To Buy Or Not To Buy - Facts About Baby Lock Machines

The origin of stitching dates back to long time ago. For centuries, it has become more than just practical skills. People use needles and threads a lot for decorating purposes. Apart from that, it is an activity full of fun for many. But it’s also a field demanding exceptional precision. Each selection on tools can affect the final outcome. Among these decisions, choosing a machine is particularly important. That’s why we write a series of blog posts on these mainstream machine brands to help you crack the problem. Now, enjoy your journey of understanding Baby Lock. Hope it proves useful.

1. Who is the parent company of Baby Lock?

The parent company of Baby Lock is Tacony Corporation. Tacony is not the one that initially came with the idea of setting up the very well-know brand. But it’s Tacony who built a distribution center of Baby Lock machines in USA and made it a globally appraised sewing machine brand. The American family-owned company has a history of over 70 years. It was in the early 1970s that Tacony began incorporating Baby Lock into their product lineup. Since then, the company’s business have been flourishing along with Baby Lock’s emerging.

The company’s business plan proved to be a a significant business decision. It brought the popular Japanese brand to the vast market of United States and opened up its international recognition. Till this day, Baby Lock continues to hold a considerable market share globally, and it remains its superior product lineup be produced in Japan by Suzuki Machinery Co., Ltd. Today Tacony continues to introduce new Baby Lock series. But it has a wider range of business interests. It also explores various other sectors, including vacuum cleaners, ceiling fans, and floor care equipment,etc.

2. Is Baby Lock made by Brother?

Yes, Brother makes Baby Lock machines. But only parts of its sewing and embroidery lineups are made by Brother. Baby Lock has their own factory in Yamagata City, Japan which exclusively makes overlockers and cover-stitch machines. And except for very limited numbers of their overlockers, all the rest machines are transferred to other brands such as Brother, Janome and Juki to produce. Therefore, a great number of Baby Locks are physically similar with their “counterparts”. Some of these models are even physically identical, only with a different appearance and software. Click the picture for the complete Brother/ Babylock Comparison Chart:

3. Are Janome and Baby Lock bobbins interchangeable?

No, Janome and Baby Lock bobbins are not interchangeable. Though many enthusiasts share their experience in using interchangeable bobbins, you’d better do not do that. Cause any success could be just luck. Like every stitching tools, bobbins come in multiple types and sizes. There are metal bobbins and plastic bobbins, empty bobbins and pre-wound bobbins. Whether it's pre-wound doesn't affect anything. But metal bobbins can not be used in some machines. So if you want to use metal ones, remember to check it with a dealer.

However, getting the correct size and style is of great importance, especially for Janome. It is known for being fastidious with accessories. The company insists on producing their own bobbins, which fit nearly all Janome models. There is only 4 models is unfit for the bobbin, which is 1600P, HD9, MB4, and MB7. These Janome J bobbins look similar to the standard Class 15 bobbins. But they share differed height and appearance. On the body of the Janome bobbins, there will be a clear letter J, which earns them the nickname of Janome J. Apart from that, typical Class 15 bobbins is 0.5 mm taller than the Janome J, which measures 11 mm in height. As a result, many Class 15 bobbin machines can accommodate both universal Class 15 and 15J, but not vice versa. Anyway, there's no need to try your luck. Because even a minor difference can disrupt the tension and even cause serous problem to your machine. Just listen to the manual or some professionals.

4. Are Juki and Baby Lock the same company?

No, Juki and Baby Lock are not the same company. Being both internationally well-known Japanese brands, they are 2 separate brands with their own history. Juki is a Japanese brand belongs to JUKI Corporation. It makes a range of sewing machines and other products. Juki used to rank top 1 among the multiple global industrial sewing machine manufacturers. And it’s still a leading brand in the industry, especially in the high-end sewing and embroidery machine making area. While Baby Lock is a Japanese sewing machine manufacturing brand that is managed by an American company. Most of its production is based in Asia, but its USA “distributor” really gives it an edge when competing for global market. Starting by making sergers, the brand now makes sewing, embroidery and quilting machines as well.

