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Rythe posted:
Blind stitch/hem foot, depending on sewing machine manufacturer personal lingo
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Sep 29, 2019 17:28
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Those look very handy to use, I need to get some practice in with that. I did get a chance to hem my friends formal, full length dress and I feel like I did a great job. I got the proper clearance and was able to hem both layers very evenly, I am super happy with the job, also because she needed the dress in a short time. Also whipped up a quick cushion for my daughters go kart for more padding when she off roads. All this sewing makes me want to break out my Serger and learn that better. Anybody have a favorite how to video they enjoy? Also do you have to have the cutting knife down to Serge? My fabric seems to get super tangled if the cutting knife is stowed.
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Sep 30, 2019 01:50
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Christmas is coming, and as I’m getting back into sewing for myself instead of my kids all the time, I’m considering a dress form. Does anyone have one they would recommend? I’d prefer not to make one out of duck tape, but I also don’t want one that’s insanely expensive.
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Oct 27, 2019 06:38
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I just learned how to use a sewing machine and we need some masks for a halloween party, so I made cat faces out of felt. I made a bunch of mistakes but I think the second one came out a lot better.
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Oct 28, 2019 20:08
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This is going to sound really basic but I'm looking for some advice. I need to sew a hearing aid into a hat and I have no idea what I'm doing. I have to attach this  Into the band of a hat  I basically sewed it on like a button but I really want to know if there is a better way to do this so that it will be as secure and immobile as possible. Thanks
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Nov 9, 2019 07:08
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Those slots are for a strap. Have you thought about getting a piece of strap, putting it through the slots, and sewing that to the hat? You could add some buckles or clips if you'll need to get the hearing aid off (eg to wash the hat).
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Nov 9, 2019 08:54
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Correct, the strap is not ideal for this person though hence the hat. Connecting the strap to the inside is a good idea, but I'll only have like 30 minutes tops to do this at the next appointment and that's well outside my capabilities (he's bringing his own hat). The hearing aid sits on the outer side with something similar to a press stud so it's easily removed for cleaning etc.
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Nov 9, 2019 09:11
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loaf posted:I just learned how to use a sewing machine and we need some masks for a halloween party, so I made cat faces out of felt. I made a bunch of mistakes but I think the second one came out a lot better. You did a drat great job for just learning how to use a sewing machine, those mask came out amazing.
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Nov 9, 2019 17:13
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Zenithe posted:Correct, the strap is not ideal for this person though hence the hat. Connecting the strap to the inside is a good idea, but I'll only have like 30 minutes tops to do this at the next appointment and that's well outside my capabilities (he's bringing his own hat). The answer to more secure and less movement is more stitches, either though a strap, or through the holes where the strap would go.
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Nov 9, 2019 19:39
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I picked up a couple of sewing machines sold as being for parts this week, and couldn't be happier. A Globe 390 Electronic, and a Myer Deluxe Zigzag. The Globe machine is a bit weird, but very straightforward. I think the problem with it, as with other sewing machines I've come across is lubrication. I get the impression that whatever the button mechanism is that selects cams for the stitch is sticking / jamming. It has some interesting interpretations of stitches. With lots of back and forth fiddling it can select the right one. It;s a very smooth machine and seems capable. The stitches aren't as ornate as a Singer, but it has some good functional ones. The Myer felt really stiff turning it. The motor was skewed off at an angle, the belt badly cracked, the foot missing, and the cord cut (by the shop). That thing is extraordinary. I feel like the designers had an automotive background. Oil holes everywhere. Deep galleries for keeping the front and rear mains fed. A cam/crank shaft as thick as a finger. After oiling everything I could find I let it sit for the day. It's so smooth now it pretty much freewheels when i give it a spin. When I was doing that I noticed that the foot wasn't missing. It's strapped into the top of the case. So tomorrow it gets a new plug, the better of the included belts goes on and it gets a try. That bad boy should be good for upholstery and leatherwork.
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Dec 7, 2019 11:04
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General_Failure posted:
I have a 1930s-era Singer and this description fits that machine exactly.
