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Okay, here's my huge progress shot.   Yeah, I've been raiding Moda Bakeshop for patterns. I designed a bunch of quilts last year for my seven nieces and nephews, and I'm sending my brain on a vacation for a little while. e:Oh, the fabric line for this one and the elephant backed one are both Simple Marks by Malka Dubrawsky. The darker ones are from last year, the brights are this summer's line. The elephants are a flannel I got on clearance at Connecting Threads. I thought about using them to back a jelly roll race quilt top I have here that's done in Lorax fabric, but I can't mix Seuss books because I'm an rear end in a top hat. I'll never do another JRR top if I can help it. One long seam is booooorrrring. e2:There's also a batik mixed with the Simple Marks in this pile of triangles. HodjasBitch fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 09:17
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I've got a question after seeing all these cool quilts. I made one super-beginner quilt top - like, it's literally just squares of fabric sewn together. But I'd still like to finish it/get it finished so I can feel that warm glow of having accomplished something. How many of you finish your quilts yourselves? If so, how do you do it? At first, I was thinking it would be easiest to take it to one of those places with a long-arm machine to have it finished, but... it turns out that's around $100. I feel like that'd be worth it for a nice quilt, but not my Baby's First Blocks (aka Proof I Can Sew In A Straight Line) thing.
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Jun 16, 2013 15:50
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Since we're on a quilt kick right now... I just finished my reversible sew as you go quilt on Friday! Here is the 'Spring' side  An up close of the Spring side corner  The 'Summer' side  A Summer side corner  My dog got a little jealous for attention when I was cutting some extra threads...  It took about 10 months, though I didn't do much work on it for about three of those months due to moving, school work, and holidays.
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Jun 16, 2013 18:27
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I finish them myself on a regular home machine. The first few were done with straight stitches, 1/4 inch from the seams of the blocks on either side. I've only been making them for just over a year, and learning to meander and stipple was scary, but fun. I dream of a mid-arm machine, though. Like this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTme2-RW-I Watch some of Leah Day's videos on YouTube. Lots of inspiration there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nz0QwNv1AA e: Is that a quilt as you go, JustAurora? I love two-sided quilts, but trying to baste and quilt them with everything lined up on both sides was a nightmare the old fashioned way. Yours is very pretty. HodjasBitch fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 18:32
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meche posted:
Are these blocks about 25"? This one reminds me of the big star quilt tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co. I love that your stars are scrappy, though.
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Jun 16, 2013 18:45
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HodjasBitch posted:I finish them myself on a regular home machine. The first few were done with straight stitches, 1/4 inch from the seams of the blocks on either side. I've only been making them for just over a year, and learning to meander and stipple was scary, but fun. I dream of a mid-arm machine, though. Like this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTme2-RW-I Yeah, it's quilt as you go, both the blocks and the border. It ended up being pretty easy that way, though the binding and sashing on one side is much prettier/better than the other. I've never tried meander/stippling quilting before... it is definitely something I want to work up to!
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Jun 16, 2013 18:53
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Goldfinch posted:I've got a question after seeing all these cool quilts. I made one super-beginner quilt top - like, it's literally just squares of fabric sewn together. But I'd still like to finish it/get it finished so I can feel that warm glow of having accomplished something. I've been working on a babby's first quilt too, and I figured if it's too hard to machine quilt with a regular home machine, I'd try hand-tying it. You basically take a length of embroidery thread, make a small stitch in the quilt, and tie the ends. Might not be as pretty as other methods, but it's damned easy.
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Jun 17, 2013 00:18
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You can also get a walking foot for quilting on a regular home machine . They also work great when you have a fabric that needs extra help through the feed dogs of the machine .
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Jun 17, 2013 05:33
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HodjasBitch posted:
This is so awesome. I hope he liked it!