5. Are Baby Lock sewing machines made in China?

Yes, but only some of the them are made in China. Taking pride in its "Japanese quality", Baby Lock in fact does not make all their machines domestically. By leveraging production lines from other brands, Baby Lock outsourced the manufacturing of most of its machines and accessories. Currently their own factories are mainly responsible for its overlocker production. The remaining products are made in countries such as China, Vietnam, and Thailand.

6. Is Baby Lock still in business?

Yes, Baby Lock is still in business. With its first mass production serger released in 1968, Baby Lock gradually expanded globally. Today, its machines can be found in 6 continents and there is over 600 retailers across North America. Today the brand keeps coming out with new models. With its latest top-of-the-line machine Radiance’s releasing, Baby Lock further proves its innovative capacity.

7. Is Baby Lock a good sewing machine?

Yes, Baby Lock is a reliable sewing machine. Best known for sergers, the strict quality control and innovation across entire product lineup helped the brand build a loyal customer base. Their sewing machines are favored by many embroiderers as well. Positioning its machines in the mid-end to high-end market, Baby Lock pay attention to not only their functional diversity but also the machine quality. With more parts made of metal, machines are much more durable than those made of plastic materials. Equipped with advanced features such as the automatic needle threader and easy loading bobbin, they are designed to provide superior precision and ease of use. And here's another competing edge of Baby Lock. With multiple product lines manufactured by factories of other famous brands, it's easy to find compatible accessories for your Baby Lock machine. Anyway, Baby Lock is one of the top choices to add in your sewing room. You can trust in their performance.

8. Is Baby Lock the best serger?

Though it’s hard to determine a top one, but whenever someone mention the word “serger” or “overlocker”, most of embroiderers do think of Baby Lock intuitively. In the serger industry, Baby Lock is no doubt the top one. Taking the inspiration from the industrial machine, the first Baby Lock domestic serger is invented in Japan. It was exactly this model that led to the set up of Baby Lock brand. In later years, the company constantly innovates and improves its products, and firmly protects its market position in the increasingly fierce competition.

9. What embroidery file does Baby Lock use?

Baby Lock uses .pes, .pec, .dst, .pha, .phb, .phc, .exp embroidery formats. Embroidery formats are files created to instruct machines to stitch designs. They’re stored with embroidery data including stitch types, colors, etc. When a machine starts embroidering, they then will translate the information into beautiful stitches with needles and threads. Different formats can be used to store the same patterns, and they can transferred between each other as long as you use a capable software. Because each machine supports specific files, a software for transferring embroidery files is essential in one’s toolkit. Below are embroidery formats used by different Babylock machines.

FAQ

• What company makes Babylock?

Suzuki Machinery Co., Ltd. and other machine manufacturing brands make Baby Lock

 machines.

Run by American company Tacony Corporation, the Japanese brand adopted a wise strategy. With most of its sergers made in their local factories, Baby Lock outsourced all the rest manufacturing job to other brands such as Juki, Janome and the well-known Brother. Many people misunderstand Brother to be the parent company of Baby Lock, but that;s not true. They just reached a manufacturing agreement and cooperated for many years. Taking advantages of those brands’ recognizable manufacturing strength, Baby Lock established a customer base soon in their sewing and embroidery machines.

• Where is Baby Lock made?

Baby Lock is made in several places, including Japan, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. As a local brand, Baby Lock owns many factories in Japan. That’s where most of their sergers are made by Suzuki machinery Co., Ltd. Adhering to the policy of "delivering only the best quality, made in Japan machines to our customers," the factory insists on manual assembly. Other brands also makes some Babylock sergers.So there are a few overlockers made in Taiwan, China. As for sewing and embroidery machines, they are outsourced to other sewing machine factories, such as Brother and Janome. Baby Lock only provides part of design blueprints. As a result, many of its models have a counterpart in these two brands with different prices.

Conclusion

Needlework is an exquisite field. It costs time to master the technique. Moreover, there is no shortcuts. In order to enjoy the convenience brought by computerized machines, you must first invest effort in learning and mastering the skills. We hope the blog can help ease your burden and reveal more embroidery charms to you.