The Bernette 05 Academy is some of the biggest news in mechanical machines in several years, it may look to be more on the simple side but what it lacks in features it makes up for in durability. The 05 Academy sewing machine from Bernette is designed and made for schools, so if you’re looking for a great basic starter sewing machine this might be the perfect choice. It is part of the new Bernette 05 series of sewing machines, currently consisting of the 05 Academy and the bernette 05 Crafter.
Overview and Review of the Bernette 05 Sewing Machine
The Bernette Academy 05 is a semi-industrial, heavy-duty mechanical machine but still nicely portable at 18 to 20 pounds. It is a great machine to bring to classes or take to the job site, it has a stainless steel sewing bed which speaks to that heavy duty quality of the machine.
The machine was designed and tested to sew through 26 layers of muslin and we have tested it through 16 layers of lightweight denim, speaking to that heavy duty quality of the machine.
Some other great features of the machine at full speed it will run at over 1100 stitches per minute but an amazing feature is it has a half speed option, you just flip the switch and now the machine will max out at 650 stitches a minute but giving you the full penetration power at the needle. It is wonderful for large bulky projects or just objects that are hard to handle will still give you the perfect stitch quality.
There are 30 stitches built into this machine, including a lycra stitch for super stretchy fabrics, a blanket stitch and a one step buttonhole which is really awesome in a mechanical machine. Also included are 12 presser feet, no other mechanical machine in this price range includes 12 presser feet. It also comes with a finger guard that’s easily removable and makes it the perfect machine for a classroom environment or for beginners. The Bernette 05 Academy includes a super large slide on extension table for those larger bulky projects and two bright led lights to fully illuminate your sewing area.
Bernette 05 Academy Sewing Machine
Features and Functions
The machine has a couple of great features, of course you have things like a built-in bobbin winder, led lighting so it’s nice and bright and you even have a needle protector to protect younger hands from getting hurt with the needle as it’s going up and down. The tension dial is easily located right on the front as is the needle position button, the stitch width button, stitch length dial and the stitch selector dial. These are really beefy rubber coated handle wheels so they are really easy to use as they don’t slip. The Bernette 05 is made really well and has a nice heavy base. It has a lovely blue colour and everything’s all kind of nice and squared off adds to that semi-industrial feeling of the machine.
Let’s talk about some of the features on the machine so i know this has a 6 millimetre wide stitch width so it can go from zero all the way up to six, which is really nice. Typically most machines in this class have a five millimetre stitch width so this gives you a little bit more width to work with. The Bernette 05 Academy has three preset needle settings as far as needle positions, it does have a one step buttonhole that’s really nice it comes with the automatic buttonhole foot.
Ease of use
To use the machine it’s really easy as everything is clearly labelled and marked on how to adjust it by turning the dials. Instructions are also available in the Quick Start Guide bernette 05 ACADEMY. For stitch length anywhere from two to three is going to be for your standard sewing. Buttonholes are going to be one on the dial and that’s clearly marked. Keep turning the dial and you will get the stretch stitches, if you want to do a triple stitch or the triple zigzag or any of the decorative stretch stitches especially if you’re working on knits. I has a really good selection of stitches and such a simple machine it really runs the gamut you can do an awful awful lot with this machine
It does have two led lights it’s gonna light up the sewing space really really nicely so no shadows. It has this great finger guard so that comes on the machine and is easily removed to help keep everybody safe. It also has some nice storage so you can store all your accessories that come with the machine.
Threading
The thread spool goes up on top and the spool cap holds the thread firmly in place. To thread the machine simply follow the thread diagram on the machine and you can’t go wrong. Bernette has also put out helpful tutorials on how to thread and of course the official user manual from Bernette. The machine also has a built-in needle threader which is awesome for such a simple machine to have it be able to thread the needle for you. A built-in thread cutters on the side so you can cut the thread to the perfect length for you to be able to start sewing. As this is a fully mechanical machine so there’s no needle up or down stop so you will have to turn the hand wheel and use the side cutter.
Bobbin System
The Bernette 05 Academy has a top loading bobbin system so that’s really convenient so you don’t have to take anything off to change out the Bobbin. But if you do want to use the free arm the accessory tray does come off so you can have a nice tubular item to spin right around that free arm that’s wonderful. It has a really simple threading system for the bobbin and a thread cutter on your bobbin threading system so it cuts it right at the right length, so you don’t have to worry about drawing that thread up as it’s automatically set to pick it up for you. It uses the class 15 plastic bobbin so of course you want to use the ones that come with the machine but if you want to buy extras it’s the bernette class 15 plastic bobbin. For needles it takes your standard domestic needles with the flat back, so any of your domestic needles are going to work in this machine perfectly.
Stitches
The Bernette 05 Academy has 30 different stitches built onto the machine it is a fully mechanical machine. In these stitches it also includes a super stretchy lycra stitch as well as a blanket stitch so really great all-around machine for all of your projects in addition to that it has a presser foot pressure adjustment most machines in this category don’t have this type of adjustment so it’s really great for when you’re doing multiple layers of fabrics or just all sorts of different types of fabrics slippery fabric sticky fabrics this is going to help all those different types of fabrics and multiple layers feed through with the feed dog system very evenly great great feature to have on a machine at this level does have a built-in needle threader of course your onboard bobbin winder that operates with your foot control. It also has a fine a micro control buttonhole stitching that gives a little bit of tweaking for stitching to make it closer or further apart depending on how you like it to stitch out.
Sewing Speed
The Bernette Academy has two modes there’s one with the two lines that is your normal selling speed so if you turn it on the one with the two lines that’s going to give you full sewing speed which is up to 1100 stitches per minute and that’s wonderful if you’re a speedy sewer awesome if you’re working on some fabrics or a project that’s a little more difficult you want some more control but you still want full power of the machine you can flip it over to the one line mode and what that is that’s a half speed mode and that’s going to max out the speed of the machine at 650 stitches per minute but you’re going to get full power full penetrating power of the needle through your your your multi-layer project or project that you want to have a little bit more control of so you can automatically reduce the speed of the machine.
Accessories
Now the Bernette 05 comes with a whole lot of accessories first off this comes with a tray which slides right in and gives you a nice big area to sew on so you have a lot more room to work than you do with a typical compact machine the brunette also includes a great assortment of feet including your free motion foot it also comes with a one step buttonhole foot, it also comes with a blind hem foot a zipper foot, a rolled edge foot which is really unusual to find in a machine today an open toe foot so if you’re doing applique stitching you can see exactly where you are an edge joining foot a overcast foot for doing overcast stitches along the edge of your fabric an invisible zipper foot and a teflon foot first for sewing on Those kind of slick vinyls and leathers and that kind of thing the point is you get an awful really good selection with this machine much better than you find in a machine at this price range typically.
Conclusion
The Bernette 05 Academy is a lovely machine, it comes with lots of accessories, 12 different presser feet and no other machine in this class comes with that many presser feet soles. Also it comes with the extra large extension table that just slides right on once you take the accessory box off for all of your large projects gives you that extra support for those heavier projects.
This machine is for everybody, everybody needs a workhorse and a stable machine. It is also a great machine for a classroom environment or to bring with you if wanting to work away from your sewing home.