To start with, I LOVE this little Janome! I purchased it new from Hancocks a couple of weeks ago and everything is checking out 100%. I bought the 8050 specifically for the speed control and on/off button which I knew would have a learning curve :o) You have to pay several hundred more dollars to get a standard machine with these features. It's full size, the same length and height as my older MC3000 but a good 5-6# lighter. There is an extension table made specifically for this model I would highly recommend if you work with large items. I've been through the manual several times and it's very well written, clear instructions and diagrams cover everything there is to know. I couldn't find anything that had been left out.
I started out by making a sampler of all the stitches to keep for reference, and they all stitched out fine including perfect buttonholes. I have used it to do block piecing, and free-motion stitching on the border of a quilt. I used the regular Janome darning foot and it worked great. I'm doing my best-ever freemotion lettering since I can go at a slow consistent speed which translates to consistent stitches in the text.
You will need to play around with the speed control and practice a lot to see what speed fits you best since you have to be 'quick on the draw' to stop it in the right spot. Any time you want to go super slow without changing the speed dial just keep the button pressed in. When you get near the end of a seam, you can really slow it down by holding the button in until you are ready to stop, then release it, and it will stop. You can start off super-slow too, by holding the button in until you are ready to go fast, then release the button and off you go. This gives much more control over the stitches similar to using the pedal.
There's been some concern over the plastic foot holder. You do NOT have to buy a metal snap-on foot holder to use other basic Janome feet, they are interchangeable for the most part. My other Janome feet slide on the plastic holder exactly like what comes with the machine, the feet that came with the 8050 snap on the metal holder and can be used on other machines. Apparently Janome did this solid 1-piece plastic holder that standard feet can slide on/off as a small cost-cutting measure, to where they could offer this amazing value without compromising their quality. I can't see it ever breaking to where it would have to be replaced, it's not cheap plastic. I did discover 3 of my Janome specialty feet that won't fit on the plastic slide-on foot holder that comes with the 8050. Most basic Janome feet work just fine. But the ones with attachment brads on the back the extra metal partially blocking the slot is in the way of the plastic holder. #1 is the 1/4" quilting foot with metal guide on the side marked "O". The guide is attached with two rivets on the back that extend over toward the middle and block the plastic from seating properly. So if you want to use this foot you will need to purchase the metal snap-on holder. Make sure you get genuine Janome from a dealer, beware of the cheap imitations on ebay as the feet will wobble and the release button is smaller and hard to push. Ask me how I know I thought I WAS buying Janome. Another that won't slide on the plastic is blind hem foot "G" that has a metal guide placed in the center of the toes, attached the same way in the back with brads except on the opposite side. The last one is zigzag foot "A" that has a screw on the side. The screw blocks the path for the plastic foot to slide on. There are other variations of Janome A which don't have the screw (I have two from older machines that fit the 8050).
If you go to the Janome website and look under accessories, you can find these three feet O, G and A, and see what I'm talking about extra metal on the back that covers part of the slot.
I won't ever buy anything but a Janome after reading a zillion reviews on about every brand/model out there and using them for the last 10 years. This is my 6th purchase, counting one for my niece to learn to sew on. Two blew away in a tornado and were replaced with two new ones just like them, never a minute's trouble from any of them. In fact one was rescued from the rubble and cleaned up, has a few scratches but still runs like new. Shows how tough even the computer models are. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with ANY Janome. :o)
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