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Jun 18, 2013 02:00
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HodjasBitch posted:Okay, here's my huge progress shot. I love that Simple Marks line! And that quilt is going to love fabulous when it's done - love those colours against the grey! HodjasBitch posted:Are these blocks about 25"? This one reminds me of the big star quilt tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co. I love that your stars are scrappy, though. The blocks are about 23" - good guess! I cut blocks the width of my ruler and made HSTs out of the cross cut squares! I loved this fabric line, so I was happy to use it like this, scrap quilts are my favourite. Goldfinch posted:I've got a question after seeing all these cool quilts. I made one super-beginner quilt top - like, it's literally just squares of fabric sewn together. But I'd still like to finish it/get it finished so I can feel that warm glow of having accomplished something. I do both - I've had some professionally quilted (the gray star one is longarmed), but I've also quilted one myself on my own domestic machine - straight lines only at the moment, I haven't graduated to free motion yet!For me I don't really enjoy the quilting itself that much - I super enjoy playing with colours and shapes and making the top. I also hand quilt (The orange/pink one in my post is hand quilted). It takes ages, but I find it relaxing, and just do bits when I'm in front of the TV. So how you get it quilted really depends on how soon you need it done, and preference really. Machine quilting (depending on how dense you do the quilting) can give the quilt more body (make it firmer?) whereas I find hand quilting is a little softer.
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Jun 19, 2013 23:06
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Funhilde posted:You can also get a walking foot for quilting on a regular home machine . They also work great when you have a fabric that needs extra help through the feed dogs of the machine . I want a walking foot so bad, but then I am so broke, I can't justify the price. That's why I had to learn to quilt my own, I can't afford a long arm service. I can't do any really nice, large designs yet. I have a big star quilt top a little bit larger than meche's that needs to be finished, but I'm waiting until I have better skills. I'd also like to have the walking foot to get in the ditch around those stars and the blocks formed from snowballing, sashing and cornerstoning them. I have better luck using my FM foot for ditch quilting than my regular one at this point.  So wrinkled from storage...shame on me.
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Jun 19, 2013 23:59
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HodjasBitch, I love those colors! Do you a bigger picture showing more of it?
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Jun 20, 2013 00:35
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I don't, yet. I have a picture of the first star I pieced, but my apartment is too small and full of furniture and crap to actually lay the whole thing out. (I lack the energy too, I had infusion therapy that left me a little bleh today.) One of these days, I'll take it to my parents' place and snap it on their lawn. This fabric collection is called Bookish, and is from Connecting Threads. It's mostly sold out, but you can still get some of it in fat quarters. e:I do plan to quilt this eventually. I have been doing a lot of commission work lately, and when those pieces get on my nerves, I start another project to get my creative juices flowing again. It is very rare for a quilter to NOT have a pile of unfinished objects/works in progress. Insanity may have something to do with it. The cost of materials might, also. HodjasBitch fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 10:09
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I know if you don't actually quilt it (or hand tie it) then it isn't really a quilt, but is it insane to make a quilt and then just not quilt it? Don't you usually quilt after the top and bottom have been assembled together anyway?
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Jun 20, 2013 17:03
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I passed this up today at the thrift store. Should I be smacking myself, or was I right to not buy it? (I wasn't able to test if it worked or not, I was in a bit of a rush.)
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Jun 21, 2013 23:50
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Threading a second-hand old-fashioned serger, the kind where you have to individually adjust tensions on each thread, will make you cry like Paula Deen's PR people. You did the right thing by passing it up. IMHO, don't buy any serger unless you're buying it from a person who currently uses it and can spare an hour or so to demonstrate it for you. I made the mistake of buying a non-automatic (manual tension, manual threading) serger. Even after the seller showed it to me and demonstrated it, I couldn't make it work when I got home. I wound up donating it to charity. A LOT of progress has been made in usability for home sergers; personally, I wouldn't buy one that didn't have auto-tension, at least. Mine is autotension and autothread. e: Any time you want reviews of old machines, go to http://sewing.patternreview.com (go ahead and register, it's free.) You can find contemporary reviews of old machines and get a feeling for which are workhorses and which are instant junk. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Jun 22, 2013 |
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Jun 22, 2013 00:06
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Thanks, now I don't feel bad about walking away from it. 
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Jun 22, 2013 00:15
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HodjasBitch posted:I don't, yet. I have a picture of the first star I pieced, but my apartment is too small and full of furniture and crap to actually lay the whole thing out. (I lack the energy too, I had infusion therapy that left me a little bleh today.) One of these days, I'll take it to my parents' place and snap it on their lawn. I love it! I love stars especially, but that is especially nice Where do you sell your quilts? On Etsy?
