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nolen
Apr 4, 2004

butts.
I have a question for the sewing pros in this thread (that means anyone who has any knowledge of sewing machines whatsoever).


Over the holidays, I inherited my grandmother's sewing machine. It's in phenomenal condition, considering its age, and came with all sorts of feet/attachments/things.

What in the hell are all these feet for? Excuse the low quality camera phone pictures, but it's all I have at the moment.


The machine in question. An Elna Automatic:


A few of the feet:


More feet. The one in the middle has a spring inside of it:


I just found this little bastard as I was putting away the other feet:


What the gently caress is this thing?:


These were with said "thing":



The manual is still with the machine but unfortunately it doesn't explain much about the additional feet.

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concreteelephant
Jul 13, 2009
I showed my mom these pictures, she knew some of these feet but not others.

In the first photo, she wasn't sure on the left two and said they looked like they were just replacement regular feet. The right two are feet for making a hem. They feed the fabric up over that curved bit and under to make a hem. You can see the process described here.

In the second photo, the leftmost thing is a zipper foot. You can move that metal bit with the circle attached to the other side so you can sew both sides of the zipper. The middle thing is a darning foot, which you also would use for freehand sewing when you were quilting something, for example. You can move the fabric in any direction when using this, not just forward/back. No idea what that last little doohickey in the photo is.

The third photo is of another zipper foot, just a different shape. I googled 'zipper foot' and more results were for this shape so presumably this is the newer version of the other one.

The last object is a button hole maker. You might want to look up this brand and try to find instructions or something, because it looks different from my mom's and she wasn't sure exactly how you would use it. We think the metal disks are for indicating you want different sizes of buttonholes but just experiment with it a bit I guess.

Oh also, with the darning foot you need to cover the feed dogs with a metal plate which snaps on, or you may be able to lower them into the machine, because you won't want them to feed the fabric in a straight line if you're doing freehand quilting.

Anyway, I hope that helps. It seems like there's a bit of info online about how to use these various feet so just google any of these words if you want to know more :).

handbags at dawn
Mar 8, 2007
In the first picture, the one on the far left looks like just the "default" straight-stitch foot and the one to the right of it looks like a quarter-inch foot. (If you lined the edge of the fabric up with the right edge of the foot, it would give you a 1/4" seam allowance.)

Agreed with concreteelephant on the rest of the feet - I don't know what the far right one in the second picture either. I have a similar looking foot that is for sewing on buttons?

Looks like you got a nice table with that machine as well!

Cross_
Aug 22, 2008
I agree with handbags at dawn- that looks an awful lot like a button foot. The full metal version of this guy:


And here are some instructions on using the Greist buttonholer. The little metal clips are indeed templates to be used with it :
http://www.theweebsite.com/sewing/tools/buttonholer.html

Cross_ fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Jan 18, 2010

nolen
Apr 4, 2004

butts.
Wow. Thanks for the answers everyone! Now that I know what each foot is for, I can research HOW to use them on my own.


And yes, the cabinet came with the machine as well. It has the machine fold down into it so that it looks like a little table when not in use and has drawers to store most of the attachments/cams/etc.


Another question: Would I be able to experiment with making jeans with this type of machine? I recently made a hoodie for the girlfriend with this machine and had some troubles getting through a few layers of material. Is it possible that I just wasn't using the right kind of foot/needle combination for the material, or is this type of machine not powerful enough to such things normally?

Again, thanks to everyone for the help. You guys/gals are fantastic.

Cross_
Aug 22, 2008

nolen posted:

Wow. Thanks for the answers everyone! Now that I know what each foot is for, I can research HOW to use them on my own.
Get familiar with those rolled hem feet (first picture top right) they'll give you wonderful results and are not hard to use.

Ancient machines are supposedly more robust and suitable for thicker material. There are special denim needles available - you'll probably also want to pick up some reinforced thread instead of the general purpose stuff.

I just came across this website which has a nice listing of various feet:
http://www.jaycotts.co.uk/acatalog/Universal_Presser_Feet___Accessories.html

Cross_ fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Jan 18, 2010

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear
Almost done with this shirt I've been on-again-off again with since summer. Got the sleeves on, collar on, button placket thingy on, button holes done up, now it just buttons and a cravat or tie of some sort.

