What is the best sewing electrical device for a design student? I am an apparel design student and want to get a machine...
I am an apparel design student and want to get a machine for home. At college we have industrial machines that we use. What kind of mechanism would be best for me at home? Price doesn't matter I want something that's going to be useful to me for a long time.
Bernina
You're a student -- price has to business somehow!
Seriously, I think you're saying you want to find a power machine that will work fine, not give you any trouble, own the features you'll need, and will last a while. You're right within that you'll have to pay more than you would for a BoxMart special.
If you're looking for a untried machine, then Bernina and Viking should top your account. You'll spend more for a Bernina -- but I don't think you get more contrivance. Lots of the extra cost of high-end machines is for the embroidery functions -- which you may not need. You'll find really good deal (as in under $1000) on the Viking Platinum 750 and 775 machines right very soon -- new models are coming in and the dealer's are clearing out these machines.
If you want to look for a used domestic device, then I'd look for a Bernina 830 or 930. Mechanical machines, some of the best ever made, plenty of stitches, lots of parts available. You'll spend somewhere between $300 and $500 for and 830; a 930 (basically same machine) will run you a few hundred more.
Answers: If you're used to industrials, most home machines will be horribly slow, and you'll also find you can't use oodles of the binders and other attachments you're used to, it won't have a knee erect for the presser foot, and it won't have a thread cutter (though the last two are creeping into some home electrical device lines).
You might want to look at the portable "commercial" or "semi-industrials" put out by companies like Juki or Toyota or Bernina -- they are fast, though not as in haste as a true industrial, have their own motors so they don't need stands and grease baths, will take standard industrial feet (which are dirt cheap compared to home sewing device feet). Prices I've seen are up around $2K new, but the folks who are used to industrials adjectives tell me they're the best thing for sewing at home for them.
I'm pretty promptly for someone who uses home machines, and I can use a friend's Juki portable industrial without terrifying myself (not so next to a true industrial!), but they're still too much machine for the way I work. Nevertheless, if I be going to be doing any sort of light production work or had a garment that have to be done by a deadline, I'd be thinking strongly of th e semi-industrials.
Another route to consider is to pick up a couple of sergers, particularly if you're interested in knit. A good 5 thread serger and a separate coverstitch machine will be devout workhorses for you. Pick up any used home sewing machine that does decent buttonholes for the things sergers won't do.
Ask around your arts school -- there's often a discount offered for students by either the manufacturer or the dealers.