Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Playing with stitches

So I’ve been playing around with the different stitches on the machine.  Can you tell?

One of the very first things I decided to do was sew a sample of each of the 180 stitches it is capable of.  Boy, that got old fast.  But I got most of the way through until I ran out of room on my sample fabric and decided to give up. They’re all done using Mettler silk finish 100% cotton thread.  Rumor has it polyester thread might make these things look prettier, but I’ll tell you now that this sampler won’t be getting done all over again!

A closeup of the button holes.  One of them got quite wonky (the plain rectangular one, if that’s even a button hole…).  Oops!  I especially like the one that looks like a caterpillar on the right.  Turns out buttonholes are quite easy to make on this machine, and you can program it to make them all uniform.  Very slick.

Here’s a closeup of some of the decorative stitches.  The honeycomb in the top left, and some of the flower ones are my faves, though.

Not sure when and where I’ll be using all of these decorative stitches, but I’m sure you’ll see them pop up in future projects.  (Hmm… how to incorporate these into my latest work-in-progress Frenchy handbag?)

I’m glad now to at least have a reference that shows me what the actual stitches look like, besides what’s on the little card that came with the machine.

Posted by robyn on July 4th, 2008 under bernina 440 qe, crafts, sewing, sewing machines

11 Responses to “Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Playing with stitches”

  1. Kat Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    Loving the stitches - you have me lusting after a new machine!

  2. robyn Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    @Kat:

    Thanks, Kat! It is lovely to sew on. After I realized just how many stitches there were, I began wondering if I’d ever use them all… I figure I’ll find a way though!

  3. Dori Says:
    July 10th, 2008 at 5:07 am

    Wow! Seems like this machine is worth every well-negotiated cent.

    Doris last blog post..1

  4. robyn Says:
    July 10th, 2008 at 6:54 am

    @Dori:

    So far so good! I certainly intend to get my money’s worth!

  5. Irene Alley Says:
    July 12th, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    Loved your blog and comments on your new Bernina. I am thinking of getting one. Nearest Bernina store is an hour away, so would not be easy to go back with questions. I have a Viking I have had for over 20 years. Am thinking of buying that Bernina you bought. Have you done any free motion quilting on it?

    Irene

  6. robyn Says:
    July 12th, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    @Irene Alley:

    Hi Irene, Thanks for stopping by! I do love the machine and would highly recommend it. I have played with the free motion quilting and BSR, but have not officially used it in a quilt yet (though I do have plans to do so soon). From my experimenting, the BSR really is quite nice! I especially like the feature where you can tell it to go when you move the fabric instead of when you push the foot pedal. Have to watch your fingers, though…

    My Bernina store is also far, but they will answer questions over the phone. Also, the manual is excellent and will walk you through almost everything. Good luck with your decision! I’d love to hear what you decide. -Robyn

  7. Irene Alley Says:
    July 15th, 2008 at 6:47 am

    Meant to ask you if your machine has a stipple stitch. Saw one on a TV sewing show. That machine was not a Bernina, though.

  8. robyn Says:
    July 15th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    @Irene Alley:

    Yes, it does have a very cute stippling stitch. I”m not sure where I’ll find it useful, since it all fits within 5 mm width. Any suggestions? I’ve never had a machine with this stitch and I’m not sure what to do with it exactly. BSR allows me to do free motion with no problem in order to mimic this pattern on a larger scale. Any ideas?

  9. pep Says:
    July 27th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    Thank you, for show us the button holes this machine mades. Thinking of upgrading my 1230.
    pep

  10. robyn Says:
    July 29th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    @ pep:

    Hi Pep, I loooove the machine and I’m really quite impressed with the buttonholes. The buttonhole memory feature is fantastic, and I think the quality of the buttonhole stitching is quite good also (though I’m not a huge user of buttonholes, so I may not be the best authority on that..) The stitches seem even and dense enough and probably could be denser with different thread. Very easy to make, and quick, too!

  11. Dog Named Banjo » Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Free-motion Quilting - Part 1 of 2 Says:
    August 3rd, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    [...] it looks like we’ll need a machine.  Check!  Got that one [...]

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I'm Robyn. Thanks for stopping by! This is my craft blog.

Contact me at robyn [at] dognamedbanjo [dot] com.




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