I'll get a mannequin shot as soon as I can, it looks a bit awful on the floor. Anyway, blouse with pintucks and lots of gussets, gets longer in the back to follow the line of the wing-vest it goes under. The sleeves will have a band around them ot make them less bell-shaped.

Collar, and my ghetto pencil markings for buttonholes. I'll sew the whole thing by hand, but I'm too lazy to get tailor's chalk.

I like sewing buttonholes!

4R7 THi3F
Aug 8, 2005

oh... so you ARE sick....
Here's a muslin shirt/jacket/thing from my collection. It still needs buttonholes:



I feel like such a doofus. I wasn't paying attention to my illustration and I forgot to add stripes to one of the sleeves. Ohhh weelllll, just a muslin.

4R7 THi3F fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Jan 20, 2010

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:
I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but does anyone here have recommendations on either sites, tutorials, or books on making stuffed animals?

I've made an amigurumi or two but I'd really like to get into plush-making. Even books on how to put together teddy bears is pretty awesome.

RichBomb
Nov 16, 2004
a strange and terrible saga

nolen posted:

Another question: Would I be able to experiment with making jeans with this type of machine? I recently made a hoodie for the girlfriend with this machine and had some troubles getting through a few layers of material. Is it possible that I just wasn't using the right kind of foot/needle combination for the material, or is this type of machine not powerful enough to such things normally?

Again, thanks to everyone for the help. You guys/gals are fantastic.

Increase your presser foot pressure, get a sharp (not necessarily bigger) needle, 14/16 max. You'll need to spend a lot of time with your hand on the wheel of the machine and help feed it material more than your other stuff. Whether your machine survives is anyones guess.

Artemisia
Jun 27, 2002

Fetish
This seems to be the most relevant place to ask this. I'd like to learn some bead embroidery techniques, such as creating beaded "bezels" around cabochons, to use for costume and jewelry making. I know this info is online, but I was thinking I'd rather have a reference book containing a lot of different techniques. Obviously there are TONS of books about beading on Amazon, could anyone recommend a really good one that has fairly comprehensive info?

my asian girlfriend
Apr 20, 2007

I am a mechanical engineering student and for our term project in my design/failure analysis class, we have to analyze loads and points of failure on a device. Our device is an old serger(this one, specifically: https://wi.somethingawful.com/f0/f09ba635f44e613c8f0132093563f62a88437fdd.jpeg) that was donated to a group member. I have never used a sewing machine and I would assume some people here use them quite a bit.

For the project, we are supposed to choose parts that are most likely to fail. Basically, I am asking anyone who has used these machines extensively - where do they tend to break? Just looking at the machine and having no experience with sewing, the sewing needles seemed to be the most prone to breaking, which is why they are easily switched out. Besides the needles, where(if anywhere) have people noticed their machines breaking down? Any parts that tend to need more replacing than others? For the project, we are limited to analyzing metal parts, so we are focusing more on the drive shaft and all the arms/parts it moves, however anything metal is fair game.

Any help would be appreciated, as none of us know anyone who does a lot of sewing. Thanks guys.

Cross_
Aug 22, 2008
Don't have a serger but I got a URL for you that covers embroidery machine maintenance: http://www.annsultfixit.com/UltFixit.html

Misaligned timing seems to be a common problem with sergers and regular sewing machines. Obviously needles will fail but they are considered disposables that are to be replaced after each project. Worn belts are a common issue with older machines, not sure about your model.

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear

4R7 THi3F posted:

Here's a muslin shirt/jacket/thing from my collection. It still needs buttonholes:



I feel like such a doofus. I wasn't paying attention to my illustration and I forgot to add stripes to one of the sleeves. Ohhh weelllll, just a muslin.

Oh, texture, hurray. Is the finished going to be black as well? Kinda reminds me of Jasper John's white flags. Are the stars machine embroidered? Is it cropped, or just sort of wide cut?

4R7 THi3F
Aug 8, 2005

oh... so you ARE sick....

Goldaline posted:

Oh, texture, hurray. Is the finished going to be black as well? Kinda reminds me of Jasper John's white flags. Are the stars machine embroidered? Is it cropped, or just sort of wide cut?

