Angela Charron Sewing Corner

Posts Tagged ‘tools’

Sewing Machine for guys?

Any recommendation for a guy's sewing machine? I don't care about having 142 different stitches and 26 embroidery styles ... I need something that will sew a couple layers of denim. Patch a tear in a work shirt. Help me make a cover for some power tools .. you know man-things

I've asked the question to a couple of sewing machine customer service sites and they don't have a clue what I'm asking. Everything that provides basic functions seems to be too wimpy for heavy materials.

Anything approaching heavy duty seems to have 500 useless functions and costs a fortune. Doesn't someone make a basic function, heavy duty machine?

Yup. Just about any machine that is over about $300 list price (which is higher than street price) will handle what you want to do. Below that, you run into the same problems you get with buying 500 drill bits for $4 at Harbor Fright. If you want to go new, I'd suggest you might want to look at something like the Janome S series, meant to be beat around in schools: http://janome.com/index.cfm/Machines/Specialty/Schoolmate_S-3015 http://janome.com/index.cfm/Machines/Specialty/Classmate_S-750
Head for a few real sewing machine stores and repair shops and tell them what you want, and then try some machines.

Until you mentioned patch a tear in a work shirt, I was going to suggest one of the old straight stitchers from the 30s to the 60s like the Singer 15, 99 or 66 -- one of the machines that hasn't yet developed a cult following. Around here, I can find them at yard sales and garage sales for $10-20 in working or close to working order. Mostly they need a good cleaning, new needles and some real sewing machine oil. In fact, I've pulled these machines off curbs the night before trash pickup, put in about an hour cleaning and oiling them, and given them away to local folks who need a basic machine. If you need another hobby, the nice folks at the yahoo group "wefixit" will be happy to initiate you into the wonderful world of tinkering with old sewing machines.

But because you mentioned a work shirt tear, I'm going to suggest that you really might want a machine with a darning stitch or a tricot stitch, better called a triple zigzag. Looks like the second sample here: http://teachsew.com/teachsew/stretchstiches.html Each of the zigs and zags are made of three short straight stitches. Put a scrap of fabric or tissue paper behind a tear and do a wide, closely set triple zigzag over the tear and it's glued for good. You can do something similar with a plain
zigzag stitch, but it's not quite as strong. Or you can do it with a straight stitch, though it's a bit more
finicky and tends to be a little less neat (so we're back to the old 15s, 99s. 66s ) Or you can do a more discreet mending job, often very hard to spot, but if you're after quick and functional, my choice is probably going to be stitch that puppy back together with triple zigzag.

Or you might want to go off the deep end and get a walking foot needlefeed sewing machine... these are industrial or light industrial machines that are often used for making sails... Sailrite is a common brand of a portable one of these. But it's sort of like buying a mortising machine when all you need to do is cut one mortise, and you already own the right size wood chisel. Here's a comparison between an industrial needlefeed and the standard machine; home machines work like the second machine in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvYfzL2Wpm8
Notice that the needle in the needlefeed machine actually scoots the fabric backwards under the presser foot as it stitches, while the needle in the "regular" machine just goes up and down. Then there's the walking foot machine, like: http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/X72ybCf1BYg-ultrafeed-sailrite-lsz1-walking-foot.aspx or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=276OAo5pITQ The advantage of a walking foot or needlefeed is that it keeps the layers of fabric all moving at the same rate -- they can slip a little with the regular feed, particularly if you don't know how to handle the fabric well. But when you need a needlefeed machine because you're sewing something like velvet, they're wonderful to have.

Most home sewing machines can have a gizmo usually called a "walking foot" put on them to sort of act like a needle feed -- it's actually just sort of an accessory or top layer feed, and I usually wind up mashing my fingers with one. http://www.creativesewingsolutions.com/offline/walking_foot.htm Some home machine brands also have a pawl that works like the walking foot attachment. Pfaff is famous for it's IDT feed, and there's another one around called "accufeed" (I think on some Janomes.)
http://www.pfaff.com/ca/en/195.html The advantage of these is they aren't finger mashers.

