Sewing machine test: Quilt expression 4.2 by Pfaff

I recently wrote an article about my sewing tools, but the most important tool that I didn’t mention is my new sewing machine. At the start of summer, I contacted Pfaff to offer them the opportunity to be the partner for my upcoming sewing class workshop opening. To open my workshop, I had to equip myself. So, I contacted Pfaff because I know and like their machines. I had decided on the passportTM 3.0 and the coverlockTM 3.0 overlock machine.

At the same time, Pfaff was going to train two partner bloggers, Emmanuelle and Carole, who live in my region. The machine training thus took place in my workshop early this summer with Pfaff trainers Laurence and Anne-Marie. All three of us chose the coverlockTM 3.0 (or 4.0) and Emma and Carole had also recently acquired the quilt expressionTM 4.2 sewing machine. I therefore attended Emma and Carole’s training on the quilt expressionTM 4.2 and…I was weak. It won me over, so I added a machine to my list.

What Made Me Give In N°1

When watching Anne-Marie use the machine and train the bloggers, I was struck by the machine’s ability to sew several layers, to make beautiful buttonholes… and I started to give in. I challenged Anne-Marie to make an attractive buttonhole on two layers of a piece of quilted knitwear that I’d struggled with when making prototypes of the Jamie cardigan. After 3 or 4 tests (see photo below) that were already more successful than what I’d done on my old machine, we found the right setting and the buttonhole was perfect. The quilt expressionTM 4.2 has a buttonhole option on stretch fabrics that does the job perfectly. It’s also equipped with a “Sensormatic” Buttonhole Foot: a foot that you connect to the machine with a jack (Attention: make sure you push in the jack in correctly. Emma, Carole and I had the same problem, we all contacted Pfaff because the buttonhole foot wasn’t working. In fact, you just have to push the jack a little harder and, once it’s firmly in place, you’re ready to go.). Once the foot is connected, you can manage all settings via the LCD screen. You just have to provide the button diameter and the machine calculates the buttonhole length and sews it in one step.

What Made Me Give In N°2

The machine’s integrated dual feed. A sewing machine uses small hooks to feed the fabric from underneath. When you are sewing thick fabric, or technical fabric that slips badly, you often find yourself with unevenness at the end of the seam. The bottom fabric (in contact with the hooks) is correctly fed, but the fabric in contact with the foot is fed at a different speed, which results in unevenness. To overcome this, there is what we call the dual feed foot (or walking foot). This foot has hooks underneath, so as to feed the top fabric through correctly. I had this on my former machine. The foot is not supplied with the machine and it costs between £25 and £35  (40$ to 50$) depending on the brand. It’s a useful foot but has its limits, for example, you can’t sew a zipper with this foot.

On Pfaff machines, the system is directly built-in. Called “IDT™” (Integrated Dual Transport), this system is very easy to use. You just have to lower down a little articulated arm located behind the machine’s foot when you want to use the dual feed. Personally, I leave the arm down all the time, except for buttonholes.

What Made Me Give In N°3

The machine’s ability to handle multiple layers. If you have already sewn a denim hem, you will certainly have noticed that when reaching the seam allowances, the foot can create unevenness and the stitches are not uniform. So far, I have not had this problem with my Pfaff quilt expressionTM 4.2.

What Made Me Give In N°4

The ability to program the backstitch at the beginning of the seam and/or end, the thread snips and the foot that automatically lifts and lowers. By pressing F2 on the LCD screen you can turn off these options. For example, to sew a bust dart I select the backstitch at the beginning of the seam but not at the end. How does this work? When I sew, I mostly select the backstitch option at the beginning and end of the seam, and thread snips. Then, when I start sewing the machine automatically does a backstitch, when I finish sewing, I press a small button, the machine completes a backstitch, it automatically cuts my threads and the foot lifts. I’ve noticed lately that I was already standing up and about to remove my work when the machine was cutting the threads. I’ve really got used to this little +. Recently, I was sewing on a machine without all these options and I automatically stood up at the end of the backstitch and pulled at my work. The machine did not appreciate it, nor did its owner!

Also, the fact of not needing small scissors next to the machine to cut the threads or not having to pull them 10 cm to cut them with the machine’s thread cutter is a small thing that I greatly appreciate in the end ;-)

What Made Me Give In N°5

You can select an option where the needle remains lowered and the foot hardly lifts when you release the pedal. This small option is amazing. It’s practical when I’m sewing a curve or an angle, I can keep the needle in a low position when I release the pedal and move my work under the foot without having to manually lift it. This may seem like a small detail, but it brings me a lot of comfort.

What didn't made me give-in but is really great:

- The Pfaff quilt expressionTM 4.2 sewing machine offers more than 250 different features. I personally only use 15 features on this machine, as I’m not a keen embroiderer. However, during the training, Laurence showed us openwork embroidery and I was very impressed.

- Its work table is spacious and comfortable, and the free arm is quite slim and allows you to sew a small cuff (not small enough for a baby);

- The work table has dual lights;

- It’s quiet;

- The foot pedal is large and comfortable;

It has many other options, but I just want to tell you about my personal use of the machine. I have nothing bad to say about this machine. I worked really intensively with a good, entry-level machine for three years, so my Pfaff is much more comfortable. It took me three weeks to get out of the habit of using my old machine and to get used to the new one. Everyone who knows me, knows that I hate gadgets. I like simple machines, I like simple mechanics, yet I love this machine! It’s packed with small things but remains very easy to use. The instructions are clear, but I found these videos particularly useful for understanding how it operates. As I hadn’t initially planned to get this machine, I didn’t follow all of Emma and Carole’s training and I had a few gaps in my knowledge.

I’ll tell you about the coverlockTM 3.0 another time as, for the moment, I haven’t used it enough to give you comprehensive feedback. I currently have an exceptionally busy timetable and haven’t yet been able to make progress on my knitwork projects.

Hope this post will help you choosing a good sewing machine!