Janome HD2200 Sewing Machine

I have owned 4 machines over 50 years. Bernina, Elna, Husqvarna Viking, and now this Janome HD2200. After my Husqvarna started giving problems with a cracked plastic drum on the Feed Dog arm – a well known problem, for which parts are NLA (after >20 years) - I took a long hard look at a replacement machine – mechanical only, absolutely NOT computerized.It required solid research, because the well-known and reliable brands are mostly no longer. The world has changed, and not necessarily for the better. Today Chinese SVP owns Singer, Viking (Husqvarna) and Pfaff. It does not have a sterling reputation for reliability, changing factories at will, to suit financial objectives. No surprises that these 3 brands have no recognizable association with their previous reputations for quality. Scratch them off my list.Bernina is now manufactured entirely in Thailand, with no association with Switzerland, apart from its head office and design teams. I find it very difficult to justify paying a premium price for a Thailand-made machine. If Bernina was still made in Switzerland, it would have been my first choice.So that left Elna as the last brand of my previous experience. Surprise, Elna is now made by Janome, a high-quality Japanese company, still around, independent and strong after over 100 years, not having been taken over by any Chinese. Unfortunately, Janome does not offer a high-spec mechanical machine under the Elna brand.So I started examining the Janome mechanicals, viewed tens of YouTube videos of the different models, and settled on this HD2200 model. This is my first machine which was not manufactured in Europe. It’s VERY WELL BUILT, with a solid metal frame (just like my previous European machines), easy-to-use for my sewing needs. It’s taking a little more time to get used to, after the previous 20 years with my Husqvarna, which I could sew with my eyes closed. And I’m having a lot of fun learning all these new capabilities.I added a drop of oil to the Face Plate (front-door) metal latch – it opens and closes much more smoothly. And a couple of drops of Silicon Spray to the plastic tabs on the detachable Extension Table, to assist with easy removal.I like the mechanical stability, smooth quietness (definitely a couple of dB’s quieter than the Husqvarna), and consistency of the threads, automatic needle threader, Feed Dog drop, and a whole bunch of extra feet. The retro-style plastic full body cover is a nice touch, but IMHO, unnecessary. I’m not planning on carrying around this machine.The main reason I bought this particular Janome mechanical machine was to accord myself the best probability of enjoying this machine reliably for the next 20+ years, or to pass it onto my children. I believe that I’ve made the best choice.

Very sturdy heavy duty machine.havnt tried it yet but came very quickly

I went for this machine as I wanted a solid, reliable machine that would be easy to use. So far I've not been disappointed. I'm a newbie at sewing and wanted a machine I could sew patches on denim jeans and make simple stuff with confidence. I'm not interested in the 100+ stitch patterns of the computerised models. It looks and feels well made and is sewing everything I've thrown at it 😊👍

This is such a lovely machine. I am a professional dressmaker and have industrial machines as well and bought this machine mainly for buttonholes and zig zag stitch but I find myself using it for general making as well. It is a heavy base, does not jump around, has a purring sound, has easy function with threading and bobbin winding. The auto buttonhole is excellent and it's easy to change stitches. The stitching and tension has been perfect on all stitches. I really am delighted with this and it sits nicely next to my Janome overlocker. Great product.

Bit disappointed on power, went back to my mechanical Singer.

I purchased the Janome HD2200 through Amazon in October 2024 and supplied by SewIt4Yyou. I chose a heavy-duty machine because I do a lot of sewing and repairing. The machine produced satisfactory results until I used it to insert a replacement zip into good quality corduroy trousers when despite following all the guidance and troubleshooting guidance in the Instruction Manual, and getting help from Janome UK Customer Services, the machine would not produce proper stitches but left a tangled mess of thread on the underside of the material.To insert the zip I needed to stitch 3 layers of the cord plus the zip on one side of the fly and 2 layers plus the zip on the other side. My 55+ year old 'Blue' SINGER sewing machine, model 347, completed the sewing satisfactorily.It may be that my Jenome machine was a "one-off" faulty machine so, hopefully, it will find its way back to Jenome for a fault diagnosis.

A fantastic sewing machine, excellent delivery. Faultless

Some of the features I thought would be an advantage, weren't.1) If I could see to fiddle the thread through the hook on the automatic threader, I could see to thread the needle! I've found it easier not to use it as it requires more hands than I have.2) I thought the top-loading bobbin with a see through lid would help me not suddenly run out of bobbin thread, but the price I pay is having a horizontal spool for the upper thread (whoever thought THAT was a good idea?), so I can't see the upper thread, and I've had that suddenly run out on me.3) The other disavantage of the top loading bobbin is that the whole bobbin case doesn't come out, and I find it really difficult to get the bobbin thread 'out through slot A, and back through slot B', as slot B is invisible to me. I found it really annoying that I couldn't get into the bobbin housing when I had the next problem.4) The supplied overedge foot is useless, as the thread gets caught and tangled in the strange brush affair. It took a fair amount of dismantling to see exactly what had happened when the machine suddenly jammed. - so I just use my £4.99 overedge foot from Amazon instead.5) Very fiddly to thread the bobbin - was much easier on my cheap and basic other Janome.6) I also find it makes a lot of noise when running compared with my 52 year old Frister and Rossman machine, especially when the foot pedal is on slow - quite a scary grinding.So not my best purchase, but it will do - as an alternative to my 52 year-old reliable F&R, which doesn't have a one step button hole feature, or anything other than straight stitch and zigzag. I've only used three different stitches so far on this new Janome, but I expect I'll use a few more eventually. Suspect I need some training on how to use it better.