Entries Tagged 'Equipment' ↓

Tell us about your sewing machine! That’s what they said at Sew Mama Sew, and so I’m happy to oblige. It’s sewing machine month, and their blog is full of great advice on choosing a machine and getting the most out of the one you have – if you haven’t read Florence’s post about feet, then go do so now! But then come back and read this post ;)

What brand and model do you have?

Janome Jubilee 85. It’s a special edition, which you can’t buy any more, but there is an updated version (which seems to cost a lot more). It’s computerised, with a whole bunch of stitches I haven’t had use of yet, but since it took me eight years to properly explore my last machine I’m willing to bet that I’ll get the most out of it in time.

How long have you had it?

One year.

How much does did that machine cost (approximately)?

Around £300.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?

Clothes, handbags, purses, crafty things. I’m about to make a foray into the world of quilting (and thanks to everyone who gave me such good advice and linkage).

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?

Not as much as normal lately. But she does get a go at least once a week and if things are going well, then five days a week aren’t unheard of. I really ought to learn to give her a mini service because I’m sure she’s full of fluff.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?

I do like her very much, though she doesn’t have a name. She is solid, and dependable, and she sews a lovely straight line.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?

Top loading bobbin, needle threader (a bit of a surprise that one – I didn’t expect to use it at all), automatic buttonhole, automatic locking stitch, needle up/down, variable speed. I use these constantly and they’ve made such a difference to the speed I sew – I especially enjoy not sewing great long seams without bobbin thread like I used to!

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?

No. Not one thing. Ask me about my old machine on the other hand….

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!

Oh I wish I did, but to be honest since the day I brought her home it’s been one of those quiet and steady relationships – no mishaps, no heartbreaks, no crises. Doesn’t make a good story but it makes for a peaceful sewing room.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?

I would, because I think it’s a good ‘next step up’ machine, but sadly it isn’t available anymore. It feels like a lot of machine for the pricepoint too.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?

The only important factor is really to consider how you sew – this obviously doesn’t apply to a beginner looking for a first machine, but there’s a lot of guidance out there for that. Once you’ve been sewing for a while you’ll know what things you wish your starter machine had, and the things you wish you didn’t have to correct, rip out, or master. Lots of people can manage without a top loading bobbin, because they are willing to check these things before they start but I am always too gung ho. Likewise, 4 step buttonholing was something that kept eluding me and I was too lazy to practise enough. Know yourself, and don’t beat yourself up about it. Life’s too short.

Do you have a dream machine?

Not yet – this one is still too new, and my sewing hasn’t moved up another gear yet. One day I’m sure I’ll hanker after a Pfaff or a Bernina, but until then I’m very happy.

(Yes! I’m still on holiday! The magic of computers eh?)

Last week I took my yearly jaunt north of the river to Alexandra Palace, for the knitting and stitching show. Unlike previous years we went late in the afternoon, when the coach parties had started leaving and all the school girls were heading home. For once we could actually move around and see things properly, which was bliss for us, but I suspect not so much for the exhibitors. They do need to make money after all. I helped in a small way:

Having enjoyed my mini rant against Christmas in October I thought I might as well bow to the inevitable and get some felt and some buttons to make Christmas decorations. I bought a felt star from a Christmas market last year, giddy with mulled wine, but when I got it home and examined it it was badly made and had blobs of glue on it, and it depressed me so much I couldn’t put it on the tree. I’ll make my own this year, and if they’re badly made I’ll only hae myself to blame.

I also picked up some plain fat q’s in several colours, for linings and things, and just one from eurojapan links. I love them so much I couldn’t help myself, but considering where I’d just been on holiday I thought it would be silly to spend much more, so this lovely grey crane print will have to do until next time. The linen thread came from the selvedge stall, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with it, but it’s very nice to look at.

