Right off the top I’ll say I LOVE this machine!
While, yes, it’s true, I love all Janome machines, I particularly fell in love with the Janome HD 3000BE while putting it through it’s paces at a quilting retreat. I thought it would be the perfect machine to take along as it weighs less than 20 pounds, yet it’s HD – Heavy Duty – so it’s strong and steady to tackle any project. In usual Janome fashion, it passed with flying colours – though in this case the colour is black. YES! BLACK! 
Isn’t it cool? SEW sleek and sexy! I love the touch of red – Janome Red – my favourite colour.
The Janome HD 3000BE (Black Edition) is a special new release of a trusty old favourite in the Janome line, the Janome HD 3000. Many of the guys at my retreat and on my Facebook page said it’s the Darth Vader of sewing machines. lol! I love that analogy as I’m a big Star Wars fan!
It’s an ideal choice for anyone seeking an easy to use, non-computerized, heavy duty machine. But don’t confuse simple with basic. With 18 stitches, automatic buttonhole,
adjustable stitch width and length, free-arm, needle threader,
8 presser feet included, plus the bonus Quilting Attachment Kit with 4 extra feet, including the Quarter Inch foot with guide, Walking Foot and Free-Motion Quilting Foot, the Janome HD 3000BE is an excellent machine for the more experienced sewist as well.
A vertical spool pin is included and can be attached to the top of the machine to make quick work of winding bobbins or for use with a twin-needle. Notice all the built-in slots for feet next to the bobbin winder. I love how Janome thinks of everything!
On the inside cover of the flip top lid you’ll find a chart with the various stitches, settings and a picture of which presser foot to use so there’s no guesswork, saving you time and potential frustration. There’s a fully illustrated manual included as well to guide you through whatever kind of sewing you want to do.
In an upcoming blog post I’ll share some of the projects I completed on the Janome HD 3000BE, but for now I’ll share one of my most effective tests I did on the machine. You want Heavy Duty sewing?
What you’re looking at is 8 layers of denim. YES! 8 layers of denim!
How’s THAT?!
I must confess that I didn’t even change to a denim needle, either! I use a size 14 Janome red-tip needle for most of my sewing and in my haste and excitement to experiment with multi-layers of denim, I totally forgot to change the needle. Worked out beautifully, didn’t it? Good thing too since it’s on video! lol!
Some adjustments I did remember to make however, was to increase my stitch length, which allowed for better stitch formation through all that bulk, and I slightly lightened the pressure on the presser foot. There’s a dial inside the top lid of the machine to easily make this adjustment. #3 is the standard, marked with a white box around it, so I turned the dial down to a #2. You’ll see the little arrow marked off to the left so you know where to move the numbers when adjusting. Again, Janome thinks of everything!
While I was literally sewing up a storm at the retreat, quite a bit of lint was created from all my cotton fabrics and batting. It’s really visible in the above photo, especially on this shiny black machine. No worries though, Janome has a solution for that, too!
Though this cute little Janome “Cling and Clean”, as it’s called, did not come with the machine, they’re available for a couple of bucks from your local Janome dealer. I keep several of them handy and have one for each machine. Their intended purpose is to wipe off the fingerprints from the computer touch screens of machines, but I use them on everything, in this case to wipe off the lint.
The cling just sticks to the side of the machine without any gummy residue and can be rinsed off and reused so the Janome HD 3000BE will stay clean and sleek no matter what I sew.
I hope you subscribe to the Janome Life blog so you’ll not miss a post. In an upcoming post I’ll share some of the fun and practical projects I made with the fabulous Janome HD 3000BE and will share details of my quilting retreat, too. It was SEW fun!
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