Janome 6500P Quilting Machine, First a little history of Janome sewing machines. Previously the company was the New Home Sewing Machine Company, which has been in business since 1860. They are an industry leader in programmable computerized sewing machines and the first to offer professional style embroidery stitches. Janome machines are known for their ease of use and stitching quality.
The Janome Memory Craft 6500P is one of their best and most popular sewing machines with lots of quilting features. It’s a super modern sewing machine with lots of options to allow you to finish up quilts and other sewing projects quickly and easily. The computerized engineering offers an amazing array of features for the home quilter, in addition to sewing features for embroidery, monograms, garments, and home décor. This flexible Janome MC6500P Sewing Machine does it all. It’s a home quilting machine that professional sewists love. It’s priced in the upper-mid cost range so make sure you visit a sewing studio and try one out before you invest. I love it and think it’s definitely worth the money.
There are some elements that are especially handy for making quilts including a large 9” x 5” throat area that will accommodate big quilts, along with a 12” x 24” extension bed to give you a much larger sewing surface and support for the fabric. There is a knee lifter for raising the presser foot so you keep your hands on the project and an advanced feed mechanism that works with thick, layered, or delicate fabrics. It sews fast too, up to 1,000 straight stitches per minute with professional speed control and flexibility. It’s the fastest Janome has ever offered.
The customizable and specialty stitch choices are very generous. The back-it LCD panel with a ten-key selection display makes them easy to program. With 135 different stitch types over 4 different modes, there is a wide range from utilitarian to decorative. That translates to 391 stitch variations including 7 buttonholes. There are beautiful custom stitches such as the French Knot and Feathering. The Quilting mode has 69 patterns, 4 of which look like hand quilting. And the system memory will recall the last 3 settings you’ve programmed in case you need to go back and re-do a particular seam. There is a quick flip chart that shows all of the stitches that fold up from the back of the machine. And just in case you don’t sew in English there are 9 other languages included.
Another nifty feature is the exclusive independent bobbin winder. The bobbin loader is a drop-in style and very easy to change – as long as you don’t have a project going. That’s a disadvantage. It seems if the Janome Company thought it was important enough to be able to wind a bobbin while still sewing they would have used a side bobbin loader so you don’t have to stop sewing to load the bobbin. Seems contradictory. But the bobbin mechanism is jam-proof, which is a great feature. Janome recommends using plastic bobbins which aren’t my favorite but the advantage is you can see easily how much thread is left on the spool.
The automatic thread cutter will cut both the top and bobbin threads with the push of a button. Or it can be programmed to cut automatically at the end of certain stitching combinations. And the automatic needle threader makes your setup time fast and easy.
The needle controls for the reverse, lock, and up/down settings are located right above the sewing area. There’s a light in the face plate along with a visible pressure gauge that lets you control how much pressure the sewing foot places on the fabric. Once you find the perfect setting for a particular project, you can see exactly how to get back to it every time.
The Janome MC6500P has a bed, die-cast aluminum arm, top cover and faceplate. The internal gears are all metal it comes with a 25 year limited mechanical warranty. Metal gears allow top-speed sewing without vibration and they last longer than plastic parts. The disadvantage of metal gears is the noise and weight. This machine weighs 27 pounds so it’s not made for toting to quilting class easily. This sewing machine is built like a tank and made to last.
Pros:
- Works well on a machine quilting frame when sewing large quilt projects.
- Many programmable and automatic features that allow fast and easy quilting
- A large number of different stitch and monogram styles.
- Heavy-duty construction made to last.
Cons:
- The metal construction gives the Janome Memory Craft 6500P some extra weight making it less portable than some machines
- Does not include a free arm for garment sewing
- Doesn’t include a start-stop button and the machine must be run on foot
Features & Functions
- Back-lit LCD screen with stitch indicator
- Ten key stitch selection in quilt, monogram, quilting, and direct modes
- 10 language selection
- Memory function with recall for previous 3 stitch settings
- Sews 1000 pm straight stitch & 700 pm zigzag
- Auto-stop at the end of buttonhole
- Speed control lever & foot speed control
- Knee control presser foot lifter & lever on the back of Presser bar
- 9” x 5” throat area
- 12” x 24” extension bed
- Front access 5 piece feed dogs with up & down control
- SFS – Superior Feed System
- External feed balancing dial
- Separate bobbin winder with thread cutter
- Jam proof, the magnetic, top-loading full rotary bobbin hook system
- Automatic thread cutter with memory
- Built-in needle threader
- Industrial spool stand
- Visible pressure gauge
- Sewing lamp in faceplate
- Manual tension dial
- Short folding handle
- Size 19.5” W x 11.8” H x 8.6” D
- Weighs 27 lb
13 standard feet that attach easily including:
- Automatic buttonhole foot – There’s a feature in the machine to auto cut the thread when the buttonhole is finished
- Satin stitch foot – For a dense zigzag sewing and decorative sewing
- Open-toe satin stitch foot – For sewing dense zigzag stitching & made of clear plastic making it easier to view underneath
- Zig-zag foot – For everything from straight to wide zigzag stitches
- Blind hem foot – Just place the folded fabric against the black guide for an invisible hem
- ¼” seam foot – Very handy for piecing quilt tops and topstitching
- Cording foot – Three slots in this foothold 1 to 3 in place while stitching over them
- Zipper foot – Easily guides the seam along the zipper for side or center placement
- Overcasting foot – Finishes off raw edges easily
- Overedge Foot – Another edge finishing stitch to reduce raveling along the fabric edge
- Open toe walking foot – Reduces shifting and puckering of layered fabrics. Feed dogs are incorporated into the foot itself which works in conjunction with the machine feed dogs to feed fabric layers evenly. The open toe configuration allows for a clear view of your work
- Open toe basting/darning foot – A spring-loaded foot for free motion quilting, embroidery, and monograms
- Rolled hem foot – perfect for hems that are too small to sew by hand
Tools and Accessories Included
Accessory kit that includes extra needles, screwdrivers, seam ripper, large and small spool holders, 2 quilting bars to use for evenly spaced quilt seams, and more.
Stitches Types And Styles
- Fold up stitch chart for quick reference
- 135 stitches across 4 modes totaling 391 including the buttonholes
- 7 buttonhole stitches – Square, rounded, keyhole, and more
- Block and script monogram stitches – – 2 American alphabets & 2 European alphabets with accent marks. Each alphabet comes in both block style and script, along with upper and lower case letters. Also includes numbers.
- Adjustable zigzag stitch
- Stitch length to 5mm & width to 7mm
- Individual, combination stitch editing
- Elongation stitching
- Mirror image stitching
- Turnover stitch & reduction of monogram