Sewing Machine Review: Janome Memory Craft 3500

I bought my Janome Memory Craft 3500 sewing machine in 2003 and if I remember correctly it was around AU$900. Up until then, I’d used my Mum’s sewing machine and the one thing I didn’t like was the buttonhole. It had 4 parts so you would need to do each step individually and it used to take so long and the result didn’t look professional. At this time I’d recently become a member of the Australian Sewing Guild, and seeing what other members had created left my attempts look pretty poor.

So with some inheritance money I went out to find something that sewed a one-step buttonhole. I went to the closest sewing store – Sewing Magic in Modbury Triangle, South Australia. It closed down many years ago, but I remember having a free lesson with the purchase, and that really got me started. Even though I’d sewed a bit, I wasn’t all that confident, so I appreciated any help I can get.

It has been a real workhorse and can cope with most things I can throw at it. I never have to change the tension and it produces a consistent strong stitch. Other than the much wanted one-step buttonhole it had quite a lot of other features that I have found to be useful over the years.

What I love about my Janome Memory Craft 3500

1. One-Step Buttonhole: (Of Course!) It has 4 buttonhole types. I usually use the square buttonhole (stitch 7), but I have used the keyhole buttonhole (stitch 9) on denim jeans.
2. Top Loading Bobbin: Much easier to use than a front loading bobbin, and you can see how much thread is left. It doesn’t mean I have never run out of bobbin thread, that has happened many times.
3. Adjustable Needle Position: This is by far the most handy feature of the machine, especially for straight stitches. Being able to adjust the needle to the correct position for edge stitching or using a different seam allowance is great.
4. Needle Threader: Unfortunately this stopped working a few years ago but when it worked it saved so much time, now I need to get out my reading glasses. I really need to get it fixed.
5. Side Thread Cutter: It leaves a few cm’s of thread that needs cutting later, but it means no searching for scissors.
6. Hard Cover Case: Great for protecting the machine when transporting to sewing classes. Take a look at the photo below of how many scratches the cover has, better than having them on the machine.
7. Needle Up and Down button: Being able to press a button to lock the needle down while sewing, and then up again once finished feels much more secure than winding the Hand wheel.

Commonly Used Stitches

The Janome Memory Craft 3500 comes with 50 stitches, but I have only used a handful of them.

The ones I use the most often are:

Stitch 1: Straight stitch. Used for basting stitches or when I need to use a reverse stitch at the start or end of a line of stitches.
Stitch 2: Straight stitch with locking stitch at the start. This is my most used stitch, around 80% of the time it’s this one I’m using. It does lots of stitches in one place before it sews a straight line.
Stitch 3: Triple stitch. For extra strength I use this in areas like the pant crotch seam.
Stitch 7 & 9: The sensor buttonholes. With the use of the special buttonhole foot this puts on all my buttonholes, Stitch 9 for denim jeans and Stitch 7 for all other cases.
Stitch 11: Zig Zag stitch. Used mainly on seams for stretch fabrics and when doing satin stitch on applique.
Stitch 12: Triple Zig Zag stitch. I used this to finish seams before purchasing an overlocker.

I have only used the decorative stitches once on a project (as seen below), so I wouldn’t go out especially to buy a machine for these oft-used stitches.

Maintaining my Sewing Machine

I regularly clean the feed dogs and bobbin area of my sewing machine with a makeup brush and paint brush. As well as a general wipe down with a soft cloth.

Even though the manual doesn’t suggest oiling the machine I do. A drop in the bobbin area and on the moving parts behind the face plate above the needle. I use a nifty oil dispenser I picked up at a Craft fair a few years ago that only does one tiny drop at a time. The ones you get from the supermarket seem to dispense too much oil and you end up having to wipe up excess.

Extra Sewing Machine Feet I have Purchased

The Janome Memory Craft 3500 came with 8 sewing machine feet but there were a few specialty feet I have purchased over the years to accommodate my sewing projects.

The Walking Foot is what I use for going through lots of layers, like quilting or in my Chanel Jacket. The Teflon Foot I originally purchased to sew vinyl but I found it still stuck to the foot so I used baking paper instead. But I have since used it when sewing leather and it certainly helps a lot. The zipper foot is in addition to the one included with the machine, and I must admit I’ve only used it a few times, prefering the one with the machine. The pintucking feet have been used for various projects including a jacket with random pintucking across it. The Darning foot has been used a few times in my attempts at free motion embrodiery. Lets just say I need a lot more practice. And finally the adjustable invisible zipper foot which I bought when invisible zippers were new and I thought it was something I’d need. In reality, I used it a few times, but when I’ve used an invisible zipper on cushion covers, I’ve just used an ordinary zipper foot.

Extra Accessories Purchased

I have purchased a few accessories over the years, like magnetic seam guides, but found they have been more trouble than they are worth so have been donated to new homes. In recent years I’ve found Masking Tape or Washi Tape can be used to mark extra wide or unusual seam allowances to use as a guide.

One accessory that I do use a lot is a Thread Holder. I found that when using thick topstitching threads on jeans or embroidery thread for applique, the spool holder on the sewing machine didn’t feed the thread very well so after some research I tried a thread holder and I haven’t looked back. It produces beautiful stitching.

What I don’t like so much about the Janome Memory Craft 3500

The one thing that this machine struggles with is thick layers. When I did a leather bag making class it could not sew through 4 layers of leather. Fortunately I was able to borrow a Juki semi industrial and it had no problems whatsoever.

It is quite a heavy sewing machine, weighing about 10kg (22lb) with the hard cover. It’s OK for a short walk but I wouldn’t want to be carrying it too far. So far I’ve only had to carry it to classes a few hundred metres. If I ever needed to take it any further I’d invest in a sewing machine trolley bag.

The Needle Up and Down button is great BUT….. I wish after you stopped sewing it would stay in the down position automatically. At present when I start a row of stitches it’s in the up position, and stays there when I stop. So I need to press the down button to get it to hold it’s spot. Sometimes I forget to drop the needle (even after all these years) and sometimes the fabric shifts.

My Next Sewing Machine

I have no plans in replacing this machine anytime soon as it still works like a dream. But, if I happened to be in a position to purchase another sewing machine I will definitely be looking a semi-industrial straight stitch machine, like the Juki I tried in the leather bag making class. Most of the time I’m doing straight stitch, and having one that could handle many layers of denim or leather would enable me to tackle more sewing projects that I’d like to do.

Want to know which Overlocker I own? Read about it here.