Viking Emerald

[Lady Rebecca]

Hello! I am about to purchase my first sewing machine, but I need a few tips. I have it pretty much narrowed down to the Viking 183 or 203. Do any of you all have experience with either of these machines, and is there a real advantage to one over the other? The Viking center in my local Joanns is running a sale on both right now - the 183 is $599, and the 203 is $799. Also, I have found several new 203s on ebay for $699 from sellers with good ratings. Would it be better to buy at Joanns, or is it okay to go for ebay? And do those of you who have either of these machines feel that you miss out on being able to do embroidery?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[gem]

I have the 183, and I ADORE IT. I would buy it again in a nanosecond.  I think the 203 has come out since I bought mine, so I'm afraid I don't really know anything about it!  At the time (Dec 2008), the 183 was the top of the Emerald line, and it had some distinct advantages over the other models (particularly in terms of which feet/accessories/etc were compatible). Before I bought mine, I pored over the Viking Accessory Guide that comes with every Viking machine. It told exactly what accessories were available for the 183, and I found that *hugely* useful.

As for embroidery, there are a few small stitches on the 183 (so I'm guessing there are more on the 203).  I did some machine blackwork on my partlet:



The thing about embroidery machines... machine embroidery takes a long time, and you can't *sew* while it's going... so most of the folks I know who do a lot of machine embroidery recommend having separate machines--one to sew with, while the other one embroiders.

I recommend buying locally, if you can. If you can find a mom & pop dealer that you like, even better! I wasn't very confident in the Viking rep at my local JoAnn store, but I found a local quilt shop that was very knowledgeable, carried everything at comparable (or better!) prices, and offered fantastic support.  I was waffling between a new Viking and a used Bernina, until I found that shop. They made up my mind for me, and then all I had to do was decide which model I wanted.

I would search for reviews of the 203--both on Google (so you'll get blog reviews) and on PatternReview. I'm not sure how new the machine is, so it's possible people haven't put it through longterm use yet, but if it's made to the same standards as the 183, you should be in good shape.

Have fun!

[Lady Rebecca]

Thanks for the tip about the embroidery machines - I had never thought about that before. And that blackwork looks really nice!

I had actually searched on the Viking website for dealers, and the only ones in this area are the ones inside Joanns. But I'll definitely tell my mom it might be better to buy it there than on ebay (since she found those).

[gem]

Well, good luck, Rebecca!  If you do get the 203, be sure to come back and tell us all about it! When I saw it at my dealer's shop, I refused to even look at it, because I didn't want to get jealous! LOL

[Cilean]

You all are speaking my language!  Congratulations on gaining an embroidery machine!  I personally am partial to the Husqvarna Brand, I just upgraded to the Diamond from the Designer SE.  I too want to tell you, embroidery does take time, and while this is your first machine? Gaining machines is addictive!  I have a serger and another machine a fantastic Kenmore that was the top of the line when it came out. It has never given me a moment's regret for purchasing it either.   I tend to plan ahead what I need to stitch out on the machine first and I do all of those things before I begin to sew.  I am working on new sets of Shirts for my ever growing sons and my hubby has down sized from an XL to an M (now he is just more hunky).   With regards to eBay Machines? I tend not to get them due to the fact? You want to take your machine back to the dealer and well how can you if your dealer is not in your state? How about classes? That sort of thing, if something goes wrong with the machine you need people you can trust to handle them.  The dealers at JoAnn's are still dealers, so they will have people to take care of your machine.

Just to let you all know? I was just at Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, and one of the vendors makes nice shirts for $65.00.  Okay, so I was in there  and I now see this year? They have Machined Blackwork Embroidery on the necklines and cuffs of some of their shirts.  So now they are $90.00 and people were buying them! They were not made from linen either just basic cotton most not even white but off white.  I had made these to test out Myst (The new machine)


Both of these took less than 45 minutes to stitch out:


Here is the other one sorry I could not seem to get both segments, now they are necklines and cuffs



This is for my youngest child who adores anything red, so I found this and had to make it for his set of shirts:



Okay these patterns I did not change from the original stitching, they are as purchased, I just used different colored threads for my own preference.


Just to show you what can be done on the machines!

Cilean

[Kate XXXXXX]

Those are so pretty!

I knew I'd need an embroidery machine eventually...   

[Lady Rebecca]

I bought the 183 today! I haven't gotten to use it on my own yet, because then I had to go out and buy and put together a desk for it to sit on. It's so tempting sitting up there, but alas, I have to go to bed. I also ordered the eyelet plate, so hopefully I can finally work on my stays again!

And that's some lovely blackwork!

[Kate XXXXXX]

You will love the eyelets.  Which size plate did you order?  I have the smaller one.  I think...

[gem]

...And I have the larger one, because I couldn't fathom finding cord to go through a 6mm hole. I'm no expert on the metric system, but that just sounded *tiny.*

Congratulations!!  I think you'll enjoy it. But I'm biased, because I love mine. 

[Kate XXXXXX]

Standard corset lace will go through a 4mm hole just fine.  The 6mm holes took some 1cm grossgrain ribbon perfectly here:

[Lady Rebecca]

I bought the 6mm. I also couldn't really imagine lacing up a 4mm.

[Kate XXXXXX]

3mm (Bernina) with cord:





Oh, and Vicky's corset was done with the HV 4mm, not 6mm.  I'll be using 4mm holes in my 18th C stays, as they will have 1cm satin ribbon to tie with.