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Dec 8, 2019 10:18
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Those things are beasts! Never been lucky enough to find one in the wild that wasn't an expensive boat anchor. We do have a nice German made Singer though. It's been a while since I brought it out. IIRC it's a slant-o-matic. From what I can understand there were a bunch of Japanese manufacturers spitting out sewing machines which were getting rebadged and sold on the western market. After a lot of digging I found the OEM may be Brother. I was delayed in giving it a powered test. Got around to putting a new plug on, the belt on and trying it yesterday. Once I worked out how to thread it properly I used it to repair a pair of torn jeans. It was punching through the seam like it wasn't there. Im going to go for a second run of lubrication on it. It really needs something with a fine tip to get into all those oil holes. It's smooth enough now, but it had definitely been sitting for a while. Experience says to keep repeating to flush out particles.
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Dec 10, 2019 05:56
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General_Failure posted:From what I can understand there were a bunch of Japanese manufacturers spitting out sewing machines which were getting rebadged and sold on the western market. After a lot of digging I found the OEM may be Brother. Singer clones. The US handed over the blueprints to the Singer 15s after the war as part of a scheme to get Japanese industry started up again, and companies just started cranking out models under all kinds of names. Peanut over in the Interior Design thread posted pictures of their clone with treadle, and talked about contacting Brother to get information on it.
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Dec 10, 2019 13:18
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What are some good quality replacement needles? I sadly broke the only original one I had for my old Bernina moving things around and the universal replacements I got from Michaels were really flimsy even at the thicker size.
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Dec 23, 2019 15:25
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I usually use Schmetz, but maybe that's what you got since it's a pretty common brand. You could try Bernina's own needles.
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Dec 23, 2019 15:38
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there wolf posted:I usually use Schmetz, but maybe that's what you got since it's a pretty common brand. You could try Bernina's own needles. They were Scmetz! I’ve got a couple Singer packs coming, one set of titanium coated with ball and regular tips and then a second set of denim needles for heavier work
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Dec 24, 2019 23:55
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My (cheap!) machine has an oscillating hook and it just made a loud grinding sound and now does not produce any stitches. I opened it up a little and found that while the hook does turn, it's not picking up thread from the bobbin, in fact no matter how fast I spin the knob the bobbin and its thread stay perfectly stationary as the hook moves around it. Does this sound like something I could fix myself, or do I need to take it in?
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Jan 11, 2020 23:43
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VanguardFelix posted:What are some good quality replacement needles? I like Organ but that's just me. Wish I knew what the needle in the Globe sewing machine I picked up was. When I was getting it working the needle got pulled off course and hit hard. drat thing just flexed. When I backed it up it went straight back to shape like spring steel.
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Jan 12, 2020 02:10
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Killingyouguy! posted:My (cheap!) machine has an oscillating hook and it just made a loud grinding sound and now does not produce any stitches. I opened it up a little and found that while the hook does turn, it's not picking up thread from the bobbin, in fact no matter how fast I spin the knob the bobbin and its thread stay perfectly stationary as the hook moves around it. Does this sound like something I could fix myself, or do I need to take it in? That's the shuttle hook and it picks up thread from the needle, not the bobbin. As you can see in the gif below, the shuttle hook grabs the needle thread and pulls it around the casing, wrapping it around the bobbin thread and pulling it up to the back of the stitch.  Assuming that basic stuff like your needle is threaded and it and the shuttle still move when you press the pedal/ turn the balance wheel, the likely culprit is tension so start by rethreading the machine entirely, including taking the bobbin out and reinserting it. Also check that your needle hasn't bent and that there aren't any tangles around the bobbin case/under the feed dogs jamming up the works. Check that the tension wheel is where it should be and you didn't change the settings to some weird stitch length or something. Run some scrap fabric through and see if it works. Report back with a description of what happened if that doesn't work.
