Sewing and accessible sewing machines

I re-started sewing a few days ago too! We recently got a sewing machine with a Stop-start button, which means I can sew in bed without having to use my feet! It just sews automatically once the button is on! It’s amazing and it has so many different stitches. It’s going to take me months (and years) to learn everything but I’m determined, I can’t wait to make cute dresses & pyjamas it’s been 7 years since I last sat at a sewing machine and it’s been so nice to do it again with an accessible machine this time!

 

I don’t lie down, my bed is a hospital/profiling bed so it can be put in any angle! I’m usually at a 60 degree angle I think! It makes a huge difference as I’m not usually able to sit upright fully for long without becoming too unwell.

 

@Midnattsol & @lunarainbows Are they digital sewing machines you have? I do some occasional simple sewing, and have a basic machine from Lidl, but the pedal is snatchy and I can't get a slow speed even connecting it to a dimmer switch.

 

If you're okay using a pedal, Ian, you might do a lot better with a reconditioned old machine. Many of them will happily do decades of recreational sewing with very little attention. Sewing machine engineers tend to be specialists who know what they're doing, so you'd just need to check that a sale listing is from someone who makes it a business rather than an individual seller who claims to have serviced a machine. (The latter often means "I tinkered with it, buggered up the timing, and now I need to get rid of it".)

I still have my Janome New Home from the mid-1970s and my late mum's New Home from the early 1950s, and both still work perfectly. Hands-down the best machine I've ever used was my grandmother's semi-industrial Adler from 1930—that would still be working beautifully, too, if my cousin had known that nan promised it to me when she died. (She assumed it was old junk and binned it. )

 

Yes, mine is computerised/digital too. It’s the first digital machine we’ve had and my mum much prefers it to the old non-digital sewing machines she had as she struggles with the pedal too. The one I got is the Singer Patchwork and Quilting Sewing Machine 7285Q. It has a slow speed - I put it on the slowest speed when sewing & it’s perfect for me (it has about 5 different speeds I think). Mine also has an optional pedal too.

 

@Midnattsol @lunarainbows @Kitty Thank you. I can't really justify a digital machine for my usage, but I quite often browse used sewing machine listings on ebay, and then get overwhelmed trying to work out which might be an improvement to my current machine

 

The conversation prompted me to search again for one of the models I've been looking for, and what's made me happy today is that I found a very good one for £40. Thank you all for talking about it!

It's a 100-year-old Jones tailors' machine, with a vibrating shuttle and a harp space big enough to get an Alsatian through. I had the use of one in the 1970s, and they'll punch their way through layers of denim, sailcloth, and so on. I don't often use modern machines because so much of my work's heavy or bulky, and they either won't sew it at all or the plastic gears burn out.

If you tell me what you use it for, @IanMcPhee, I might be able to make some suggestions?

Briefly, if you're doing straight stitching on heavier fabrics, it's hard to improve on pre-WWII machines. They only do one thing, but they do it brilliantly. Tailors' machines will tackle anything from a tent to a silk scarf. Many old hand-crank and treadle models have been converted to electric, but for smallish jobs, a hand-crank may be fine. Despite ME, I used to make nearly all my own clothes using a hand-cranked Singer 48K.

If you need an electric because you're sewing long seams or you know your arm won't cope with cranking, a converted old straight stitcher like a Singer 66K might be good—there are plenty about. If you need zigzag and so on, a domestic electric machine made before the mid-70s is likely to have decent gears and will cope with moderate fabric. Unless it's sold as refurbished by an engineer, assume anything secondhand will need servicing.

If you're only using light fabrics and sewing occasionally, there are dozens of options. Just look for something that's already been serviced, PAT tested, and has its tools. You sometimes get better value from an independent than eBay—if you see something you like the sound of, it's worth Googling it as well. In some cases you might even find the same small company offering lower prices for direct sales.

 

Fingers crossed for your husband @Suffolkres.

Glad you found one! @Kitty Some advice would be useful, thank you. I'll message you if that's ok, rather than clogging up this thread.

My good news is I gave my sewing machine a service today and it's improved it a lot. It looked like a cam was slightly misaligned from the factory, so it's much smoother now. The starting speed it still quite fast though.

 

I have ended up with more than 1sewing machine .

A present from an old lady (electric conversion of old singer which is wonderful for thick fabric )

a Brother which I bought to replace a very old one bought cheaply from eBay - this has a start -stop button

a Silver machine given by one of my aunt's friends where it had sat in a cupboard for 15years - it has a start -stop button and is electronic with a multitude of settings . I've not used too many of it's functions .

I find I don't use a foot pedal much anymore - I have a tendency to speed up too much with foot pedals which is probably due to my lack of patience .

Unless you are doing decorative stitching you will find you don't use more than 12 or so settings .
It's a bit like a fancy washing machine with downloadable programmes - most people use 5 or 6 , or a hifi system which has a huge range - a lot of which your dog will enjoy.

Some makes / models seem prone to tension issues and this is something to watch out for .

 

Most people who sew regularly tend to have more than one machine, because it's easier to keep them set up for different things. It can start with a nasty case of SMAD (sewing machine acquisition disorder) as you try to find The One, until you realise it doesn't exist and different mechanisms, feed dog types, and shuttle designs have different strengths.

I seem to have got through half a century on one. I suppose if you count a buttonhole attachment for straight-stitch machines it might arguably be two, but that's it. I've only tended to make clothes or quilts or curtains, though, I don't do embroidery or decorative finishes. For purely practical work you can easily get by with one stitch of varying length.

Come to think of it, I only use one programme on my washing machine most of the time. I'm obviously really unimaginative!

 

I just daren't watch, because it'll set me off on ambitious projects I can't finish.

I already do more than is ideal, so I know what'll happen: I'll run out of juice, the machine will sit in the middle of the room until I eventually have to move it to clean the floor, and my one-sleeved/collarless/unhemmed item will end up in the bottom of the wardrobe, still covered in chalk or full of pins.

 

THIS is my main problem with sewing. The sewing bit isn't too hard for me. It's the cutting patterns out that absolutely floors me. I always forget how hard it is to spread out the fabric, arrange the pattern, pin it, and cut it. I've either got to crawl around on the floor or stand up to cut out the patterns after setting up my table and cutting board (which, believe it or not, ends up being less exhausting than crawling around on the floor to cut out patterns). I've got to be feeling really well in order to do more than mending (and lately, even mending has been a challenge).

 

@IanMcPhee, there's a great sewing shop in Uckfield. The guy also sells reasonably priced and refurbished machines.

 

Thank you @MEMarge

I had a bit more of a tinker with my current machine and seem to have got it running better. I've yet to try sewing anything with it yet though. I've learnt a lot about sewing machines anyway!

 

It's not just me then!