Day 2: Bernina Mastery Class

It's November 2nd and I'm still doing National Blog Post Writing month! Woo, that's commitment.

Today I spent the day in Cedar Rapids learning how to use the embroidery module on my Aurora 430. Let me tell you- this thing is COOL.

When you buy a Bernina, one of the selling points is lifetime "free" mastery classes. Pine Needles kind of sells this in an off putting way. They tell you "all your classes will be free". But they don't mean all the classes they offer, just the Bernina Mastery series- and many of them (heirloom sewing, garment sewing, home decor) are rarely offered. The "Meet My New Bernina", the embroidery class, and the class for the Bernina Stitch Regulator (which I don't have) seem to be the most common.

Anyhow- after waiting a few months for the embroidery class to show up on a Saturday, I gave in and took the day off work to take it. Of course, the calendar for November was put out yesterday and the weekend after Thanksgiving, the class is offered on Saturday- sigh.

So, they tell you that these classes are free. And yes, the classes are free ($75 if you bought your machine elsewhere). The supplies, are not. Which is to be expected, but they are EXPENSIVE. The kits for the class (you need 3) are 8.95, 12.95, and 5.95. The bonus is that if you got your machine at Pine Needles, then it is 20% off. Okay- so $22.28 plus tax for kits- I can totally stomach that.

But unlike the Meet Your New Bernina class, this class's kits didn't come with thread or needles. So I bought Isacord thread online to save money- I got an assortment, as required, but I only used 3 today, so that's another $12 (more if you bought them in store, plus you have to use Seraline bobbin thread and that is $9.95 . Then the needles are $5.25 for a pack of 10 Organ brand embroidery sharps (only need 1). So now the kit price is up to $49.30, plus tax. Still- reasonable for an all day class, I think. (The kicker: we never even used one of the kits! Ran out of time and got sent home with instructions!)

But here is what has me annoyed. They never mentioned when telling me the price of kits that I'd also have to buy a CD of embroidery designs specifically for the class (which means they aren't ones I necessarily care for). The price: $55! Fifty-five dollars for 10 designs, of which we used 4, and have instructions to use another 1. The software that comes with the machine comes pre-loaded with designs! Why not use those?

So now my class is over $100!!! Over $100 for materials for a single class is just too much!

But, I actually spent twice that, and I'm pretty well over the cost of the embroidery designs due to a deal they were running. They had all their embroidery packs on buy 2 get 1 free, and our class kit counted as 1. Then, all their premium packs were $30 off.

So, I got an adorable set of Current Calendar designs (99 designs) for $100, and a set of quilting designs (you can quilt in the hoop!) for free ($55 value). But they also had a deal where every $60 you spent you got a pack of 13 Christmas designs for free. and for some reason they gave me credit for buying the free pack, so I got three sets. Two of the three are actually really cute designs, so I'm pretty pleased with the value. (They are marked $89, $79, and $25)

All told, my day at my free class cost me $200, but I came home with a lot of designs,

So, now I have a ton of embroidery designs, but no money to buy stabilizer, and a quilting design CD on order- and that one I could actually use- you don't have to stabilize quilts to embroider.

I bet you want to see pictures of everything, but, well, I have a lot of blog posts to write this month, so you will just have to wait.

Also- if you hear me talking about buying ANYTHING else this month, yell at me. I need to start saving money again!