My Favorite Vintage Sewing Machines
In today’s edition of The Sewing Machine Newsletter, I am going list a handful of my favorite vintage sewing machines, plus what you can expect from such machines and what I think is a fair price.
A few of these machines might surprise you. My list does not take weigh aesthetics as much as it weighs utility, functionality, and personal sentimentality. I’m sure some will feel that I left off certain models that ought to be included, so please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Bernina 217
The Bernina 217 is a rare industrial sewing machine that does both straight-stitch and zig-zag. I decided to put it on this list because it is difficult to find such a machine these days that is reasonably priced. The industrial sewing machine manufacturer, Consew, makes an industrial machine capable of straight stitch and zig-zag called the Consew 146RB-2A-1, which sells for $4,299 online (with table & motor included). In the rare cases when we do get a Bernina 217 in our shop, we sell it for between $1,500-2,000 depending on the condition, and that includes education plus a parts + labor warranty. I’ve seen them for sale online at places like Ebay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace for $600-900, which is a steal in my opinion (though there is no warranty with such purchases).
The 217 is of extremely high quality and held in high regard by professional sewists who use it for upholstery, leatherwork, sailmaking, and heavy fabric garments (e.g., denim or canvas). Rumor has it that some of the 217’s are made of recycled steel from melted down Nazi Tiger Tanks abandoned in Switzerland after World War II, but this has never been confirmed.
I’ve actually written about the Bernina 217 before in an article about Melody Sabatasso, the Queen of Denim. The Bernina 217 is her machine of choice.
The Queen of Denim
Janome Memory Craft 10000
Like most machines on this list, the Janome MC10000 was a top-of-the-line machine when it first came out. While it is technically a sewing-embroidery combination machine, the embroidery technologies are quite outdated in 2024 and I would not recommend it for anybody looking for a good embroidery machine. The sewing capabilities, on the other hand, are outstanding.
This machine is designed with Janome’s famous powder-coated frame, which gives it a smooth and heavy feel when sewing. I meet sewists all the time who bring their MC10000 into the shop for a tuneup, and whenever I try to talk them into considering a new machine, most MC10000 owners resist because the touch and feel provided by that powder-coated frame is hard to give up.
If I was to sell a vintage Janome MC10000, I would sell it as a sewing machine, not an embroidery machine, and would price it around $400-500. It’s really nice, but you are relying on older electronics at this point, so anything higher than $500 feels wrong to me. Right now I see a few of them priced online for over $800, but I suspect that the high price point is the reason they have yet to sell.
Bernina 830 Record
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