This is one of my favourite purchases ever: a sharpener for rotary blades! Buying blades is so horrifically expensive that this will pay for itself with just three sharpenings. I got it from the lovely people at Coleshill Accessories and they have them available on their website. The woman there also told me about another craft show at Excel in February, which she called ‘one big shopping opportunity‘, so I think I’ll pop it in my diary. I know the internet is there whenever I need it but those delivery charges can mount up, can’t they? And besides, I’m never unhappy about having a day out…

You know those sewing days where the one thing you use more than any other is the seam ripper? Yep, today was one of those. I battled on and have most of a finished top but I’ll refrain from showing it until I’ve finished the hems. I hate hemming. I’d like my next craft purchase to be a squadron of hemming elves who come out while I sleep and finish everything off. Not likely. I have got hold of a couple of things lately that have made life easier in other ways.

Wow. That’s a dull photo. But it’s of very exciting stuff, if you happen to get excited by interfacing, and boy, do i know some ladies who get excited by interfacing. This is knit interfacing. I never knew there was such a thing until the day I went to John Lewis and this was the only interfacing they had out. It was a bit more expensive than the normal stuff, but since you only really need it for facings and wotnot, it’s not getting used up in a hurry. It’s magical stuff, and essential if you’re sewing with knits, because it means the fabric still behaves like a knit.

Mmm. Pins. You can never have too many pins. I only just realised why these are called quilters pins. The pretty flower heads are flat, so you can slap your big ruler on top and rotary away. My word. Since a lot of bag making involves long straight lines I use the cutter a lot and round headed pins are just a big pain in the ass. As an added bonus these pins are super long too. Not cheap, but I guess you do get what you pay for.

So yes, four more sleeps til Japan, and I’m still trying to finish things to take with me. I planned it all ages ago, but you know plans – tricksy things…

I’ve been fighting off some sort of horrid lurgy the last couple of days and it’s made me irritable and unpleasant. As Mr J coughed and spluttered and blew his nose in a manner that was so irritating I could have throttled him, I decided that the best thing would be be remove myself to my sewing table and concentrate on the dress.

The things I do for my marriage.

One almost finished cosmopolitan dress (yes, my mirror is still dusty). I really really love it. It fits well, it’s really comfortable and the inset waist band with the ties gives me back some shape. I learnt a few things (and made notes for next time), mostly that I really needn’t have done the panama at all, or at least not quite as big. There is quite a lot of room up there anyway, and since it’s a knit it stretches… Ah well. For once I have a dress that isn’t either a tent or gaping across the front. I’m still pleased I attempted it since it flipped a switch in my head – patterns are a starting point, and if it doesn’t fit right out of the envelope that doesn’t mean I am a mutant woman thing. It’s a confidence booster too – look what I did to the pattern and I still got a wearable garment from it.

I’m definitely making this again, which makes the pattern cost well worth it.

I couldn’t have done it without my beloved DK Book of Sewing. It’s dry – oh so dry – but it has photos for every technique it describes, so you’re not left wondering what on earth the text might mean. The pattern says that the sleeves are ‘attached like a normal shirt sleeve’ so I flipped open my book to ‘attaching a shirt sleeve’ and had illustrated steps to follow.

The Fit for Real People book also arrived. The authors designed patterns for Vogue and McCalls, and make it sound perfectly normal that you’d mess about with the pattern: in fact it’s more than normal, it’s almost required. All of the adjustments have really good illustrations so I think I could stick my neck out and recommend it.

Oh and there’s one more thing I couldn’t have made the dress without…

In my defense it’s an ex-demonstrator model from SMD (still available at time of typing) and as such had almost 20% off. I was assured it had been checked over by the engineer, and it came with all the normal freebies, so I just went for it. Since it’s already seen action in neatening seams and finishing edges I can report that it works perfectly. Adventures in knit can continue.

I’m very excited by this picture. Yesterday I decided I would do some sewing, although as Susanne said recently, a lot of sewing is not actually doing any sewing. Instead I was sorting out the interfacing for my friend’s Sophia, which is going to be made with the Amy Butler Starflower tile in spinach. (I love spinach. Especially bahjee.)

As you know I was a little disappointed with the squooshy nature of the first Sophia, having followed the instructions to the letter and used fusible fleece. So when Lisa was extolling the virtues of this new product she was stocking I thought it might be just the thing. It’s a firm, flexible, fusible interfacing, and seems to do just what it says on the tin. I’ve substituted it for the fleece and I’m so far delighted with the way it stands up – literally.

