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I purchased my Bernina 1008 brand new in 2003. It's a heavy, solid, beast of a machine! I love the slender free arm and lovely balanced stitches on this machine.
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After a couple of years I purchased the extension table. It comes in handy for supporting long pieces of fabric and free motion sewing.
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Parts made in Switzerland, but assembled in Thailand. I was disappointed at first, but Bernina runs the Thailand plant, so I got over it quickly.
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The 1008 has 17 stitches, including the buttonhole. 14 utility stitches, 2 decorative stitches, and only one manual buttonhole stitch.
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Bernina 1008 Front Panel. Turn the knob to green or red to coordinate with the stitches shown on the top of the machine. The stitch length and width are changed by dials. This machine is electronic, not computerized.
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There are no measurements marked on the seam guides. I use painters tape alongside the lines if there is a chance I'll be confused. After awhile you get to know those lines, but if I haven't used it in awhile I rely on the tape.
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Accessory compartment snaps into the back of the free arm. I have a separate plastic organizer that I keep all the feet in, including my heavy duty "real" Bernina feet. The snap-ons have all been replaced with the heavy duty feet.
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The back of the accessory compartment has yellowed with time. I kept it out of sunlight as much as possible, but I think this is par for the course with white or off-white plastic.
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Plastic dust cover that came with the Bernina 1008. At least it's a thick plastic with a pocket and well made.
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Bernina 1008 feet and accessories. All the old-style feet were purchased separately over time. I am updating this in 2018, and I think I have even more than this now! I know I have more bobbins. This is not my primary machine anymore though.
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Buttonhole feet and specialty gold trimmed bobbin case for specialty threads. I bought this bobbin case to play with the tension, as I use this machine for elastic thread shirring.
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Six step manual buttonhole. It's a bit clunky and cumbersome, but reliable for thick fabrics.
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Here I am showing the top side of the stitches in red. The next photo is the underside (bobbin side) in black. The point is that the stitches are balanced, as you cannot see any black on the top side.
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And here is the bobbin side of the stitches in black. No red showing, so perfectly balanced stitches. It's an awesome machine!
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My 1008 is now 17 years old and it's been a workhorse on all the masks I've made for Covid19. Yesterday the threads got caught in the hook race a couple of times. Today it did it again and when I opened the cover this tiny bushing flew out!
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The black race hook cover should not be loose from the metal on the right side. The bushing is supposed to hold the part where the top arrow is to the part where the bottom arrow is. I ordered a whole brand new hook race cover today.
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Here's a close up showing the hole in the metal where the bushing should be situated. I hope my husband can fix it and if so I can wait awhile for the spa day at the shop. Stay tuned!
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Hubby used just a standard screw driver to replace the race cover. It took only a minute! However, the hardest part was getting off the right screw from the original race. It was really stuck and if it had been me I would have stripped the screw.
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All nice and new hook race cover for my 1008. When he took the old one off, the other bushing had a hairline crack so it was going to go soon as well. Really happy that part came quickly and if it happens to you, you can probably fix it yourself too. :)
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My Bernina 1008 feet. Missing a pic of the #20 open toe foot I bought later but it's shown later in this album.
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I have several zipper feet for each of my sewing machines, but this #4 for my Bernina is the absolute best! See how close I can get to the invisible zipper teeth?
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I have 3 bobbin cases for my Bernina 1008. The "Gold" one is for specialty thread. I do all my shirring with elastic thread with that one. I have an extra case for each machine for playing with the tension.