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Jun 24, 2013 09:31
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I don't really sell them anywhere, it's been word-of-mouth business. To be honest, most people want top quality at Walmart prices, and have no idea how many hours go into making a quilt. When they hear the cost of materials alone, they poo poo a kitten and don't feel so generous about paying for time and effort. Trying to do this for profit has been an exercise in frustration, and my original goal was to distract myself from dwelling on my illness. I'd rather sew pretty things for fun, and if I find a buyer, bonus.
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Jun 26, 2013 07:21
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My sewing machine is annoying me  The thread keeps getting caught around that pointy bit on the part that holds the bobbin case so after a few stitches into a seam the whole thing jams. It's happened before and I fixed it but it was ages ago and now I can't remember how I did it. Google's no help, it's just a load of people saying 'clean your machine' but I'm pretty sure that's not the issue? There's no visible dirt or fluff inside the bobbin house, it's as clean as I could possibly get it. When I put the bits back together it seems a little loose and wobbly so maybe there's a screw I need to tighten somewhere but I can't for the life of me figure out which one and I don't wanna go just screwing and unscrewing things at random in case it makes it worse. I just wanna work on my stupid nerdy sewing project on a Friday night like the sad little person that I am
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Jun 28, 2013 23:37
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vaguely posted:My sewing machine is annoying me The bobbin should have a little play. Are you sure you're using a needle that is the right type for your machine? And that the bobbin isn't in backwards?
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Jun 28, 2013 23:40
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Pile of Kittens posted:The bobbin should have a little play. Are you sure you're using a needle that is the right type for your machine? And that the bobbin isn't in backwards? Yeah, I've been using it fine for the last couple of weeks and tonight up until it just started being annoying. Something had to have changed between one seam and the next. I sort of remember it might have been something to do with thread tension? But then I haven't changed that at all either. Edit: And by loose I mean all the parts of the bobbin house can kind of tilt forward out of the slot even when everything's in place.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:42
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My best solution is bobbin washers. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Washers-Schamber-LaPierre-Studios/dp/B007VI69S6
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Jun 28, 2013 23:44
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Well I think it's sorted itself out for now? A little oil in the bobbin assembly and tightening up the top thread slightly seems to have done the trick. Those bobbin washers look amazingly handy though, reckon I'll have to pick a few up!
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Jun 29, 2013 01:02
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vaguely posted:My sewing machine is annoying me e: f,b
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Jun 29, 2013 03:27
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vaguely posted:My sewing machine is annoying me Did you try replacing your needle? If your needle gets slightly bent, it can cause your thread to catch strangely. I have definitely solved similar problems by just replacing my needle with a fresh one, and if it doesn't work, needles are cheap anyway.
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Jun 29, 2013 22:54
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I've just started using my machine again. As far as I can tell it's a 1960s (?) Singer 507 and more or less does what I ask of it. As long as I only ask it to go forward and backward at various stitch lengths. I got it about 12 years ago and I've never cleaned it internally (in my defence I was 12 when I got it and no one in my family sews), my dad replaced a broken gear in 2002-ish so may have cleaned it out then. Fast forward to now and I realised, with the help of a sewing buddy, that cleaning it may not be a bad idea. If anyone could help me on how to do that it would be greatly appreciated. I can't even figure out how to get in and my dad's advice was "just undo the screws". This advice, whilst probably true, is scary as I now have a sewing machine that works and there is a very real possibility that I will end up with a table of bits that don't. I've got plenty of time at the moment and am sewing like a gang buster but being able to zig zag (could gathered stitches be a lint issue or tension, I dunno) and generally feel like I'm not torturing this old lady would be nice. On the zig zag issue it looks like the top thread is too tight and pulling the bobbin thread through to the top side and at the same time creating a little tunnel of fabric that dips down.
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Jun 30, 2013 14:04
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I'm looking at buying a sewing machine on Craigslist, since I really enjoy sewing simple clothing as a hobby and my mom's machine is some sort of plastic Kenmore from seven-ish years ago that I'm not sure is worth me trying to take from her. One of the emails I sent is for an old Singer with cabinet, the person selling doesn't know enough about it to say if it still works (they said they plugged it in and it seemed to) and wants $75 for it. Here's a picture of it:  The seller's offered to let me check it out, so I'm planning to drive over with some thread and non-stretch fabric and just try doing a straight line or two, and if that works/if it fails for a reason I understand, like a broken needle, buy it and take it to the local sewing machine repair shop for them to clean and do a tune-up. Does anyone have advice for things I should check before I buy it? If it doesn't work, does it look like this model is worth buying anyway in the hopes that it can be fixed? My heart says "take it, it's so pretty!" but I don't need a nonfunctional sewing machine lying around. Thanks!