The next test is to see how it sews, but somehow I’ve misplaced the thread I bought. Mysterious indeed, and more than a little frustrating. And I have a spool holder on the wall! Where else would I have put it? I’m sure at the time it made sense but for now I’ll be turning the room upside down.

*Helen, you are are exempt from answering this as we all know how much you like it.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes – they really made my day.

My new machine came with a selection of feet. Naturally this was a different selection of feet from the last machine, so out came the manual so I could Identify them:

Gosh, I do love looking at that automatic buttonhole foot. So now I know what I’ve got – what do I do with them? Well, I found out all about the over-edge foot while I was making my Onion skirt. The instructions helpfully tell you to finish your seams using an overlocker (serger) or to zig zag. Since I don’t have the right coloured thread for my borrowed overlocker the zig zag is my most sensible option, and it’s here that my foot identifying session brings its rewards.

This is the overedge foot. You can use this with two stitches (possibly more) on the machine, either a plain zig zag, or the more elaborate overedge stitch. I decided to try out both.

You position your fabric so that the edge butts up against the black metal guiding edge, and also so that it is level with the two wires that you can see. The clever thing zig zags over the wires, which presumably leave a little breathing room for stretch or something sensible like that. To be honest, i don’t know, but it’s kinda cool watching that needle moving over them perfectly.

For the inside pocket seams, I used a plain zig zag, like so:

Even on this curved seam the helpful foot has made sure that the stitches are at the edge of the fabric, not wandering about all over the seam allowance. So far so good…

This is the overedge stitch, which I think is making more of a stab at being an overlocking stitch. I used this for the hem and the waistband seams, and I’m really happy with the way it looks. In fact I’ve realised that this sort of thing – actually finishing the raw seams – makes a huge difference to the end result. All this behaving like a beginner stuff might actually help me be a better seamstress…

Can there be any sight more thrilling? A new sewing machine, parked under its hard cover (I can get excited about that because my old one didn’t have one). We spent months sticking £2 coins into a jar and adding extra cash here and there, until finally there came a day when there was enough. This is what I chose:

It’s a Janome Jubilee 85 and I got it from the lovely sewing machine shop in Deptford, which not only had the best price, but the nicest service by far. If you recall, when I first went to see them they didn’t have one in stock but had one brought up from their new shop in Maidstone. I went back and got a proper full demo, and then delivery for free. They service and repair too, so I know when this lovely thing needs attention I’ll be straight back to them.

I do have an odd sense of guilt at having bought a new machine when I could have bashed on with the old one, but let’s have a look at some of the things that have already made me happy.

Top Loader! You will see that this bobbin is empty. So can I. My fervent hope is that when sewing I will notice that I am running low on bobbin before I attempt that 3 foot long seam. And look at all the markings on the needle plate, in both inches and centimetres. The only sadness I have is that, while there is a hole for it, my lovely screw in seam guide doesn’t reach as far as I’d like. Rats.

That panel on the front of the machine? It’s a little flip up chart of stitches. I have no idea if I’ll even use half of these, but I like it anyway. The sense of possibility is strong, and that’s enough for me.

A needle threader. This is one of those things that you can scoff at. I would. But I like it, because using it makes me feel more efficient than I really am. Actually this thingamajig is also more efficient than it first appears, because you pull it down in the same way when you do an automatic buttonhole. There. I said it. Automatic Button Hole. Five kinds of.

I like the screen, partly because it reminds me which foot I ought to be using, but also because of the precision of the length and width you can have. Both are adjustable, but when you first choose a stitch it automatically adjusts both to something appropriate.

This is one of my favourite things. Besides the fact that it is cute and makes me want to speak in Japanese it means I have control over the speed with something more than my stockinged foot. My old machine’s foot actually wasn’t very sensitive at all – it was a case of whizz or not moving at all – so this is brilliant. Besides the fact that the new pedal gives me so much more control, I can set this to the tortoise if I’m doing something complicated and no matter how hard I press it will always go slow. Sugoi ne?!

Couldn’t help myself.

