JUKI HZL-F300 Sewing and Quilting Machine , White

I'm writing this from the perspective of an intermediate sewer who just upgraded from a "beginner" machine. If you're an advanced user, this review will probably not be helpful to you. I just upgraded from a Singer HD machine, and I already love the Juki. It was super easy to set up and get running. Might have taken me 10 minutes to unpack it, remove all the tape and such, wind a bobbin, thread it, and run a test stitch. The screen and controls are pretty intuitive and when they're not, the manual is excellent. Juki has also posted several videos on youtube that explain how to use many of the features. Those are very helpful. One of the things I really enjoy about this machine is the control of the speed with the foot pedal. On my old machine, the foot pedal was very sensitive and it was really difficult to get the machine to start out slowly. If you only needed 3-4 stitches, you are better off to just turn the machine manually. The Juki's pedal has a much wider range of motion and it's super easy to make the machine crawl slowly, which is great when you're trying to sneak up on the corner of a breast pocket, or some other tight spot. On top of all that, the machine is smooth as butter. The Singer HD vibrates quite a bit, and bounces horribly at high speed. The Juki is far more stable and smooth. Part of that is probably the weight of the machine. It's a bit beefy at around 25 lbs. The box feed system works great, it feeds material straight through without a whole lot of guidance, which is also a nice improvement. The screen shows you a lot of the important information you need. Stitch width, length, and type. It also shows the "suggested" presser foot for the stitch. It also gives info on what options are selected and other things. The menu setup is also pretty intuitive. I was able to figure out much of it without the manual. 10 of the most common stitches can be accessed with the push of only one button though, which is great. You may be wondering what they left off this unit in order to keep the price down from the HZL-600. The manual can be found online, which has all the differences, but here's my highlights of the things that are NOT included on this machine but are with the more expensive models: - No knee lever for lifting the presser foot. However, you can buy it for about $25. - No walking foot, no free motion foot, no appliqué foot. Not a big deal to me. The open-front appliqué foot might be useful sometimes though. - No circular punch for the keyhole button holes. Without the punch, the keyhole button holes are less useful, but I can buy one for a lot less than the cost of the more expensive model. - Many fewer stitches. The HZL-600 has more than twice as many stitch choices, but the 300 has a decent selection and I don't see this as being a big deal. - No random length stitches. The 600 can randomly vary the length of the "legs" on appliqué stitches and a few others. Might make them look more interesting or more like hand stitching. This model doesn't have any of those. - No light in the throat area. The 600 has a second light over the throat area of the machine. This one only has the light over the stitch area. Not a huge deal to me. I sew mostly garments, so this has most of what I need. I ordered the knee lever because I can see how that would be helpful. Even without it, the machine is great as delivered. Highly recommended!

I have been saving for this machine for a while and I just love it. It’s a heavy duty quality sewing machine that’s easy to use and comes with most stitches you’ll need. Great value for the money as well. It’s portable if you want to take it on retreat and uses most thread that you can find on the market. It has a thread cutter, needle threader, drop in bobbin, needle up or down button and automatic lock stitch. It has a continuous stitch button for your decorative stitches and a mirror image button. It comes with the button hole presser foot, overcasting presser foot, zipper foot, manual button hole presser foot and blind stitch presser foot and the standard presser foot. It has speed control which is great for quilting. It comes with the foot controller but you don’t have to use it because there is a start and stop button on the machine and a reverse button. If you press on the heel side of the foot controller it will cut your thread which is very convenient. If you’re using decorative stitches and create your own pattern, you can save it on file to the machine. Altogether there are 225 stitch patterns and 4 letter patterns and 15 different buttonholes to choose from. In case you can’t tell I’m thrilled with this machine. I have a straight stitch machine that’s very expensive but it’s so nice to have this one with the zig zag stitches to sew knits now also.

I have been a home sewer and costumer for community theater for many years. With retirement looming, I wanted to upgrade to an computer directed sewing machine. I I did extensive research into all of the best machines (Bernina, Janome, Juki, Singer and Brother) even "test driving" several at a local sewing machine dealer. I was looking for a solid machine, reliable, quiet and able to finesse both delicate and strdy fabric. Of all the mid-range machines, the 300 seemed to have all of the features I wanted for a reasonable price. I have been very pleased with my purchase. Set up was easy...the instruction book is easy to follow with well written instructions and illustrations. The tension is easy to adjust, the automatic threader works every time, and I love the automatic thread cutter. My first project has been a tailored woolen coat. The stitches are beautifully even and the machine handled multiple layres of wool easily and negotiated the slick lining with ease. I suspect that I would have been pleased with any of the other machines I considered, but did not test. This machine, however, is everything I wanted and more. I hope to use it for many years to come.