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Jan 12, 2020 09:41
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I unfortunately can't run scrap fabric through because I can't finish the threading process... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzldV7ib2jo I recorded a video that'll hopefully demonstrate better than I can explain, I've threaded this machine before and the last step is to have the bobbin thread come up as a loop and pull it out through the sewing hole (??) and out to the back. No loop comes up any more, so I can't finish threading. Please excuse my voice and my messy table  if video with the machine opened up would help i could do that too Killingyouguy! fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 12, 2020 |
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Jan 12, 2020 16:53
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That's super helpful. So what's happening is your shuttle hook isn't grabbing the needle thread, which means their timing is off. The most likely culprit is the needle being off so 1. Try replacing your needle, if you haven't already, and make sure it's installed in the correct direction/depth. If that doesn't resolve it 2. Do the whole rethread thing I mentioned in the last post. Set it up to sew normally and do a manual run without fabric. If that doesn't work then 3. Setup to sew with fabric and use the pedal; sometimes that can shake things back into place. (You don't actually have to pull the bobbin thread up through the plate to sew, it's just good practice) 4. If all that fails, you'll need to remove your needle plate and bobbin cover to completely expose the shuttle configuration and then use your wheel to sew a stitch, observing when the shuttle comes around to meet the needle. As that gif I posted shows, the shuttle hook should intersect with the needle's eye, but if it's coming early/late then it's going to miss it's pickup. That's an official Timing Problem, which is fixable but enough of a hassle that I wouldn't blame you for taking it to a mechanic. there wolf fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Jan 13, 2020 |
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Jan 13, 2020 00:59
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I'm thinking it would be nice to start learning to do some very basic sewing - light tailoring, seam repair, that sort of thing. I've read a bunch of the advice about beginner sewing machines, both here and elsewhere, and one of the things I've seen come up a lot is having it do multiple stitches. The problem is that I have my grandmother's machine, which is a Singer Featherweight built in, I think, the late 40s. It's in pretty good shape, but it only has the one stitch setting. Is this a situation where I'll be fine and things will just be a little more complicated, or is this going to give me a lot of trouble? I don't really want to get rid of it either way, but I'm not opposed to getting another one if it's that important.
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Jan 13, 2020 03:09
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you ate my cat posted:I'm thinking it would be nice to start learning to do some very basic sewing - light tailoring, seam repair, that sort of thing. I've read a bunch of the advice about beginner sewing machines, both here and elsewhere, and one of the things I've seen come up a lot is having it do multiple stitches. A bunch of different stitches is just a gimmick to make machines seem fancier; 90% of them are only decorative and you will never used them for anything. Featherweights are good starter machines and you will be able to do a lot with just a straight stitch. If you really get into sewing, then an actual upgrade would be a zigzag and button hole stitch, and a removable arm for cuffs.
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Jan 13, 2020 05:52
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Featherweights are absolute beasts and bring high prices on the secondhand market because of how reliable they are and how great their straight stitch is. Take yours to a repair place and have it tuned up; this is the sewing machine equivalent of checking the oil and fixing the timing. (Check and see if there's a local shop that says they do featherweights; your local quilting shop will also be able to recommend a repair place.) I love my Featherweight with a fiery passion. It's what I learned to sew on. However. Whether a Featherweight is a good learning machine for you depends on what fabrics you want to sew. If you want to sew anything knit, a Featherweight will make you sad. Sewing buttonholes, even with the special attachment, is a short sharp slope into despair. My mother, a very experienced seamstress, would go through multiple test buttonholes and still get some on the actual garment that were dubious. If you're only repairing garments, or only sewing with zippers, you won't care. Go forth and Featherweight! If you get hooked on sewing, get a second machine for knits and keep the Featherweight for everything else. I have a Featherweight, an '80s Bernina, and a serger, and the Featherweight is the one I pull out when I have a choice, because you just plug it in and it goes.
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Jan 13, 2020 18:03
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I need fabric advice! I gave myself this Haptic Labs constallation pattern for Christmas. The deal is that you sew the template down onto a quilt sandwich (fabric/batting/fabric), machine-sew in eight intersecting lines to stabilize the sandwich, and then hand-embroider in the stars, tearing off the template as you go. I want to use the resulting quilt as a lap throw. One option is to use quilting fabrics, with the lightest possible batting (bamboo, because it is drapy.) This is still going to be somewhat stiff because quilting fabric. I'd plan to prewash the fabrics so that the resulting quilt doesn't pucker around the embroidery if it's ever washed. Last night I thought of option 2, which is to spray-baste minky to itself, sew as before, and embroider. My question is, how much am I going to hate myself while working with minky? I hear it's an absolute monster to machine-sew and sprays shavings everywhere.
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Jan 14, 2020 16:45
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That sounds like a terrible idea. Like truly awful, the stuff of sewing nightmares. Minky is brutal to work with under normal conditions, and you want to glue it to more minky and then try and sew straight lines on it. And the nap on minky is not small; fine detail embroidery would get lost. What you actually want is some high-quality flannel; it's soft, has a good drape, and for a medium weight blanket you wouldn't need batting. I remember Robet Kaufman having a decent range of solids. In lighter materials there's also jersey knits, wovens, or lawns and voiles which are also super soft without invoking a skinned Muppet. And I can't let this slide, I really hate those templates because people get them with blankets in mind when they're really only good for wallhangings. The way they're having you do that is going to leave you with a bunch of messy lines of embroidery on the back which will look ugly and catch on things. And maybe you know that already and are cool with it, but I'd feel bad not pointing it out while there's still time to modify the pattern for a different result.
