ordered more and expected them in the following Tuesday. Well, I had not heard from the store for over a week so I called. I was then told that they were on back order and they didn't know when they would be in. That was last Wednesday. Friday afternoon, I got a call from the store manager. She told me that the manufacturer had over sold those machines and were in the process of replacing them with another model. The only difference between this new model and the old was that the new one has a USB port to plug your machine into the computer to download embroidery designs nstead of having to buy little design cards. The manager told me that they would give this one to me for the same price though. More problems, they do not know when this new model will come in but if I didn't want to wait, I could have their floor model and a $50 gift card. No thanks, I think I will wait! I am currently using my old Kenmore sewing machine that my dad gave me when I was 15 or 16. It doesn't do any fancy stitches and even the bobbin winder broke off so I had to go buy one of those new nifty portable bobbin winders. Today, I've been trying to make a new swim suit for the doll and the machine is having problems. The bobbin thread is bunching up and for the last several days, it is skipping stitches. Now what to do?

So, back to my Baby Lock machine, the reason I even considered buying a new machine. I got a call from the repair shop. They told me that they couldn't quite tell what the problem was. It was either the motor that would cost $500 to replace or it could be the electronic board which would cost $600 to replace and then it needed additional repairs/maintenance totalling another $200 or so. I told them not to do anything on it. Sorry girls, no one gets that machine now. It's worthless.

So hopefully, I won't get in an order for doll clothes for a while. I took my ad off of the local online classifieds so it's not too likely that I will get many orders for the time being.