Yeah, my entire collection is jasper johns inspired for sure. I actually illustrated a collection based off the white flag before deciding to go all dark and weird with it.

Here it is worn so you can see the fit:



I bought iron-on stars for the moment, which I'm not pleased with. My school doesn't have any embroidery machines, and I don't know anything about hand embroidery. There's a place up in the garment district that specializes in professional machine embroidery, so I might go to them for my final garment.

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear

4R7 THi3F posted:

Yeah, my entire collection is jasper johns inspired for sure. I actually illustrated a collection based off the white flag before deciding to go all dark and weird with it.

Here it is worn so you can see the fit:



I bought iron-on stars for the moment, which I'm not pleased with. My school doesn't have any embroidery machines, and I don't know anything about hand embroidery. There's a place up in the garment district that specializes in professional machine embroidery, so I might go to them for my final garment.
Sweet boots. Yeah, a professional place (hell, even one of those cheesy 'personalize your stuff!) embroiderer should be able to do that no problem. Something like that wouldn't work too well by hand anyway, unless you wanted to do it as applique or something. I'm excited to see your whole collection--when do you guys show?

4R7 THi3F
Aug 8, 2005

oh... so you ARE sick....
Have you ever used a professional embroiderer before? I'm trying to figure out if I just need to bring a yard of fabric to them and let them embroider that entire yard or if I should cut out the pattern and mark the places that need to be embroidered.

Maybe it works both ways, I dunno. I just need to figure out a way to do it so that I'll be happiest with the results.

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear
I used to work for a 'promotional sportswear' company, and we had an (semi) professional embroiderer (woman with a bunch of machines in a shed in her backyard) that we farmed out things that were better embroidered than printed. I would work with her for shirts that had printed and embroidered, like a shirt with a printed logo for a restaurant and each servers name embroidered above it.

I think your best bet would be to not cut the fabric into the pattern piece, but draw it out, and mark where you want the stars to go. If you cut it, they may not be able to secure on the frames or hoops to keep it under tension. If you need that design on a bunch of different stuff though, I would just have them do a yard, but I still think you'd have to indicate where you wanted them and how they'd be arranged.

Fart Jesus LOL
Mar 11, 2007

Hello, I'm a super begginer and I'm making a bag. I was wondering if there are any tips or things I should consider when stitching together a thick fabric and a thin one (sturdy cotton canvas and thin satin polyesther for the lining). Thanks!

e: what I mean is I guess I'll have to use a big needle & long stitches for the canvas, but will this be ok for the lining?

Fart Jesus LOL fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Jan 25, 2010

Aericina
Mar 3, 2005

Meez, please.
I tried to make a bag out of satin polyester once and it was a colossal failure. That being said, I tend to interface the gently caress out of everything when making a bag because I don't treat them very gingerly.

kanteyluip
Aug 4, 2004

Mommy, I feel seasick.

4R7 THi3F posted:

Have you ever used a professional embroiderer before? I'm trying to figure out if I just need to bring a yard of fabric to them and let them embroider that entire yard or if I should cut out the pattern and mark the places that need to be embroidered.

Maybe it works both ways, I dunno. I just need to figure out a way to do it so that I'll be happiest with the results.

I used to work in an embroidery shop and operate the big machines. We mostly did cheesy sorority tote bags and baby blankets, but the machines were capable of doing really cool stuff. They had thousands of built-in patterns that you could mix and match and build into larger designs, and there was software to create your own patterns from scratch too (although I never did that).

Anyway, I would recommend that you don't cut it first. Bring in the uncut fabric, with lines for where you're going to cut it and locations where you want the stars marked (like with an X of chalk or something). It's much easier to work with a large piece of cloth because they're going to have to hoop it. You should be able to pick from several different styles of star shape and dozens of thread colors to find exactly what you want. At the shop I worked at, the base price would have been $6 per star, but for a bunch of stars you'd get some kind of bulk discount at the discretion of whoever was working.

RichBomb
Nov 16, 2004
a strange and terrible saga

my asian girlfriend posted:

I am a mechanical engineering student and for our term project in my design/failure analysis class, we have to analyze loads and points of failure on a device. Our device is an old serger(this one, specifically: https://wi.somethingawful.com/f0/f09ba635f44e613c8f0132093563f62a88437fdd.jpeg) that was donated to a group member. I have never used a sewing machine and I would assume some people here use them quite a bit.

