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I knew that I was going to enjoy using this machine as soon as I heard it purring its way through the heavy layers of stitching I had devised to test it. The presser foot sensor (no lever) automatically engages and adjusts as stitching proceeds. It handles like a classy machine with minimum thread breakages and excellent stitch quality. Good sized bobbins, with the option to wind them from the needle, a needle threader that doesn't tangle the thread, easy-change feet and an excellent, touch-sensitive screen, all make stitching so easy.
The automatic patterns are good but maximum width is 6 mm although many use the sideways feed to produce wider patterns. I do like a wider stitch for wrapping cords, etc. I was sorry to see that the 'omnigrams', the larger patterns that featured in the Orchidea, have been reduced in number; I used to find them useful. The memory is easy to use and logical, as is the text facility. Free machining is easy on the Designer 1. There are even two stitches especially for it, straight stitch and a sideways stitch that is very effective. A slight drawback is having to move the accessory box to get to the feed dog lever. The embroidery hoop is large and stitches almost to the edge, giving a very large stitch area.
A major breakthrough is the fact that designs come on 3.5" diskettes. Brilliant! No more £80 memory cards and no separate card reader/writer. Husqvarna/Viking dealers will transfer designs from the old embroidery cards to diskettes without charge. The large, colour screen comes into its own with the embroidery function and seeing the colour breakdown makes a huge difference. Again, the stitch quality is excellent and I like the fact that you can reduce the speed of the machine while embroidering - useful for tricky areas.
I tried all kinds of fabric and many different threads and it was all very smooth with minimal thread breakage. I have very few concerns about the Designer 1.
You can only write designs to the Designer 1 using the new System 5 software. The new Customising program is unquestionably an improvement on its predecessors. Lettering is especially flexible with the ability to manipulate letters and words in the same ways as digitised images. Words can still be set in circles but now also along lines and in a number of other shape settings. Selection of fill patterns for lettering is also offered and is easy to use. Hoop size can be selected at a click. Customised designs can be viewed as they will be stitched using the 3D Stitch Viewer. There is now an Edit menu and it includes an Undo feature (last step undo only) plus Cut, Copy and Paste. On the other hand, it is still not possible to keep more than one design (file) open at a time. And re-sizing doesn't re-digitise, so a smaller-sized image could look 'lumpy'. The Digitising program has hardly been improved at all and neither the Edit menu nor the Cut, Copy and Paste facilities have been brought into it. And the bug where an irritating line extends to the bottom left-hand corner of the design screen when the user mis-clicks (and which of us doesn't) is still there. The major criticism I have is that after years of asking, you still can't bring a customised (.hus) design back into the Digitising program. If we could, we probably wouldn't need the incredibly complex Stitch Editor which came in with Professional late last year. Finally, although the sewing machine itself accepts a 3.5" floppy disk, there is still a special program to write images which can be read by the sewing machine although, major step forward, without the additional hardware of a Reader/Writer.
So, to summarise, the Husqvarna/Viking Designer 1 is a brilliant machine which gives every sign of being a winner. The price of UKP2,899 is high but all these machines are expensive. The bad news is the software which, although marginally better in this version, still has some way to go before it equals the best in the market. And, at UKP1,499, it is expensive - but special offers are imminent. Available from your dealer or call (01934) 744533.
highlights from November 1999 issue