Montavilla Sewing Centers

I reluctantly brought in my ancient Kenmore Sewing machine for repair. I thought there would be a huge fee to look at the machine, and a 3 week wait for repair. The young man at the counter fixed my machine while I waited, and it only cost $ 17! I was so happy with the service.
He also showed me new machines and gave me a lot of information about how new machines are made, and how they operate. He is very knowledgeable about old machines and new technology. I highly recommend Stark Street Montavilla Sewing Center.

I traded in my #@**!! Singer for a refurbished Janome and couldn’t be happier with the service I received at the Stark location. Isaac was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all of my questions. Definitely would recommend.

I brought in my sewing machine for repairs, and one of the techs looked it over and told me it would cost twice to repair what it would to replace. Not the best news, but still I had a great experience here. They gave me lots of information about what was wrong with my old machine, the considerations involved in fixing it, and the different mechanical and longevity issues with machines at different price points. Isaac and Chris both were very patient in helping me. They listened to what kind of sewing I hoped to do, walked me through the ins and outs of several machines in my price range, and were very patient as I tried out different options. In the end, they got me a great deal on a new Pfaff (honoring competitors’ sale prices from a previous month!), and added on their three-​year in-​store warranty and support as a courtesy since I’d traded in my old machine. They even let me stay past closing while I waited for a cab.
This is a great place — great service, a range of options for all levels and prices, and a local business well worth your support. Come in and talk to them if you’re thinking of buying something online; you won’t regret it, and over the life of the machine you’ll get a much better value for having a relationship with this business.

My wife took her sewing machine to the Gresham location for a tune-​up. They told her it would be two weeks.
She waited two weeks and called them since she did not hear from them. They stated they meant, 10 business days, not 10 calendar days. She waited until that time and called again. They told her that the sewing machine was at another location and that they would personally retrieve it and service it there at the Gresham location and to please give them until Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
I called on Tuesday inquiring as to the status. I was told that it was still at the Stark Street location but the service was complete and they expected to receive it that day and would call the wife. That never happened. It wasn’t until Wednesday that they finally called and said it was ready. My wife went over that evening after work and picked it up.
If you want to be constantly lied to and deal with incompetent people, go to the Gresham location. We have all of this documented and never again will we do business with these people. I can only honestly say «caveat emptor,»

Aggressively incompetent. When you walk in, you have the option of talking to the the guy who appears to know nothing about seeing machines, or one of the ladies who will talk over you because they assume you know nothing, in general.
When dealing with the guy who knows nothing, his lack of knowledge doesn’t stop him from offering you help, all the while reminding you he’s not the person to ask. If you ask him to direct you to someone who does know the answers to your questions, he’ll huff and puff in exasperation as if you just asked him to climb a mountain.
The ladies who will steamroll you at least give the appearance of knowing what they’re talking about; don’t be fooled. They will assure you that the product you’re buying will work with your machine, even when you point out its for another brand. When the product inevitably doesn’t work, and you bring it back in, they will tell you they don’t sell that product for your machine. But what’s this? There on the shelf is the product you need, and for your machine. They’ll tell you they aren’t sure if it’ll work for your machine, but feel free to buy it and find out. The number of times these ladies will interrupt you mid sentence seems to be the same number of times you’ll curse yourself for ever stepping foot in that shop.
On top of all that, you’ve got the owner walking around scowling at customers. If you can manage to get his attention, he will talk down to you, ultimately leaving you with an «I don’t know what to tell you» attitude.
The only customers these people care about are the ones about to buy a big, expensive machine, otherwise, you’re on you’re own.

Great service! I had a machine that needed factory repair and they made sure I had a machine like mine that I could use while my machine was away. They stand behind their repairs, who can ask for more.

Way back when I bought my machines and took classes there, service was great! I just received prompt response to a concern, from the owner and the manager. Although I did not receive a great response from a clerk at first, I know now if I had asked for the manager I would have gotten help. So 4 stars instead of 5 just because the I’m a little shy to ask for a manager, and prefer that clerks involve them instead.

Excellent metro resource and I have used them for many decades. Always happy to find great service and products here.