It’s a shame that this week I haven’t had more time to play with it, but I’ll try to let you know about my new favourite stitches soon. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this, which it is also capable of:

Well, would you look at that? Indeed there was a hole on the right of my plate which I’d never noticed before and yes, this does screw in and for the last eight years I could have had much neater seams. Such a simple piece of equipment and yet if no one tells you how to use it you’re no better off. Thanks hugely to Another Yarn for the solution (but Anna – I would have been delighted with a quilting accessory too).

As for the other mystery of sewing with twin needles, Florence, it involves something else that came with my machine that at the time just wasn’t interesting, since I could barely thread one needle:

It must be special because it’s wrapped in foil inside the special packet. It attaches just like a normal needle. On top of the machine I discovered another hole, into which I slotted the spare spool holder, so that I ended up with two threads like so:

The second spool threads in the same way as the normal spool, with the exception that you don’t tuck the tread behind the little hook above the needle. (Such technical terms…)

And then you sew. The manual recommends using straight and zig zag stitch, as well as triple stretch straight stitch, which is the one using all the thread. I used a different colour for the bobbin as well, so you can see how it catches on the back of the piece:

I had a quick look in JohnnyL yesterday but they didn’t have any twin needles for sale. However, the internet always saves and there are some at cottonpatch (you have to scroll down to see them) and guess what? They come in different widths! I’m so glad I sat down and did this – Marceline, get your manual out, because you won’t regret it.

The only thing is that now I know more about this machine I feel more justified in wanting a fancy one. That doesn’t mean I’ll run out and get one tomorrow, but I think it means I’ll experiment more with this one while I save my pennies, just so that I know I’ll really deserve it.

And now I have to go and cover a simnel cake with marzipan. Have a lovely Good Friday!

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a sewing machine has probably not discovered all the things it can do. So yesterday I sat down and read the manual and played with scraps for a few hours.

The first thing I did was line up my feet and match them to the illustrations in the manual:

These feet I know…

These feet are not in my manual…

I had to google the ones on the right. The top one is of course a blind hem foot, and the middle one is a straight stitch foot, like the normal foot, but for stretch fabrics (I think – I could be wrong (edit: I am wrong – it’s for lightweight fabrics)). I still have no clue about the other thing so if you know what it is, please let me know.

But back to the feet that are in the manual: a button foot! I can sew on buttons? You see, I have avoided doing this for so long that I have never before known that it could do that. The only stumbling block is that I cannot make buttonholes, but then I never practice. So guess what?

This is the reverse side of the button holes because I just attached the button to the same piece of material. Ok, so I still need some practice, and the instructions on matching tension down both sides are enough to make me want a machine with an automatic button hole, but it’s a huge improvement from where I started.

Then I tried every stitch on the machine, which was terrifically enjoyable but also humbling – I should use the stretch stitch when working with knits, I get it now. I also had to try out the blind hem foot, which made doing a blind hem a piece of cake:

And I appliqued half a little house, before I ran out of thread:

And I found out I have a kind of overlock stitch too (though no special foot for it, Florence.)

And so then I tried out the real overlocker:

I so enjoyed taking the time to play with the machine and it made me realise, rather shamefacedly, that it’s capable of much more than I thought. (Doesn’t stop me wanting a new one mind you…) The other bonus was using up odd ends of threads and bobbins I had lying around so it served the duel purpose of tidying things up too.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my favourite discovery – twin needle sewing! Why didn’t I know about this before?

I have a new toy. Well, okay so it’s not new, and it’s not actually mine, but I can play with it for a while. I went to visit my lovely friend in North London today for a skill swap: I helped her with some website building and she loaned me her overlocker, and gave me a little tutorial on how to use it. She used to sew but she makes lovely jewellry now, and she hadn’t used this for quite a while, so I had no qualms about trogging it home with me for an extended visit.

I’m only slightly terrified of the many knobs and trailing threads, but I do love a challenge. Not tonight though – I’m tired. It’s a long way home on a train, a tube and another train when you’re carrying a heavy piece of sewing equipment.

This only lengthens my to-do/make/try/conquer list, I know, and yet I can’t do anything about it. I just want to give everything a go – it’s all far too interesting.

(You’ll notice I managed to sneak some green in to this photo too… )