For the project, we are supposed to choose parts that are most likely to fail. Basically, I am asking anyone who has used these machines extensively - where do they tend to break? Just looking at the machine and having no experience with sewing, the sewing needles seemed to be the most prone to breaking, which is why they are easily switched out. Besides the needles, where(if anywhere) have people noticed their machines breaking down? Any parts that tend to need more replacing than others? For the project, we are limited to analyzing metal parts, so we are focusing more on the drive shaft and all the arms/parts it moves, however anything metal is fair game.

Any help would be appreciated, as none of us know anyone who does a lot of sewing. Thanks guys.
Not sure if you're still working on this and I can't see your picture but look to the hook assembly (the part that swings around the bobbin) to come out of timing most frequently, especially in conjunction with needle breaks.

stars
Jun 11, 2008

Fart Jesus LOL posted:

Hello, I'm a super begginer and I'm making a bag. I was wondering if there are any tips or things I should consider when stitching together a thick fabric and a thin one (sturdy cotton canvas and thin satin polyesther for the lining). Thanks!

e: what I mean is I guess I'll have to use a big needle & long stitches for the canvas, but will this be ok for the lining?

Super beginner, don't use thin satin anything. It will fray, you will have a hard time unpinning and taking out problem seams and you will cry. It's a PITA even for experienced sewers and you want to have the option of taking your stuff apart and generally screwing up if needed, and you literally cannot do that with most thin satins. Line your bag with a simple lightweight cotton instead.

And nooo, you would use a very different sheer or ballpoint needle for anything thin and satiny. The regular needles, even ones not made for canvas, will make your fabric run, pucker, and generally look like poo poo/not work.

Hemlock
Jan 17, 2006
Waffle.

archaeopteryx posted:

:siren: If you happen to be my best loving friend in the whole world, gently caress right off, because this is supposed to be a surprise, gurl! :siren:



I'm not your best friend but I wish I was! -I have a huge crush on David Mitchell so that pillow is absolutely amazing.

nolen
Apr 4, 2004

butts.
Is there a highly-recommended computerized embroidery machine? I just want something that will sew the designs I create using whatever software is required.

What's the ballpark dollar amount I'd be looking at for such a machine?

Cross_
Aug 22, 2008
To quote myself :

Cross_ posted:

While I am still enjoying my Brother XR-9000 I am starting to think it's not me but the machine that's preventing success with blind hems. What I notice with thin fabric or when sewing close to the edge is that the fabric sometimes gets pulled to the left. So assuming the fabric edge is perfectly lined up with the right side of the presser foot it will no longer be lined up once it's travelled under the needle- instead it has drifted a few millimeters to the left. In some situations I can compensate for that by forcefully pulling it to the right behind the presser foot or by lifting the foot and placing it back down.
Has anyone here run into something like that? I looked at the feed dogs and presser foot underside but did not notice anything being out-of-whack. Anything I can do other than take it to a service center ?

I ended up taking it to the shop and they found out that the shank was slightly angled, the feed dog timing was off and the feed dogs came up too high. It's good to know that it was not just my imagination and there was indeed something wrong with the machine. $55 for a lesson learned about refurbished machines.

handbags at dawn
Mar 8, 2007
Oh wow, that sucks. Glad you found out what it was though.

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear
I'm learning to take pictures! So I actually have some non-pathetic shots of things to share.


Click here for the full 576x771 image.


Click here for the full 576x768 image.


Click here for the full 720x482 image.


Click here for the full 576x860 image.


Click here for the full 778x1037 image.


Click here for the full 1037x778 image.


Things are coming together! Just a few months until my senior show, oh god!

Vaporware
May 22, 2004

Still not here yet.
Good shots! It's always hard for me to take a break from being creative to document my work artistically like that.

4R7 THi3F
Aug 8, 2005

oh... so you ARE sick....
Hi everyone, I'm Goldaline! I'm going to spend days and days cutting and sewing hexagons together, and then use that fabric as a lining because I'm freakin' crazy!

Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear

4R7 THi3F posted:

Hi everyone, I'm Goldaline! I'm going to spend days and days cutting and sewing hexagons together, and then use that fabric as a lining because I'm freakin' crazy!

