Juki Sewing Machines

Japan is often associated with creating quality products such as automobiles, appliances and electronics. Sewing machines also bear the Japanese trademark of excellence, and that is largely due to Juki Sewing Machines.

In December 1938, approximately 900 Tokyo machinery manufacturers invested in a corporation officially called Tokyo Juki Manufacturers Association.  In 1947, they introduced their first household sewing machine to the market, and 6 years later in 1953, they produced their first industrial sewing machine.   Since then, the Juki Corporation have expanded their market and also garnered a number of consumer and manufacturer’s awards for their quality machines.   One of their award highlights included the Japan Society Prize for the Promotion of the Machine Industry.  This award came in 1997 after Juki developed the world’s first bobbin thread automatic feeder for industrial sewing machines.

Juki Corporation’s sewing machine product line can essentially be divided into 2 categories: “Industrial Sewing Machines”, and “Household and Semi-Professional Sewing Machines”

Industrial sewing machines are created for mass production of clothing, bags, shoes, car seats, sofas, etc. Juki Industrial Sewing Machines are built for maximum speed and durability.  There are models specifically designed for sewing straight seams or zigzag stitches or for sewing buttons on garments.   Most of the Juki machines have a maximum speed of 8,500 revolutions per minute.  The more complicated machines are mostly computerized and can perform different actions simply by pressing a switch, which has prompted the nickname “sewing robots”.  There are 6 different Juki Industrial Sewing Machines namely:

- 1-needle straight  stitch sewing machine,
- Overlock/safety stitch sewing machine,
- Zigzag stitch sewing machine,
- Buttonhole sewing machine,
- Automatic machine and
- Sewing machine for leather or heavyweight materials.

In January 2010, Juki unveiled its newest industrial sewing machine innovation, the "LH-3500A Series".   This is a semi-dry head, 2-needle, lockstitch machine with an adapted direct-drive mechanism that is said to increase energy savings and improve workability.

Household sewing machines are built for more domestic sewing needs.  These range from fairly to basic to those with more complicated features like automatic thread tension adjustment and a series of reverse-stitching/thread-trimming functions with pushbutton controls.   Semi-professional machines on the other hand perform at about twice the speed of your average household machine, are typically more durable and have larger workspaces.  Juki semi-professional machines are a big hit with needlework and hobbyist quilt-makers.

Another kind of Juki sewing machine that falls into home/semi-pro use are Home Sergers. Their main purpose is to finish seam allowances of garments to prevent fraying. They can also be used for joining T-shirts, trainers and sportswear.  Recently, Juki launched their Combo Machines that can both overlock and do cover stitching (overlocking without cutting the fabric).

Juki Sewing Machines can be either entirely mechanical or computerized. The mechanical sewing machines are well known for their durability and performance, but most of all, for their user-friendly features. You can automatically thread your machine and adjust pedals with the click of a finger.  The computerized machines offer embroidery stitches, from the simplest to the most complicated and even allow users to insert smart media cards to save and upload more advanced sewing designs.

Juki Sewing Machines continue to introduce the latest advanced techniques and features in sergers, seamers and embroiderers.  Their machines allow owners to perform simple sewing tasks or more complicated and detailed apparel work.