Hampton Forge Tomodachi 14pc Knife Set Review

I was in a really bad need of knives. Mine were dulling. On some the handle was starting to crack. They were starting to suck as far as knives go. I was on the hunt for new cutlery. Then I remembered at a Pampered Chef party my sister-in-law, Carrie, put together, the Pampered Chef representative had a knife that came in a sheath. The cool part about the knife? The sheath also sharpened the knife as you took it out!

I whipped out my laptop and was all ready to buy. I went to Pampered Chef only to find they had one self-sharpening knife available. All they have now are normal knives. I clicked through them, but I had my heart set on sheathed knives. I didn't want knives in a wooden block. I have small children that could possibly cut themselves trying to help me, by handing me a knife or something like that. I wanted knives in a drawer that I put a child safety lock on, for extra protection. The sheaths would protect the knives from any bumps and dings that can occur to a drawered knife.

One day I went to Kohl's. I told myself I was just looking, but honestly, if you're me, you can't walk into a store without coming out with something (I mean I can. But it's REALLY hard). Made my way down to the kitchen untensils and spotted something. A covered knife. It was red (my FAVORITE color) around five or six inches long and I think cost around $15 or $20. The name on the side said, 'Kuhn Rikon.' It wasn't a brand I was familiar with, but I took a chance on it. It had everything I wanted. I noticed a red on white Swiss cross. I thought if they make good watches, I'm sure they can sharpen a good blade. Why not?

Wonderful. You can see how dirty the cover is.

My favorite knife!

When I got home, I literally pulled out the knife and started slicing up chicken breasts. It was like a hot knife through butter! The blade cut the chicken so easily! I actually forgot how a sharp knife is supposed to cut. For a little while, that blade was the only one I would use. For everything. From cutting up meat to fruits and vegetables. I knew I had to buy more, but I didn't want to spend too much. I went to Amazon and found a colorful set of Hampton Forge Tomodachi knives that had colored cases to match! All 7 knives came with blade guards and had great reviews. I bought them and several days later, I received them. They set me back $40.23 (I paid no shipping. We have Amazon Prime).

Not self sharpening, but they would do!

Now honestly, these knives weren't as tack sharp as my Kuhn Rikon, but that's nitpicking. They cut, slice and dice wonderfully for the price! The handles are better than the Kuhn Rikon because they have a non-slip grip (I can tell from the current picture on Amazon that the handle has changed. I don't know if it still has a non-slip grip). I don't have to force down the blade to cut through something. I move the blade, lightly press and it cuts easily.

On the package the blades come in, it says they are dishwasher safe. But I've learned to baby my kitchen knives. I no longer put them in the dishwasher as the constant hot water can dull the blade. I don't even do the ol' let-the-knife-soak-in-a-dish-of-soapy-water. That can also dull the blade.

Yes, this is my real sink. By the way, this knife is one of three that needed replacing,
because I did things like this to it.

As soon as I'm done using them, immediately I take it over to the sink. I run hot water over the blade and scrub with a soapy brush or sponge, with the blade pointed away from the hand that's scrubbing it. I dry it on a towel and it goes back into its protective covering

I can already tell that this way of taking care of my kitchen blades is a lot better than what I was doing. I changed the way I clean them after I put my Kuhn Rikon knife in the dishwasher. After that it was never as sharp as it first was, but it still works just fine.

Another difference between the set I have and the set currently on Amazon (as of 2-16-14) are the two smaller knives. I received two serrated fruit knives and the current package has two different styles of cheese knives.

As for the color and pictures that are labeled as a non-stick coating on Amazon, I find that I have no problem with it chipping or peeling away. One bad review said the paint started to chip off his knives, but many others said the color never came off. Maybe it's because I've never put them through the dishwasher, I'm not sure though. Personally, I really like the color on the knives. Makes my kitchen just a little more cheerful!

 

 Santoku knife

  

8" Chef knife

8" bread knife

5" tomato/bagel knife

 3" paring knife

I've only used the Chef's knife, Santoku and the paring knife. I'm waiting for my oven to be fixed so I can get to slicin' some homemade banana bread! Over all, I am very happy with my $40 set of kitchen blades and the reviews on them are great too.

Singer FW 75 Featherweight/Singer So Simple 4166 Review

My mother-in-law bought this Singer for me (actually my MIL bought this machine for all 3 of her daughter-in-laws) around... I want to say 4 years ago...? At the time, I thought it was the best thing anyone ever bought me. She ordered it from HSN (they don't sell it anymore, although you can still see the demonstration on HSN's YouTube channel) and she had it sent straight to my house. I literally felt like a kid again opening up that box! **If you don't want to read all of this, scroll down to 'If I would have known,' in big bold letters**

My first sewing machine

It was my first ever sewing machine and I got right to work sewing costumes for my kids' first Halloween out. I made a dog and chef costumes for my boys. I still have them and I don't suspect I will ever part with them.

So proud of my work! My chef decided not to wear his chef's hat.

After that is when I noticed my Singer not doing its best job. I noticed if I had been sewing for a while, I would smell warm plastic. At first I thought my kids had gotten into something and I would race out to find them. But it was never them. For the longest time I couldn't figure out that it was my sewing machine. But I reasoned to myself, since I go in spurts where I sew a lot and then don't, that it was okay. Plus, it still worked and did everything I wanted. Then while finishing a small little quilt for my oldest son, my metallic Sulky thread kept breaking.

