O. M. G. !!!!!!!!!!!
You guys. This place. I am SO glad I found this place!! It is the MOST DOPE fabric/sewing/crafting place everrrrrrrrrr! There. I had to get that out of my system, lol. After my visit here I was like OMG MIND BLOWN! http://i.imgur.com/j74SykU.gif
AHHHH!
But no really, I freaking love Jackman's. It's kind of in a weird location, like it looks almost like it might have been an old legal building at some point and you might even miss it if you're driving fairly fast ish down Lindbergh and you don't happen to see the sign. Luckily, I found it. I am glad I did!
I have a Baby Lock sewing machine, and I've owned it since roughly 2006 or so. I bought it in Pittsburgh from a place similar to Jackman's only wayyyy tinier and with less stuff and less staff. I've been sewing for a while (self-taught) and decided I'd loooove to take my sewing to the "next level." Yep, I wanted a serger! And not just any, but preferably a Baby Lock serger. I found Jackman's using the Baby Lock authorized retailer locator thingy. Apparently they're a platinum ranked sales center for BL stuff. When I stepped into the store, I immediately knew why. Insanely knowledgeable and friendly staff. Not pushy at all when it comes to sales. They don't work on commission AFAIK so yeah. Nothing worse than people desperately trying to sell you shit (I'm lookin' at you, Teavana!) LOL. But I digress.
I had a feeling that the Baby Lock "Imagine" serger might be for me based upon my research and so the friendly sales lady, Patricia, took me to their floor model so I could poke around with it. Mostly I just listened to her explain all the features. Auto-tensioning. Air-jet threading. Hooooly F! I was like, trembling and drooling just looking at it. And plus you get lifetime free classes too. So killer! I plan to sign up for their January serging/overlocking classes so I can get the most out of my machine.
It wasn't a cheap machine, but shit, you get what you pay for. High quality. Baby Lock is actually a STL based company which kicks ass! I had no idea until I was reading about it online the day before I went to Jackman's. The machines are designed here but manufactured in Japan. Very high quality. It definitely shows too as my roughly 8 year old sewing machine is still going strong. Of course I keep it maintained, though--it's like any other piece of machinery--routine maintenance will prolong the life of it.
But yeah, there was also a special deal when you buy a serger where you get discounted thread for it...which is hella awesome! I bought a ton of thread. Also got some needles! Holy crap. I went into this store thinking I had a decent grasp of needles but dayyymn, was I wrong. I learned SO much just by talking to the wonderful Patricia. She even had this gigantic, over-sized needle and was able to explain to me, holding the big needle, the various parts of it and why they're super important when it comes to various types of sewing. Your sewing machine is only as good as the type of needle you put in it, apparently. Well, maybe that's an over-exaggeration on my part, but I am finding it to be somewhat true. Stretchy knit fabric requires a specific type of needle (ball point) and then the weight of the fabric also determines needle size.
She also showed me a HELLA DOPE 10-needle, fully programmable Baby Lock embroidery machine. This thing is my DREAM machine. Holy shiiiiiit. It costs like, pretty much the price of a (nice) new car....like $17k. lol. But you are effectively buying a business when you buy one of these, and they even offer freakin' classes on how to start your own business, what you'd need for accounting, etc. How awesome is that?! Pretty mind-blowing, actually!
I fully intend to return for classes, supplies, maintenance, etc. They also have a great fabric selection as well! A++++ would go again!! Would have mind-blown again!!! :D read more