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Jul 4, 2013 14:40
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I've got that machine (or one incredibly similar), and it's a goddamn tank. Sometimes it bogs down trying to go through lots of layers of fabric as the motor is a little weak, but for normal use (clothing, quilting, etc) it should be dandy. It might have trouble with jeans. The lever just above that golden medallion on the right determines stitch length, and it will allow you to backstitch - the main reason I bought mine. It doesn't immediately stop when you let off the pedal (it takes another stitch or two as the momentum dissipates), so it will take a little bit of getting used to. As far as maintenance and whatnot, they're from an era where 95% of the machine is user-serviceable. When the internals (particularly the bobbin housing) get clogged with lint it will start looping under the fabric or skipping stitches, but a good cleaning with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol, then copious oiling will keep it in top shape. Just make sure the innards aren't rusted and everything moves smoothly and you should be golden. I will say, though, the bobbin casing takes forever to figure out how to remove the first time. Find a manual. Oh, and it takes standard bobbins and needles. Unlike my dumb '70s Singer. <  >Edit: You might need to replace the belt and the little rubber wheel for bobbin winding (on the contraption in front of the hand wheel there), as those tend to dry-rot and crumble away over time. It's also possible the carbon brushes in the motor are worn down and need replacement. If it's incredibly weak, that's likely why. Muffy_the_Diver fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 17:47
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Muffy_the_Diver posted:I've got that machine (or one incredibly similar), and it's a goddamn tank. Thanks for all the information!! I was planning to go over today, but I don't have a phone number for the seller and they haven't responded to my email from yesterday afternoon, so we'll see if that happens. I'm really hoping it works out... I looked for a picture of something I had made, to add content, but I don't have a dress form and all the pictures of me wearing things are dumb. So please accept this picture of my giant squid and giant whale stuffed animals (squid created spring 2010, whale spring 2013). For context, the squid is 8 feet long from tip to longest tentacle. 
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Jul 5, 2013 15:57
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Those are cute, tetracontakaidigon, have you thought of posting in the plushie thread http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3299745? (sorry if you have already!). I just finished a play quilt for some friends who had a baby (...in January). Took me a week and a half. It's around 4.5' by 4.5'. So, not for the crib, but just to play on or whatever. I like it because the block is the Bright Hopes quilt block. Seems fitting for an awesome baby!   and the back is all this plain purple polka dot material 
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Jul 6, 2013 01:51
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I love that squid so much. Well done, you. Once you've got it, let us know; I bet I can help you find the right attachments for it on Ebay. The right presser foot can make some tasks much, much easier.
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Jul 6, 2013 03:12
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Thanks, JustAurora! I'll go check out the plushie thread! Also, your blanket is cute, I hope the family loves it! Arsenic Lupin, thanks as well! I am not an expert when it comes to feet, my mom's machine only has the one it came with and I still sew zippers by hand. Beyond a standard and maybe a zipper foot, what would I want? I went over to check out the machine today -- it was rustier than I'd have liked, but the motor seemed to work fine, and the rust seemed to be mostly on the bobbin case and needle rather than the inside, so I decided to pick it up. I also got a look at the serial number, which starts with a JA and places the machine as from 1924 according to Singer's website. I now own something over four times as old as I am! The local sewing machine repair shop (which also does vacuums, for reasons I don't fully understand?) says they should replace some of the wiring since it's failing, and while they were doing that I asked them to put a foot pedal on instead of the knee pressing thing, since I'm used to that. They're also fixing the tension and whatever else they find broken. It'll be a week and a half before it's ready, and I can barely wait. The guy there seemed to know what he was doing, and even though it'll be more expensive to do the repairs than it was to buy the machine, I think they're worthwhile (not to mention necessary).
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Jul 6, 2013 23:00
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Oh try to get used to the knee press if you can, its SO much nicer than a foot pedal once you've got it down.