I would go to Jo-Ann's and speak with someone about the temperamental thread. And even posted a question on Yahoo! Answers. I tried doing a few tricks to fix it, but they never worked and I eventually finished the quilt, while constantly breaking thread. I also made another small quilt for my niece and had a TON of trouble that time. My needles were constantly breaking, my thread would snap, the tension was never right and I was constantly smelling warm plastic. I would literally have to stop sewing to cool down my warm machine. The easy, simple stippling quality that HSN had promised me my Singer would easily do was just not there anymore. I finished that blanket and I put my machine away for a while.

Don't even want to look at your face right now

Recently, I've gotten back on my sewing machine. I've made cute little aprons for my sons (thanks to Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom- Apron Pattern) to help make a mess in the kitchen and I'm finishing up yet another quilt for another niece. And the troubles that were there before, haven't gone away... Warm plastic smell and now I've had to set my upper thread tension to a 2 to prevent my thread from breaking. Whereas before, it was set between 3 and 4.

Some other little problems- I could never find a parts for my Singer 75 FW. Anywhere. I tried googling the serial number and model number. Could never find a thing. EVER. All I could find were PDF instruction manuals.

I Googled my brains out

However, I somehow came across a YouTube video showcasing the 'Singer So Simple' 4166. I couldn't believe that it was the exact same machine! Everything from the 66 stitches to the exact placements of the buttons! Only difference? The name 'Featherweight' that is written on mine at the very bottom on the left side of the machine, under the stitches, is missing on the 'So Simple' 4166. See for yourself. The video is too brightly lit, but near the end, when he takes his arms away look under the stitches... You should see the missing name around 0:40.

See? No featherweight name...

So once I began typing 4166 as my model number, I began to find all sorts of parts for my machine. I was also starting to feel duped, even though I wasn't the one who bought the darn thing.

A week ago, I decided I wanted to buy a serger. But while looking for one, I realized I needed a new sewing machine. One that wouldn't smell like melting plastic after sewing for a few minutes, or because I was sewing too fast. I started to do a little researching online, only to realize it was next to impossible to comparison shop for a good machine online. I could not find any prices from any retailers anywhere. I've come to find that some companies try to protect their dealers by not allowing comparison shopping. For someone who does all their comparison shopping online... Lemme tell ya, it gets frustrating!

Today I went to a sewing machine shop for the first time ever since I couldn't get a price quote over the phone on a new Babylock Melody. The nice lady there told me about how Singer has gone down (way DOWN) in quality over the years. Apparently, they went bankrupt and was bought by another company in 2004. Since then (or perhaps even before that time) the quality has diminished. She added that most Singer machines have problems with tension and Singer has also replaced their strong metal frames (on some models, not all) with small plastic and metal parts. Which was why I was smelling warm plastic (hot metal parts being too close to plastic parts). Basically everything she said what was wrong with a Singer, was wrong with my machine. I left with her card and a promise that I would return again to talk more about which machine I will eventually buy. 

If I would have known that Singer isn't the best quality, I would have asked my mother-in-law to take back the machine. I'd have asked her to put the money she would have spent on that machine toward a better one. But now I know. It's a nice machine to get started on and if you don't plan on doing much sewing, like my sister-in-laws, then you won't have this machine give you much problems. They only use theirs every once in a while. But if you're like me and have been bitten by the sewing bug, you'll definitely want a different machine!

Some info on what came with the HSN package my MIL bought me can be seen below:

It came with 16 different presser feet and an extension table

All these came with this machine

66 different stitches. Plus and minus buttons take you to the stitch you want. Button beside the minus, controls how long you want your stitch. And the button beside the plus button, controls how wide you want your stitch. Most of the decorative stitches already come preset from the factory, and their width and length cannot be changed.

It is a small machine. 3/4 of the size of a normal machine and around 12 lbs. It can do free arm work. You can drop the feed dogs for free motion quilting and it has an automatic needle threader. This machine also has a 'Start/Stop' function, so you could literally sew without a foot pedal. It also has a backstitch button to lock the stitch in place (that's the button with the upside down 'U' over it). You can also control how fast it goes.

Cute, isn't it?

Who wants a machine that starts smelling like warm plastic when you sew for 10 minutes or because you are sewing too fast? Not to mention how the tension is starting to snap my thread now. If you do buy or have this machine, remember to go by the actual model number, which is 4166. Otherwise you will not find anything. I recommend this machine for light crafters and light/beginning sewers. But it is literally not built for heavy use. Now I know I do not like this machine. But if you feel this is one for you, by all means, buy it! More often than not, I don't let bad reviews stop me from buying something. I would much rather see for myself if a product is good or bad.

The price you can expect to pay? $150. Which is a pretty good price, considering my mother-in-law paid $300. For each machine. For all three of us.

Singer So Simple 4166

If you still would like a Singer, I'd say go with an older one. Or ask and make sure that the internal frame of the machine is made from a heavy duty metal frame.

*Even though my MIL bought this from HSN, this doesn't mean we don't like HSN. I LOVE HSN. I buy many things from them and they always have great customer service when I need it. So please don't take this to mean that HSN has bad items.*

**HSN no longer carries this particular sewing machine. Although they do carry other machines in the Singer line.**
  
***My husband bought me a Janome DC2013 for Valentine's Day (in 2014). LOVE that machine.***