I can’t speak highly enough about Montavilla Sewing!
Over the years I’ve often stopped when driving by to «look».
Sometimes I’ve had to wait a little, but once it was my turn I’ve received superb service (most recently by Irena). Occasionally, I’ve announced upfront that I was just looking (while other customers were waiting) and I still received great, thorough service. I’ve dressed from scrappy to nice and service hasn’t seem to vary.
I bought a Baby Lock Imagine serger from Montavilla about 25 years ago and asked recently if I could get help setting it set up. They told me to schedule an appointment. I was going to bring in my «new in the box» Baby Lock Imagine serger and last minute decided to bring in my previously used older model Baby Lock instead. The instructor (Nadja)was incredible!
Nadja was not familiar with my model (expecting my Imagine) and was hesitant, but looked at the manual and set it up. Early on we discovered my receipt and realized I had not bought it at Montavilla. She said they normally charge if not purchased there, but she proceeded. After 20 minutes trying a variety of things it would not sew.
We decided I would go home and bring back my Baby Lock Imagine. She set it up and got me well-​started on my project (tablecloth) experimenting with stitches until finding a perfect one. She spent 1.5 hours with me until closing! No charge!!!
I’m going to purchase a new sewing machine later this week! I planned to buy another Bernina, however, Montavilla does not carry Bernina, but the service is so outstanding I’m changing brands. I won’t go anywhere else now.

I have had 2 experiences with Montavilla’s repair department and have nothing good to report.
A couple years ago I brought in my old White serger for repairs. It felt like something was binding up inside … perhaps something needed oiling or there was a thread wrapping up the innards? It was told that it required a part that was no longer being manufactured so could not be repaired. The guy wanted to sell me a new machine but I really didn’t have the money at the time. I ended up dropping off my broken serger at Goodwill thinking maybe they could do something with it.
Yesterday my husband offered to get my old Viking Husqvarna model 6440 oiled and tuned in preparation for some sewing projects. It’s been awhile since the last time I’d had routine maintenance done (at a repair shop that no longer exists) and I wanted to make sure it was in good working order.
We went in and the same repair guy as last time was there. He popped off the cam on the back, peered inside and claimed it was broken and the part was no longer being manufactured. I explained that it worked fine and I just wanted regular maintenance but he just gave me a blank stare.
Immediate déjà vu back to my serger incident and I figured next he’d want to sell us a new machine. We didn’t give him the opportunity … just packed it up and left.
I am SO sorry that I didn’t seek a second opinion on that serger at the time. I can’t shake this sinking feeling that this guy was not being entirely honest with me and that maybe it could have been repaired. I will never know.
As for my Viking, I have a lead on another repair shop and will never go to Montavilla again for any reason.

Just bought my Pfaff Quilt Expressions 4.2 here this weekend and I’m so glad we came here!
I have been wanting a new sewing machine for years and I was very excited to finally go look at some and be a serious buyer. I had thought I would be buying a new Bernina (which they don’t have), but was pleasantly surprised how amazing the Pfaff machines are.
We weren’t greeted right away and it took about 5 minutes for someone to come say hello, but once we got some help, the person who was helping us was very relaxed, showed me exactly what I had explained that I wanted in a machine. I think their usual person who helped sell machines may not have been there when we arrived.
I was ready to buy then but my husband wanted me to go look at the Bernina’s as well. After going to compare Bernina’s to the Pfaff I decided on the Pfaff and purchased it from Montavilla. They threw in a free extender table and their level two care/​lessons package with the machine for free which was great. They also offered financing, which we didn’t use but it would be nice for someone who wasn’t going to pay for it in full.
I’m very pleased with my purchase and feel like I made the best choice. I rated four stars only because I would have preferred a little more service/​attention for what felt like a big purchase for me. Looking forward to my lessons to learn how to use my machine.
Thanks Montavilla!

Went in ready to buy a medium range sewing machine on Wednesday. Walked in and there were three people standing around a machine, one apparently a customer, and two staff, one male and one female. They both looked up and stared for what felt like several seconds. Uhh… I believe the word you are looking for is «Hello.» Though «I’ll be with you in a moment,» or «let me know if you have any questions» are also acceptable word combinations.
I don’t know what their deal was, whether it was because I was male (though I did bring my mom!), too well dressed, too «ethnic» or if they just failed Customer Service 101. Call me old fashioned, but I’m not about to throw several hundreds of dollars at someone if they can’t even say hello. I walked around the room for another 2 minutes pretending to look at machines just to give them a chance to show some common manners, but they had none. Likewise, nobody said goodbye or thanked us for our business, which now belongs to somebody else.

A huge thank you to the generous staff at Montavilla Sewing center. They took the time to check out our sewing machines used for the summer Portland Parks & Recreation program @ Mt. Tabor SUN Comm. School. Our machines are ready to be used for summer sewing camps. We appreciate the contribution form Montavilla Sewing Center greatly! Thank You!

