Milinda Sews

The Janome Skyline S-9 is the perfect machine for millennials. It combines the features of Janome’s top of the line machines with the easy-to-use features of the new Skyline series, and it is affordable.
In spite of the reasonable price point,  the robotic arm for the embroidery unit is exactly like the 15000, guaranteeing accuracy in every embroidered design.
My first test for the machine was embroidery—I wanted to try out the built-in Anna Maria Horner designs.  I was not disappointed. They sewed out beautifully:

Next, I wanted to try out the sewing features. Often, I use a separate machine for sewing and embroidery. In fact, lately, I’ve defaulted to the Skyline S-7 for any sewing needs. But I wanted to see if the s9 was easy enough to convert from sewing to embroidery and back again so that I could just use one machine.  I chose decorative stitches that I wanted to show  off on the humble kitchen towel. I have to confess: I broke the rules and didn’t use stabilizer for the sewing portion. But look how lovely the stitches turned out without stabilizer! The machine is magical. And converting from sewing to embroidery and back again? A cinch—simply change from the embroidery to the sewing foot and back again.

Next, I wanted to try out some real sewing on the machine. No fancy stuff here, just straight stitching. How stable would the machine be? Would the bed jump around when I sewed really fast?

I tried sewing a simple john for my first grandson. He’s not quite a year old, and needed an outfit for a wedding. His mom was a bridesmaid, and we wanted his outfit to match the wedding colors.
 I really like the feel of the machine. It’s solid—the bed doesn’t move like cheaper machines, so that the stitches are perfectly straight. The quarter inch foot was perfect for the Martha Pullen pattern I used that called for ¼ inch seams. Sewing on the Skyline S-9 was lovely. The machine sews smoothly, quickly and very quietly, and,  with a stitch speed of 1,000 spm, the outfit came together in no time.

Next, I needed buttonholes. Would the Skyline S-9 sew the couture buttonholes I needed for this wedding outfit?
I opened the well-written instruction book, turned to the page on buttonholes, and oil.  I popped my button into the buttonhole foot, attached the foot to the machine, chose automatic buttonhole, and pressed start. The operation couldn’t have been any easier. Perfect buttonholes for Brooks’s wedding outfit.

Finally, I needed to monogram the outfit. I didn’t need additional software to create the perfect monogram. It was built right into the machine!

My daughter’s best friend is having her first baby in December, so I tried my hand at quilting. I am by no means an expert quilter-in fact, I am a complete beginner. But the walking foot and automatic tension made quilting feel like normal, easy sewing. The seams were even, there was no fabric bunching, and my little quilt looks pretty good, even when judged by my quilting friends. In fact, quilting on this machine made me want to learn more about quilting. I think I can do it!

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Cons: Well. I feel like I need to say that I found things I didn’t like, but I didn’t. This is simply a great machine for all around sewing, quilting and embroidery.
And, my completely favorite aspect of the machine? The magnets that are available for each of the hoops. I did not hoop anything normally. Instead, I hooped my tear-away stabilizer normally,  and then used the magnets to secure the fabric. If you’ve never hooped with magnets, you are going to love this!
Magnets are just easier. Especially when you are trying to get a perfect center.

Sending designs from my iPad to my machine was a cinch–I even tried sending from my iPhone, and it worked. Wifi capabilities open a whole range of features that I can’t wait to play around with.  I am not going to want to part with this machine!