More like weeks and weeks--the lining took about a month and a half. :downs:

Cross_
Aug 22, 2008
I meant to contribute this earlier, but forgot until Goldaline went on her photo safari. It provides some insight into professional apparel shooting. While you're unlikely to have two softboxes sitting around at home- the general styling approach and reflector arrangement is something that can be copied by the hobbyist :

http://ir.webphotoschool.com/Shooting_Apparel_In_The_Studio/index.html

handbags at dawn
Mar 8, 2007
I'm glad to finally see a good picture of the lining. All those reds!

Dr. Kloctopussy
Apr 22, 2003

"It's time....to DIE!"

Goldaline posted:

I'm learning to take pictures! So I actually have some non-pathetic shots of things to share.


I want to wear this stuff all the time. And fly a blimp.

Nettles Coterie
Dec 24, 2008

Play in the Dark, lest the Heat catch you standing still

Dr. Kloctopussy posted:

I want to wear this stuff all the time. And fly a blimp.

Same here... except instead of a blimp I will live in a big old windmill.

Artemisia
Jun 27, 2002

Fetish
I promise to come back with better shots after the performance this is for, but I'm too excited to be done with this costume to not subject you to my badly lit no right to call myself a belly dancer with that horrible posture and arm positioning snap shot.




The bra was built over a commercial bra with stiff cups. The belt uses felt as a base, and I'm really unhappy with how wrinkly it looks when pulled tight around my hips. I've tried using that stiff felt stuff before, but it tends to ride up while dancing. I'm not sure what else to try. Luckily, the wrinkles aren't that obvious in real life with the light constantly changing off the different sequins.

The scallops on the bra and belt have wire sewn along the edge to help hold the shape and there's a little bit of extra felt added to the edge of the bra cups to make the design. The supplies used were a stretchy sequin covered fabric, silver sequin trim, and Egyptian beaded fringe (silver and black separately, I spliced it together into the stripes) from Ebay... I did not sew individual sequins or string individual beads, not QUITE that crazy yet. The skirt is stretch velvet and black/silver mesh.

The black and white splotchy thing peeking out in the 2nd photo is actually a silk veil dyed with a giant harlequin pattern, but my teacher dyed that for me, I didn't make it.

Fart Jesus LOL
Mar 11, 2007

stars posted:

Super beginner, don't use thin satin anything. It will fray, you will have a hard time unpinning and taking out problem seams and you will cry. It's a PITA even for experienced sewers and you want to have the option of taking your stuff apart and generally screwing up if needed, and you literally cannot do that with most thin satins. Line your bag with a simple lightweight cotton instead.

And nooo, you would use a very different sheer or ballpoint needle for anything thin and satiny. The regular needles, even ones not made for canvas, will make your fabric run, pucker, and generally look like poo poo/not work.

Thanks for the advice, stars! Will probably try with a regular cotton lining. But still I am curious, how do you sew together two fabrics that require completely different needles? You just don't? (but what about leather bags with a silk lining?)

Artemisia
Jun 27, 2002

Fetish

Artemisia posted:

Harlequin belly dance costume

Got a better shot of the costume after the show yesterday, although it was with freaky red stage lighting:

Factory Ten
Feb 8, 2010
'DON"T WORRY BRO, I'LL BE YOUR CREEPY INTERNET DETECTIVE WHITE KNIGHT WHEN YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT!!!! CALL 1800 WHITE DICK AND I'LL TRACK DOWN OLD PHOTOS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE MEAN TO YOU TODAY!!!!
I need help with making some DIY stuff for a photo shoot.

I need four white t-shirts. Each one of them is to have one letter of the word "LOVE" on them in black ink. I want the letters to be in a nice cursive font.

I was thinking about printing them out on 8x11 sheets, then cutting them out and using them as stencils. But I'm not sure the best way to get the ink onto the fabric. I was thinking spray paint, since they're only meant to be worn once. Does anyone have any other good, inexpensive ideas?

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Charmmi
Dec 8, 2008

:trophystare:
Freezer paper+fabric paint? If you don't care about the quality of the paint you can use spray paint still, but freezer paper will make a nice clean stencil.
http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/freezer-paper-stenciling-so-fun/

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