I was fearful my trust Pfaff Hobby had been ruined by my latest crafts project — a thick tote bag for my friend. I do things on this sewing machine that shouldn’t probably be done. ;) I thought I’d screwed up the timing again and the last time the repair bill was over $ 100. Surely deserved but like a lot of people these days I’m broke. Blane, one of their service technicians, came over and inspected it and did some oiling right there and even gave me a lesson where to oil on my machine. That’s all that was needed — I was so relieved. He probably spent at least 15 minutes with me and my machine and the only I bill I had was $ 2.85 — for some oil to take home. I will be a more devoted customer now. Thanks Montavilla!

I always have a good experience at Montavilla. Everyone is helpful, but not overbearing. I have never felt pressured to buy something and when I did go in to buy a machine I was met with patience and low-​pressure. They were very flexible with letting me decide if an extra warranty was right for me and let me know taking some time to consider it was just fine. They are always knowledgable and on the ball. I have no complaints what so ever. Got a great deal on a brand new Babylock serger, too! I just wish they were a Brother dealer, so I could take all three of my machines here.

Heard great reviews for the 84^th & Stark service center, so drove from Hillsboro with «my baby» featherweight in hand. Gary took a quiet look at the machine, threaded it, adjusted a few settings and *voila* it ran again perfectly. He took the time to show me a few adjustments, tension settings, and thread choices I could make to keep the machine stitching as perfectly as he got it to run. I couldn’t be happier. He insisted no charge. They easily could have charged $ 100, taken the machine, and returned it a week later. I am impressed and thrilled. They will have all my sewing machine repair business.

I went there today to get an invisible zipper foot for my machine. The person who helped me had never heard of my model before (I have a Singer Athena) and just looked at the machine foot area. In the end he concluded they did not have an invisible zipper foot for any Singer machine, and then tried to sell me a regular zipper foot instead, which is quite a different thing.
Overall, I felt like the sales rep had no idea what he was talking about. I went there because I was hoping they could give me a bit more direction on getting the right foot than Amazon, but it seems I’d be better off on my own.

I went into Montavilla with a thrifted machine that I wanted to find parts for. They had everything that I asked for, taught me how to do a few things and even started tinkering with my machine to make it workable. After awhile, it became clear that the machine wasn’t salvageable and they let me return everything that I had just bought!
Not once did they judge me for how little I knew about sewing; nor did they judge my poor choice of a machine; nor pressure me into buying a machine. They did offer GREAT customer service to someone who ended up not technically being a customer! I can’t believe how nice they were! Because I had no use for the machine I asked if I could donate it to them for parts and they assured me that at the very least, they would recycle it for me! I’m saving my pennies to buy a «real» machine from them because I know how awesome they are! Why can’t all businesses be this awesome?!

I recently decided that hand sewing all my pieces sucks and that I’d rather chew glass than go without a machine any longer. With all the options of makes, models and places to buy one, I’ve felt completely overwhelmed. Montavilla helped take the overwhelming feeling away!
I didn’t think for a minute that any sewing shop would give me a FREE refresher on bobbin and threading procedures, but as soon as they picked up the phone and I asked, they said «Hell yes! Come on in!» They didn’t really say «hell yes,» as that’s not professional, but their enthusiasm was all the same.
Harriet, a staff member, was amazing. She was very nice, professional and patient. After watching her show me how to thread and load the bobbin on a model of my choice, she had me do it myself and then happily discussed different makes and models of machines with me. I had always thought I’d buy the least expensive «brand x» machine, but afterwards decided to do some research between two different more expensive «brand y» machines which are much better options.
The staff are not pushy at all, are straight forward and honest with answering your questions, extremely helpful, patient and let you leave feeling comfy with not purchasing anything until you’re ready.
I am absolutely coming back to Montavilla Sewing Center when I figure out which sewing machine I want to purchase.
In the back of the Vaccuum center shop on SE 84^th & Stark.

After trying unsuccessfully to fix my mom’s vintage 55yo sewing machine, I finally gave up and brought it here. There were a few customers in the shop on a Sunday afternoon, but the repair counter was clear.
Gary methodically tested and ruled out various reasons why it wasn’t working, and eventually determined it must be a broken contact within the cord itself.
$ 18.95 and 20 minutes later, I was on my way to glory and a home-​cooked meal, courtesy of a grateful mother.
Nice people, good technicians. Highly recommended.