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Jul 7, 2013 04:01
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tetracontakaidigon posted:Arsenic Lupin, thanks as well! I am not an expert when it comes to feet, my mom's machine only has the one it came with and I still sew zippers by hand. Beyond a standard and maybe a zipper foot, what would I want? Which model of machine is it? See http://www.singerco.com/support/machine-model-numbers for a picture of where the model number is.
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Jul 7, 2013 22:51
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My wife asked me to buy her a dress form for her birthday. She wants one about a size 16. I'm not totally sewing illiterate, but I could use some general pointers. There are a couple on Amazon around the $85-100 price point that seem to be well liked. Are they likely to be servicable, considering we're on a budget and I'm not sure how much she'll end up using it? Also, how does a 16 translate into small/medium/large dress forms?
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Jul 8, 2013 15:00
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saint gerald posted:My wife asked me to buy her a dress form for her birthday. She wants one about a size 16. I'm not totally sewing illiterate, but I could use some general pointers. Does your wife want it to make clothes for herself or for herself and others? If she just wants to make clothes for herself, adjustable dress forms aren't super useful - it's hard to get them to actually match your measurements. They're nice if you're making clothes for a variety of people because you can do some basic fitting, but if she sews for herself you're better off helping her make a dress form - it'll be much cheaper and much more useful. Here's a link to a bunch of options.
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Jul 8, 2013 22:58
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saint gerald posted:My wife asked me to buy her a dress form for her birthday. She wants one about a size 16. I'm not totally sewing illiterate, but I could use some general pointers. Dress form makers are assholes. My mother has an older version of the "adjustable plus sized dress form" and the drat thing won't go to my measurements at a size 12/14. It's off on my bust by 8 inches. Have her take her actual measurements and make sure the dress form will match them. Do not just try to buy one because it says it fits certain sizes.
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Jul 8, 2013 23:20
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saint gerald posted:My wife asked me to buy her a dress form for her birthday. She wants one about a size 16. I'm not totally sewing illiterate, but I could use some general pointers. Adjustable dress forms are stupid/break too easily. You could make one or get a professional tailor's form. Don't do the form size based on her clothing size-rather use her measurements. I have several in different sizes and just pad them out to my measurements/my client's measurements to get them to work. It has been helpful esp. for the few wedding dresses I've made. Here is just one quick option: http://sewtrue.com/Store/Sew-True-Womens-Standard-Dress-Form-P850.html?utm_medium=cse&utm_source=froogle&gclid=CKnPoOGeobgCFYI-MgodMVgAUg
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Jul 9, 2013 02:18
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Crossposted from the cosplay thread cos apparently you guys are more likely to be knowledgeable about this sort of thing My sewing machine is on the blink. Basically, the feed dogs, the little serrated plates under the foot that move up and down and back and forth to pull fabric through the machine as it's sewn, have decided to start misbehaving. When I set the stitch to 4mm (the max on my machine), they move the fabric maybe 1mm, so my stitches are incredibly close together. But that's only half the problem, the big issue is that I mostly use the triple/stretch stitch, which moves the fabric forward AND backwards in turn using the feed dogs so each stitch is gone over multiple times, so it can stretch without popping a seam. The problem is, the forward stitches are half the length they should be, but the backwards ones are the full proper length, so when it tries to go two stitches forward then one stitch back, the needle just keeps going over and over the same spot I've spent about two hours poking around inside the bloody thing with a screwdriver and I cannot work out what the cause of problem is, nothing seems to have snapped or bent. All I can think is that something within the stitch length setting mechanism has slipped and turning the dial to 4 isn't actually moving the appropriate mechanical parts as far as it should (there's an angled bar/cam mechanism that moves when you turn the dial and when you push it to set the reverse stitch), but I can't even get into that part of the machine, it's hidden really drat well and I'd have to strip it completely, something I'm not confident I could bring it back from. It's an old Janome/New Home 632 if that means anything to anyone, like circa 1970 or something. Until today it was working great, the stitches were the correct length and the stretch worked as intended. It gave up half way through a lone of stitching, which is what makes me think something has slipped. I know it's pretty specific, I'm mostly just venting and I'll take it to be repaired next week. Still an absolute pain, and if it can't be fixed an identical replacement is gonna be a bugger to find given it's age.
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Jul 14, 2013 00:03
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