I did a lot of research. Read the reviews and got super excited about buying a Juki! I’ve been sewing for 50 years and thought I would treat myself to a great machine. Right out of the box I had a minor problem. The self threader did not automatically return to its original spot, but within a little help, it popped back up. I did some simple sewing to test out the machine. I was especially excited about the thread trimming feature. It was great.! Actually everything seemed fine at first. Then a couple weeks later I had my sister over and I was showing her the machine doing a simple, single stitch. The machine made a funny sound, and I stopped immediately after she left. I returned to see what had happened. Since I was just doing a single stitch, I couldn’t imagine what the problem would be. I rethreaded the machine and start again, but now something seemed off, and there was a sound every time the machine was running. It turned out to be something wrong with the bobbin. Again, I went back to doing research rethreaded over and over again, but the bobbin was noisy and it just didn’t make sense. Eventually, I just went back to my old machine because the Juki was so problematic. So my new machine sat on the side too much of a headache to tackle. Finally when I return to sewing, I decided to give the Juki another chance. Now the thread cutter would only cut the bottom thread consistently, and the bobbin was making noise. I decided to take it to be serviced. Their technician in Juki machines and I’m hopeful. Here in Hawaii things are expensive and without looking at my machine my bill is $300. I’m hoping for a good outcome but already I know it’s gonna cost too much for way too little. My experience with this machine has really impacted my joy of sewing. But refusing to give up, I decided to buy a machine for $200 while I waited for this $500 machine to be serviced for $300. I guess sowing can be an expensive hobby.! I love sewing gifts to give away and this is the first time I’ve had such a struggle. My original machine., a Pfaf , works, but has problems with the power cord, so my new machine is not the basic singer which works beautifully! This reminds me just how poorly and finicky the Juki machine is. Not recommended!

Fantastic, smooth machine. Honestly sews garments as well as my $3k Janome Skyline. The buttonhole maker is top of the line.

I had this machine up and running within an hour or two. It’s my first computerized sewing machine. It was surprisingly easy to set up, and figure out and thread. It has a lot of nice features that make it a really good buy for this price. I got it mostly for the decorative stitching, fonts and buttonholes. I’m super happy with the stitch quality. It easily sews through layers of denim. See the pictures. I used it to transform the hem of a beat up pair of old jeans. I have used it on both thin fabric and multiple layers and the tension and stitch quality were just perfect with no adjustment. The buttonholes are beautiful. I’m super happy with the machine. The only thing I will mention is that it probably won’t be great with bulky fabric like layers of fleece. I tried that and the presser foot doesn’t come up high enough to handle such bulk. It’s not a worry for me because I have a juki tl2010q that can handle pretty much anything but it only does straight stitching. The quality of that machine is the reason I looked at Jukis for a machine with these features. This one here offers a lot!

This is a wonderful sewing machine, very quiet, stitches beautifully, fabulous needle threader. I will recommend Juki to everyone. I did have to get out the instruction book several times until I got used to filling bobbins. I also like the large foot pedal.

After MANY hours of research on various brands I chose this one and couldn't be happier. I loved Babylock for as long as I can remember, but they are so expensive for what I really need. I do have an Emore embroidery machine that I rarely use. Five years ago I bought my first Brother machine, a little SE-350 and the 1034D serger. Soon after, I needed a really heavy duty machine and bought the PQ1500S along with a CV2340. I use the PQ1500S most as it is a powerhorse and I wish I had bought it long ago, but now I need a machine that can do a great blindstitch hem, fast stretch stitch, great buttonholes and other options. I have absolutely two requirements in a machine, an automatic thread cutter and needle down option. This Juki met all my desires. It is easy to set up and the manual is very large and easy to understand. The DVD is fair, as the voice is a bit strange, but easy to understand. I wish it had a few more presser feet, but I plan to purchase more soon.The Juki Exceed is quiet while stitching, but the thread cutter is a bit noisy, but works very well by pushing a button or pressing the back of the foot control. I ordered the machine on Saturday after 5pm and received it on Monday early afternoon!! This was without "prime" or two day shipping either. The box is very strong, not like the machine boxes you get off the self at a store. The machine comes with a great solid cover that stores the manual and foot control. Speaking of foot control, I love, love it!! Very large and has 4 rubber pads so it doesn't scoot all over the place.