Janome DC3050 Review – Packs Lots Of Features For The Price

The Janome DC3050 sewing machine is a full-size computerized machine that includes stitches for heirloom sewing and quilting, making it a good machine for almost any quilter or sewer. The surprisingly low list price puts it within reach of many.

The DC3050’s motor has the power to sew though many layers of fabrics, so it easily handles quilting and home decorating fabrics for art quilters as well as denim for making quilts for kids.

Janome DC3050 Review – Quilting Features

I tried the applique stitches to see how they compared to more expensive machines. I used the blanket stitch, the feather stitch, and other decorative stitches. They all looked good and performed well. There are several blanket stitches with varying direction, number of stitches sewn in place and length of the “teeth” from which to choose.

I used several kinds of thread for the decorative and quilting stitches, including invisible and metallic threads, without any blips or complaints from the machine. The DC3050 took anything I gave it and performed flawlessly.

The DC3050 does a nice, even satin stitch, but I reduced the length of the zigzag stitch to .2 mm to get the solid coverage I like. The same is true with buttonholes. Janome recommends that you just sew a buttonhole the second time in the same place to get the more solid look. I liked my way better, because sewing twice as many buttonholes for every project doesn’t appeal to me.

Piecing

In piecing, I used the 1/4″ patchwork foot (optional) to get a perfect 1/4″ seam every time. I used the needle down, locking stitch, and speed control slider to set the machine to sew just the way I like.

The DC3050 does single motifs for quilt tying easily, without a lot of set-up. I selected the motif I wanted to use, started sewing, and immediately pressed the auto-lock button. The DC3050 finished that pattern and tied off the thread, locking the thread with five stitches in place. First I used the star stitch, then I put a nice heart where I would normally put a hand-tied knot. The designs add a lot to the look of the quilt.

The hand-look quilting stitch is also very nice. After I put the walking foot (optional) on the machine, I chose this stitch and changed the upper tension to 7 to get my favorite look. I put invisible thread on the top thread spool and got an attractive, easy-to-see quilting design on my quilt.

To finish testing the quilting features, I installed the darning foot (optional) to try free-motion quilting. I was able to move the fabric to get nice, even stitches.

The DC3050 fits the extension table and feet for the Janome Memory Craft 3000, so these accessories are readily available.

General Sewing Features

The Janome DC3050 does automatic buttonholes without any measuring or selecting a size of the button. I just put the button in the rear of the buttonhole foot and selected one of the three types of buttonholes – rectangular, rounded, or keyhole. There is a sensor guide that pulls down from behind the needle threader to help the machine determine the correct size buttonhole. I didn’t even need to know the size of my buttons to make buttonholes that fit perfectly.

I tested the darning stitches and loved them. I used the darning stitch that snakes back and forth in a pattern about an inch long. I used heavy jeans thread in the top and regular cotton thread in the bottom to darn a pair of heavy, wear-like-iron jeans. Beautiful!

Then I changed the bobbin thread to jeans thread and used the darning stitch through two layers of the same heavy jeans to see how the it would perform. It worked fine until it sewed the five-stitches-in-place locking stitch. I found if I just took my foot off the pedal after two locking stitches and removed the fabric I didn’t have any problem. This “repair” looked wonderful.

The Janome DC3050 has a free arm for circular sewing on cuffs and sleeves and it has a slide-on extension table that makes the machine about the same size as a regular machine. This extension table has a cubby in which you will find accessories stored in a zipper bag. In order to get to the accessories, you have to remove this extension table.

A Couple Of Drawbacks of the DC3050

I was pleased with this full-sized machine’s features and performance. There are only a couple of drawbacks. The first is the machine’s lack of a pressure adjustment for the presser foot. Since I routinely make adjustments to fine-tune the way my fabric feeds, I miss this feature. If you don’t do this, you might not even notice it’s missing.

The paucity of included feet surprised me. Most Janome sewing machines have lots of feet included with the machine. Not so with the DC3050 – there are only four feet included.

To determine which foot to use, you select your stitch and look on the front of the machine. The stitch number, pattern, and recommended foot appear so you know how to get the best results with each stitch.

There are four stitches that recommend the use of two feet that are not included. I used other feet instead and thought the stitches looked just fine. I think you’d get such limited use of these two recommended-but-not-included feet during quilting that it doesn’t warrant buying them.

Optional Quilting Feet

However, I recommend buying the three optional quilting feet – the 1/4″ patchwork foot, the darning foot, and the walking foot – for around $75 for all three. They certainly help make the DC3050 a good machine for quilters.

The DC3050 would be a great choice to take to a quilting retreat. It would give you enough bed length and height to machine quilt any size wall hanging or small bed quilts. I’ve even seen queen-size quilts quilted on this size machine.

The Janome DC3050 makes a great second machine to use while your embroidery machine is busy. It also makes a great starter machine for quilters, with all the features you’ll need for making nice quilts. This is a very good value.

=> Click here for more information about the Janome DC3050.