The all New Creative 1.5 sewing and embroidery is an excellent new addition to the Pfaff Family. The machine it’s self is around the same size as the Ambition range so still a formidable sewing machine for quilting as well as embroidery. Firstly this machine looks and feels fantastic with the contrasting white against the bright red; white make a very bold impression. The soft rubber buttons feel lovely and are very responsive as there’s no delay when you press them, the machine leaps into action. The display screen is very bright and clear and the sewing space is perfect illuminated by cleverly positioned LED lighting. Considering this machine is a 3/4 sized machine it is extremely spacious and bright. The work space on the sewing machine side of things has a 200mm area, as an embroidery machine it can embroider an area of 240x150mm (9.5x6 inches approx) achievable with the included Pfaff Master Hoop. Embroidery, we’ve stated so we might as well continue. The Creative 1.5 has built into it 101 fabulous embroidery designs which you can preview here with the downloadable design brochure. It doesn’t stop there; the machine also comes with 6D embroidery Intro software for your PC which will allow you to modify, personalize, overlay, combine, rotate, mirror, scale, resize and add monograms and real time quick fonts. Inspirational quotes are super trendy. Whatever fonts you have on your computer this software can read it and create a design using your fonts and you can also change the appearance such as fill outline and even applique. The software also has a handy trick built into it, once installed all of you designs will be visible as preview images in windows, so all you need to do is open the folder where your designs are and select to preview as icons small medium large or extra large. The benefit to previewing your design is simple you don’t have to load up your software to then have to trawl through your designs to find the one you’re looking for now they’re all in front of you so you can quickly drag and drop onto a USB stick for quick design transferring. USB the machine has USB connectivity you can transfer designs via the included 4GB memory stick which you can also use to upgrade your machine with any new software updates released by Pfaff. Speed is of importance when embroidering, I often tell customer once you have the machine set up you can leave it to embroider while you cat up on a TV soap or have a cup of tea but in reality like myself the majority of us sit there memorised by it all. Alas you need sit there for no longer than is absolutely necessary and not a moment more the Creative 1.5 is the fastest embroidery machine to date in its price range to gel anything faster or near you’ll have to spend quite a bit more. Or this can also be the slowest embroidery machine ever as it is still controlled via the variable speed control even when in embroidery mode. I personally put this to the test, when I am testing a machine I take no prisoners worst case scenario is I break it and then I know how far it can go. One of the best tests I do is using metallic threads, this machine managed it an absolute treat without doing anything fancy or elaborate, I used Madeira Bobbin Fill and Madeira Metallic embroidery thread, dropped the tension down to 1.8 and lowered the speed to just above half way and with a standard needle threaded it got just two snapped threads in over 40 minutes of embroidery… now that’s impressive. Sewing made easier from here on in. The Pfaff Creative 1.5 sewing machine side has 150 built in stitches from utility all the way to decorative embroidery stitches and also 2 alphabets upper and lower case BLOCK or Cyrillic plus numbers and symbols. The machine is perfectly built to handle a huge variety of sewing enthusiasts and will take you to the next level with all of its innovations and clever features. Sewing Features: Electronic Thread Tension - The machine has pre-set thread tension, so as soon as you select a different stitch the machine we alter the thread tension if necessary, also alters the thread tension when in embroidery mode, however the thread tension can still be altered for those of you who are looking for a particular finish or who are feeling adventurous. Needle Up/Down - Standard requirement for quilting machines these days, pre-program the machine to always stop with the needle up or needle down, a revolution when Pfaff first introduced it. Used predominantly for pivoting on large projects like quilts but can also be used for finer work press the button twice to do one more stitch at a time. Start/Stop Button - For foot control free sewing. Sewing machine users tell me they usually use this when they have something very small to do like sewing on buttons and the odd repair. Very convenient to quickly use the machine without having to set up a work station. 7mm wide stitches - Widest achievable ZigZag or decorative stitch, 7mm is a large width with the standard being 5 mm and the very large being 9mm. Some of the larger Pfaff sewing and embroidery machines can sew as wide as 48mm (Maxi Stitch). Integrated Drop Feed - Easily accessible Drop feed lever situated at the back of the machine for easy access one flick of the lever and you free motion sewing in no time with the included free motion foot. PFAFF’s famous IDT system - IDT has been in all top end Pfaff sewing machines for over 45 years now and there is no better system than this. Not only does it work excellently when sewing layers of fabric and quilting but it also has a side effect or freak, it almost completely stops ridiculously fine materials from puckering. Try it, sew without IDT then with IDT and see the difference. Built in Needle Threader - I’m 32 years old and threading a needle doesn’t get any easier, I’m supposed to wear glasses but I never do. Built in needle threaders make threading the eye of the needle so much easier, only three things you need to make certain 1. The needle isn’t bent 2. The needle is fully inserted and 3. The needle is in the highest position (use the needle up/down button for this). Adjustable Speed Control - the variable speed control is very gradual. This feature can be used for loads of things from getting to grips with your new machine and building confidence on it, to using obscure threads that sewing machines don’t like or even for precision sewing. Multi direction mirroring - Flip the stitch horizontally or vertically so if there’s a directional decorative stitch that you want to use but it’s not going the way you or your fabric wants it just flip it. Stitch Width Safety - when straight stitching you quarter inch seams ot stitch in the ditch and using a straight stitch foot select this option so that you can’t accidentally select a zigzag stitch that could hit your foot and damage your machine. Precise stitch positioning - you can move the whole stitch left and right a tiny bit at a time great for dressmaking or soft furnishings when you need to get right into a zip or piping. Automatic Thread cutter - Fully armed with a built in thread cutter which is capable of catching both top and bottom threads and trimming them nicely and neatly, saves miles of thread when piecing patchwork together. Stitch sequence Memory - used for stinging decorative stitches together and for sewing wording, usually a memory bank will hold around 20 stitches or letters, but the creative 1.5 has a stitch sequence memory of up to 60 stitches or letters. Bobbin winding from the Needle - I do know it works excellently as i have used it many times. Reading page 17 of the instruction manual, it is very easy to set up and use winds the bobbin perfectly, surprised another useful integration of advanced features. No need to unthread the needle to wind the bobbin. Information Button - AKA an idiot’s guide. I use this all the time. With just a simple press if the “i” button then press what you’re not sure of and this will keep you right by telling you what that button means. It will even explain about your stitch selection and when best to use that particular stitch. Included Accessories: Thread net, Edge Guide, 2x Felt pads, Screw Driver, Auxiliary Spool pin, Seam Ripper, Brush, 5x Bobbins, Needle plate screw driver, small Spool cap, large Spool cap, USB stick containing design booklet, Multi Purpose Tool, Foot control, Power cord, Needles, Hard Cover, Instruction Manual and Warranty documents. Included Presser Feet: 0A Standard Presser Foot, 1A Fancy Stitch Foot with IDT, 2A Fancy Stitch Foot without IDT, 3 Blindhem Foot, 4 Zipper Foot, 5 One-Step Button hole foot, 5M Manual Button hole foot, 6 Embroidery/Free motion Foot. Included Software: CD with 6D intro embroidery sofware. 1 x Pfaff Master Hoop 240x150 included also complete with the embroidery unit.