I am super excited to announce that this year I am a BERNINA ambassador! If you have been following me or attended one of my workshops, you know that I love BERNINA sewing machines. (Yes, BERNINA is supposed to be in all caps!)
I bought my first BERNINA, a B 530, in 2015 after serious searching and testing. I loved it so much that I added a second identical machine to the Orange Lingerie studio.
The excellent stitch quality and fabric handling of the B 530 were such noticeable improvements over my prior machines. Suddenly silk bras, bias silk camisoles and chiffon slips were easily sewn up. It was a revelation! To this day I never have to think about the machine at all, it just works for all my projects and all my materials. Bliss!
Now I want to explore even more of what BERNINA has to offer so this year I am sewing with a BERNINA 590!
Given the projects we are working on at Orange Lingerie, I really wanted to use the BERNINA dual feed mechanism (spoiler alert: love it!) and I also wanted the ability to create machine embroidery (hello custom lace and embroidered tulle!).
Of course the B 590 has all sorts of other great features I wanted like the securing thread cutter I can trigger via the foot pedal and the 9mm stitch plate that allows me to sew a super wide 3-step zigzag that spans the entire width of the band elastic on the Berkeley bra. The 9mm stitch plate also gives me a chance to try the 8.0mm Schmetz twin needle to see if I can topstitch on both sides of the underwire casing in one pass! Also, I can’t wait to try the BERNINA Stitch Regulator (BSR) for lace and silk appliqué!
So far I am loving this new machine. Stay tuned throughout the year to see how I use the B 590 to create beautiful lingerie!
