My new machine

To make a long story short, I’ve been using a Bernina B325 to make all of my suits for 4 years. It’s a great machine. But small. I use it for all my sewing, and free motion quilting.

Last weekend I made the Facebook marketplace find of the century when looking for quilting frames and was able to snag a Bernina 820 and a quilt frame from a local retailer for free (gently used for a few years).

I have been playing around with it and trying out the dual feed function, which is similar to a walking foot and pulls both the top and bottom fabric at the same time. It has been a game changer! The ladies at the quilt store that gave me the machine were so helpful in suggesting that feature to sew bulky fabrics like fur and I can’t wait to use it for my suit projects this week 😭.

I highly recommend this machine if you need a serious machine not only for Fursuit making but other projects. It’s sturdy, had a huge bobbin to hold tons of bottom thread, lots of functions, easy to program settings, great lighting built in, and easy to have serviced. The machine is at least 12 years old and still runs like new. Quilting has taught me so much about sewing and the foundations of machine sewing over the years that I can use when making suits. And it also has put me in contact with so many amazing sewists and quilt artists who are more that excited to help a younger adult learn all about machines, fabrics, needles and all the info.