A beginning sewing project book I think you'd like is a book called "Hold it!" by Nancy Restuccia. Out of print, but commonly available in libraries, and also available on a CD in pdf format. Lots and lots of different bags for different kinds of things, written in English instead of patternspeak. Here's a sample from the book so you can get a feel for it: http://www.mckennalinn.com/Tote.pdf And I'm also going to point you at this absolute genius diagram at the bottom, done by a pro designer, but I think easily figured out by anyone: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/zippered-pouch-1/

And then here's my standard beginner sewing machine advice:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100102141629AAnEBrN

I suspect John Giordano's The Sewing Machine Book would be right up your alley.

EMBROIDERY STITCHING TOOLS

Nesco/American Harvest FD-80 Square-Shaped Dehydrator $59.94 Easy-to-use dehydrator for drying fruit, vegetables, herbs and jerky. Lay out jerky strips with ease. Includes spices and cure packets. U.S.A. Shape: Square, Watts: 700, Top Mount Fan: Yes, Tray included: 4, Adjustable Thermostat: Yes, Handle Type: Bale, Exterior Color: White, Dimensions L x W x H (in.): 14 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 10...

Plaid Stencil Cutter $10.70 This stencil cutter makes it easy to turn your own designs into one-of-a-kind stencils. Trace along your intricate design lines on a blank stencil with the easy to use curved tip and for more broad or straight designs use the straight tip. When the cutter is not in use it can be rested on the included wire stand....

Bucilla 86194 Holiday Cornucopia Stamped Cross Stitch Tablecloth, 60-Inch by 90-Inch $26.38 Celebrate special occasions with family dinners over the Holiday Cornucopia Collection of hand-made table coordinates. This kit contains washable white poly/cotton pre-finished fabric with the design pre-printed in wash away ink, DMC floss requirements and easy to follow instructions. Finished size: 60" x 90". Design: Holiday Cornucopia. Made in USA/Imported....

Fulcrum Magnifier 12 LED Floor Lamp $67.09 The Fulcrum Magnifier Floor Lamp offers improved vision and plenty of cool light, allowing you to work up close without straining your eyes. Great for activities like reading and sewing, this illuminated magnifying lamp increases your field of vision when you need to see every last detail. The large 5-inch diameter lens has 2x magnification power with a 6x inset for fine details. Its 12 glare-free...

Low Shank 11 Piece Snap-on Foot kit $9.99 Get creative with this amazing 11 piece set at an incredible value.Comes with: 3 Hole Cording Foot Low Shank Snap-On Ankle Blind Hem Foot Button Hole Foot Seam Guide Zig-Zag Foot Straight stitch presser foot Over Edge Foot Zipper Foot Rolled Hem Foot Button Sewing Foot Contents may slightly vary from picture shown above due to distributors and manufacture availability....

RoomMates RMK1377GM Strawberry Shortcake Scratch 'n' Sniff Peel & Stick Giant Wall Decal $20.42 Easily decorate with these berry cute Strawberry Shortcake Wall Stickers! Peel and stick the decals onto any flat surface and reuse with no sticky residue. Decorate with Strawberry Shortcake, Custard, her strawberry purse and strawberries that really smell like strawberries!...

Quilting Arts Workshop Master Machine Quilting: Free-Motion Stitching and Thread Sketching with Susan Brubaker Knapp $16.99 Susan teaches you the basics of free-motion machine stitching, including thread work to enhance the surface and quilting to hold the layers together beautifully. Find out what materials you'll need and how to get started. Beginners and intermediates--and those who have been too terrified to try until now--will find inspiration and answers, as well as lots of tips, techniques, and practical informa...

50 Double Density DS/DD MF2-DD Floppy Disks. 3.5 inch Diskettes. Formatted @ 720K $44.95 Custom manufactured DS/DD floppy diskettes....

Bamboo Craft (Small) Silver Tablet with Pen and Mouse $129.99 TABLET, BAMBOO CRAFT (SMALL) SILVER...

Bendable Bright Light Kit $27.30 This phenomenal little light is bright, flexible, and efficient! Features: White plastic base and bright, flexible, and efficient! Features: White plastic base and mounting bracket, chrome colored flexible arm and light housing, 8ft. low voltage power cord (UL list: E236365), LED bulb (100000 light hours), 120 volt/60Hz input, DC6V/300mA output, mounting adhesive, white plastic cord clips, and tri...

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Check Ebay for Embroidery Tool products. Ebay can be a great resource for finding most anything you desire!

We hope you find the Embroidery Tool information that you are looking for. Check Ebay for Embroidery Tool products. Ebay can be a great resource for finding most anything you desire!