Juki DDL 555 Review: Old But Gold

I, as an experienced tailor, appreciate industrial sewing machines a lot. Since I own a workshop with many employees, and many orders daily, I must be able to fulfill my clients’ orders on time and efficiently.

Industrial machines give me the sewing speed and perfect stitches that I need for my projects.

Juki DDL 555 is one of the industrial sewing machines I am glad I have bought. It has served me to the maximum.

Juki DDL 555 And Its Features 

Design

Since it is an industrial machine, it has a mechanic function with a servo motor. A fairly large machine, which is quite normal for an industrial machine.

Since it is a large machine, it is very sturdy and powerful. It fits perfectly inside my workshop since I have a very wide working area. But if you plan to put it inside your house it can be a challenge.

Also, you will need an experienced person that will be able to help you assemble all the parts since it is a heavy machine, and the parts are tricky to put together.

• Dimensions: 48x36x48 inches
• Stitches: Straight stitch (lockstitch)
• Speed: 5500 stitches per minute

Servo motor

An easy-to-control motor, which runs only when you press the pedals. Even though more expensive than a clutch motor, it is more efficient and way quieter.

It is easy to use, even though it is a high-speed professional machine. You might not be able to do experiments with it and try out your crafty ideas.

But it is a powerful machine that promises perfect stitches when it comes to projects that require lockstitches.

Straight stitch

Juki Sewing Machine DDL 555 is a straight stitch-only sewing machine. So, if you are not familiar with what straight stitches mean we will explain it a bit more. A straight stitch represents the basic stitch people use for sewing.

All the other stitches originated from the straight stitch. For the straight stitch to be perfect you need the stitches to align perfectly.

An industrial straight-stitch-only sewing machine like Juki DDL 555 can guarantee you a perfect professional stitch.

The straight stitch is created by interlocking the two threads, the needle, and the bobbin thread.

If you need to secure your seams, you just do a couple of reverse stitches at the beginning and the end of your seam.

Stitch speed

If you are a professional tailor with your own small sewing business, you know very well how necessary high-speed sewing is.

You will have daily orders, which will require good quality delivered fast.

And if you want to have a bigger profit you are going to need to put out a bunch of quality products in less time than you might be ready to.

So Juki DDL 555 offers you both the speed and quality you need for reaching your goals.

Knee lift

The Juki DDL 555 comes with a knee lifter which will make things easier since it allows you to lift the presser foot effortlessly without using your hands.

So, you have free hands to control and manage your fabric and its placement. I love this feature about this machine. We only have two hands, and we need them to keep the textile on the table, move It around, etc.

I appreciate a machine that has features that make the sewing process a lot easier and faster.

Adjustable presser foot

The presser foot is the device that presses the fabric against the feed dog meanwhile helping you move the fabric along as you are sewing.

If the pressure of the presser foot is not correct the fabric will start puckering or skip stitches. But not with the Juki DDL 555 has an adjustable presser foot pressure. So, you can adjust It according to the kind of fabric you are sewing.

Kinds of fabric

Despite being a powerful, industrial beast, Juki DDL 555 can’t be used to sew through thick leather projects. For working with leather or vinyl you will need to buy the heavy-duty upgrade kit.

It is a machine meant more for light to medium fabrics. I used it mostly for light denim materials for denim jackets and denim pants.

But also, from time to time we sew curtains, bed sheets, pillowcases, and other cotton or linen materials.

Threading

It is a sewing machine that takes only two types of needles, 1,5 mm or 2mm shaft size. If you are used to computerized sewing machines with guided threading systems, you might find it tricky to use the Juki DDL 555.

It is a sewing machine that requires to be threaded manually in multiple steps.

You must learn the steps correctly by heart to be able to sew properly.
It is a dual-spool system, so you can put two larger spools of thread on your machine.

Some of the invisible features I loved about this machine are the finger guard which is very much needed when using a high-speed machine. The other feature is the fabric edge sensor.

When using a high-speed sewing machine sometimes it is hard to be aware of the end of the work, that’s where this feature comes in handy.

Final words

I would not recommend this powerful beast to a person who is a beginner in the field of sewing. It is too industrial as well as a very high-speed stitch machine. That makes it difficult sewing machine to control and learn from.

But that is just my opinion, if you like this sewing machine and think that you can manage to handle its speed, then you will not be disappointed.

If you have experience in sewing, and you plan to open your sewing business this sewing machine is an amazing choice that will give you wonderful and professional results.

I have used and abused this machine for ages. And during all the time of using it, I have never had any problems with the functionality of the machine or the quality of the stitches.

I recommend it wholeheartedly. I hope you have found this article and my advice useful during your search for a sewing machine.