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Jan 15, 2020 12:25
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Flannel without batting is a genius idea; thank you. Another option would be an appropriate-weight linen from fabrics-store.com. I've actually been working out ways to have a tidier back in my mind. One option would be to start the stars with a loop, catch the loop over the fabric, and then do the stars as Smyrna cross stitch or the equivalent. In any case, I'm quite confident of my ability to make a back tidy and not have loops that can catch on things. I don't insist on a throw's being reversible; I have ha half-finished Sashiko one that isn't. Yeah, Minky is the devil from hell and that was a very trashworthy idea.
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Jan 15, 2020 21:47
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I'm gonna start exploring making my own clothes this year, any tips on where to start with patterns and choosing fabric? Are there any blogs that hold your hand? thank you in advance its been years since I made any clothes and I've forgotten everything.
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Jan 15, 2020 22:10
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HIJK posted:I'm gonna start exploring making my own clothes this year, any tips on where to start with patterns and choosing fabric? Are there any blogs that hold your hand? I've found Tilly and the Buttons patterns to be really easy to work with and all of her patterns have accompanying blog posts for each of the steps that are really handy. Using two of her patterns, I managed to sew two dresses (one with darts!) and a top.
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Jan 15, 2020 23:47
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Any ideas what is causing the bottom stitching to go all wonky compared to my top stitching? It’s a fairly thick project, top stitching on top of a turned canvas seam with two layers of batting and a layer of mod weight interface. Top  Bottom 
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Jan 26, 2020 20:50
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Your tension is off. I think by looking at it that the looping is happening on the underside, which means that you need to tighten the upper tension more to bring the thread up through the fabric. However! Before you do anything, put in a brand-new needle. It is amazing how often you can cure skipped stitches and bad tension with a new needle. They do get dull, they do bend ever-so-slightly, and it's a cheap fix. Another option, but I don't think it is as likely, is that you joggled the zigzag width setting and now it's doing a half-assed zigzag. Make sure zigzag is set to 0.
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Jan 26, 2020 23:59
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Cool! Thanks for the tips, I’ll look into those. Another embarrassing, but possibly related problem. Do people usually start with needle up or down? Every time I start needle up the thread pops out of the needle before the first stitch is made and I can’t figure it out.
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Jan 27, 2020 01:15
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Usually you pull like six inches of thread from both the needle and the bobbin and hold them down while the first few stitches are made. I tend to pull them with my left hand off to about the 10 o'clock position.
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Jan 27, 2020 01:29
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That would be my fundamental misunderstanding then  for some reason I thought it didn’t need to be held and if it popped out something was wrong...I need to take a dang class
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Jan 27, 2020 01:33
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VanguardFelix posted:That would be my fundamental misunderstanding then Check your local sewing-machine and cloth stores. It's fairly common for them to offer basic sewing classes; free if you bought your machine from them, for-pay otherwise.
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Jan 27, 2020 17:18
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Some makerspaces also offer sewing classes.
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Jan 27, 2020 20:36
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When in doubt YouTube is a fantastic resource and I use it all the time with my Serger.
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Jan 28, 2020 14:36
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Is there a separate thread for knitting?
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Jan 30, 2020 10:50
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TURGID TOMFOOLERY posted:Is there a separate thread for knitting? Yep
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Jan 30, 2020 12:06
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Arsenic Lupin posted:However! Before you do anything, put in a brand-new needle. It is amazing how often you can cure skipped stitches and bad tension with a new needle. They do get dull, they do bend ever-so-slightly, and it's a cheap fix. My sewing instructor says you should change your needle every 8-10 hours of sewing. Here is a picture of used needle and a new needle that I took with my microscope.  And here is my winter coat that I made last summer from a $5 thrift store quilt. I took the back and batting off the quilt, dry cleaned it, and rebacked it with flannel. The sleeves and collar are velvet, the pockets are extra extra large, and it's lined with turquoise satin.  I go to a weekly sewing class at a local quilt shop, that's the classroom behind me.
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Jan 30, 2020 21:23
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