Sewing machine advice

[Petew]

Although I think I see a kink in the twenty seventh stitch.

You made me look

What do you think of the pantone colour chart hybrid DCF? I find it seriously yummy.

[Lamont]

Although I think I see a kink in the twenty seventh stitch.

You made me look

What do you think of the pantone colour chart hybrid DCF? I find it seriously yummy.

It's fair to say that sometimes too much pantone is barely enough. Is that sample of all variations on the one sheet?

[Petew]

Yes, it's from ripstop by the roll. They do print on demand and you can buy a Pantone chart printed directly on the fabric of your choice for accurate colour samples. Ive got half a sheet of X-Pac VX 07 of it and a sheet of 2.92 Oz Hybrid DCF.

[Lamont]

Ah ha. I see.
$40US for a small order from them worth $36US weight of about 500gms, if that. Not thrilled. Not buying-yet.

[Petew]

Yeah, shipping is a killer from the US.

[Lamont]

One seller who shall remain nameless upon contact nearly halved the postage. Telling me the computer just adds in 100gm increments and ups when often there's no need. Didn't fix the issue though.

[Cecile]

It a fantastic stitcher too

That really is a nice even stitch. Is there any reason why you bought a machine with a lot of different stitches instead of a dedicated industrial straight stitcher (Moondog told me you make mostly fairly simple bags)? I have a Brother, a year old, that has >500 stitches and I know I will never, ever use most of them. It sews like a dream, but I do sew mostly clothes. There were features that were non-negotiable for me in a machine and it came with the stitches.

I'm still learning how to make bags, some of which are quite complex, and not too sure how the machine will handle multiple layers.

Anyway, I hope you have many years of happy use of it.

[Petew]

Hi Cecile,

I was tossing up between the Janome hd9 and the one I ended up buying ( mc6700p). The hd9 is certainly good enough for my use. What changed my mind was two things. One, my daughter is keen to start making her own clothes. Two, the 6700 has acufeed feet (like a walking foot but with interchangeable feet) which was appealing.

I also like being able to see the bobbin. It's a little thing I know but it seemed important at the time...

One thing I do know is that I love making stuff and wonder why I didn't start a lot earlier. Quite gratifying

Cheers,

Pete

[Lamont]

The hidden bobbin was doing my head in Pete -a bit less since the tuning, but nearly had me buying a new machine. May still.
Interchangeable walking feet! Small vs large/fast vs slow? Heavy LW material vs UL material?
I would swear in that photo there looks to be an espresso maker setting?

[Petew]

The hidden bobbin was doing my head in Pete -a bit less since the tuning, but nearly had me buying a new machine. May still.
Interchangeable walking feet! Small vs large/fast vs slow? Heavy LW material vs UL material?
I would swear in that photo there looks to be an espresso maker setting?

Sadly no espresso setting, an oversight for sure.

It has speed control so you can do 1stitch at a time up to 1200 a minute. It comes with a standard width acufeed foot but I have a narrow width and a zipper foot on the way.

I'm sure I would have gotten used to the non visible bobbin but it always annoyed me not being able to see it on my 201.

[Cecile]

In 50+ years' sewing I have never owned a machine with a vertical bobbin. I think I used one once. These days with mobility impaired hands they are difficult for me to handle and click in properly.

Moondog is keen to try my Brother but instead I gave him the vintage elna, which will sew nearly anything and is solid as a rock. I bought it new in 1985 or so. In reality there isn't a lot that can go wrong with plain sewing and he is unlikely to break anything. I also have an 8 thread, 5 needle overlocker and a separate cover stitch machine.

[Petew]

Wowsers! Did you have to sell a kidney to buy that?

[Lamont]

Dare to dream 1983s finest.

[Petew]

Love the (oldish) Janome!

[Cecile]

Wowsers! Did you have to sell a kidney to buy that?

No, but I did pay full price. It has a massive extension table and a very good electronic walking foot. I had a newer machine that I bought to replace the vintage elna that can no longer be repaired and I hated it so took a huge loss and sold it.

I haven't shown you the other two machines that I use regularly. Add them all up for new price, it's horrendous to think how much it would cost to replace them!

[Petew]

New machine performs well. Having only used a couple of old Janome machines and a 201 this beastie is a revelation. Simple things like the needle stopping in the fabric make my life easier. It had no trouble getting through a sandwich of 300d pack cloth, hyperd 300, doubled over binding tape and two layers of thick webbing.

Been a productive six days.

[Cecile]

I am suitably impressed that your machine went through that many layers. Did you have to slow it down? Which needle type and size did you use?

OK...I'm a fabric junkie. What is that really bright multi-coloured fabric in the front, with the hot pink zipper? I need it. Recently I have branched out into making some bags. With fabric that has swear words printed on it.

BTW Moondog is always telling me I have too much fabric. I guess as long as I make him (or help him make) gear from time to time I can get away with it.

[Petew]

Just a bog standard universal needle 90/14. I just went a little slower and used the acufeed foot. The machine has a reasonable amount of grunt for a domestic.

That coloful fabric is X-Pac VX 07 that I got printed to order from Ripstop by the roll. The pattern is called colouring book. It's my favourite by far. Very vibrant.

[Moondog55]

Just a quick question after you have been using it for a while.
Feedback?
How thick a fabric and how many layers of woollen blanket could this machine sew do you think?
Cecile and I are tempted to share the use of a new machine and trade off all the others older ones.
The old Elna is doing great but has very limited lift and is struggling with layering the woollens I'm sewing at the moment

[Petew]

Hi moondog.

I'm pretty happy with it. The most I've sewn through with the MC6700P is two layers of 1000d cordura, two layers of hyperd300 and 25mm webbing. So quite thick. It did struggle a little bit with all those layers though. I imagine it would cope with your Woolen stuff quite well and it comes as standard with an accufeed foot (like a walking foot). I would buy it again or maybe the HD9 which has less features but possibly more grunt and bigger bobbins.

I'd suggest taking some scraps of fabric into a dealer and have at it!

[michel]

To sew simple clothes or fabrics, you can use any of simple sewing machines, old Singer machines.

[Moondog55]

That's only true to a degree Michel; my older very simple machines simply cannot handle slippery ultra thin ultra light fabrics.
I have very few problems with heavier materials

[Lamont]

Anyone after a cheap used sewing machine living on the Surfcoast? There is a little bargain on a machine -I am very familiar with the machine model for sale. I own the earlier version. I tried it with some fabric and it seems fine. NOT AN AFFICIANADO'S MACHINE. NOT AN ONSELLING BARGAIN. Not an antique. Plastic internals. If your not going to use it yourself don't bother. They are asking $40. Just a good honest, simple 'homemaker' machine. I don't log I'm often so be patient.

Daughter walked by the Op shop and seems gone, so I'm guessing ...SOLD.

[Moondog55]

Cecile has a new toy

[Lamont]

Sleeve ends become a dream on that wee deevil. Lovely.

[Moondog55]

I just took a short drive and I have acquired a Singer 201K in excellent condition

[Moondog55]

Ceciles big Mirsew is a beast and makes somethings so easy.
A picuture of what it can do in a couple of minutes that would have taken me an hour to do by hand.
A shame but she doesn't think that it will suit her and she may be selling it on and trading up to something a bit better

[Moondog55]

Cecile has a new machine.
I really [ REALLY ] like it. Strong enough to handle M-20 bonded and I can sew harness with no trouble at all. 4 layers of 50mm webbing with ease
Purchased from and set-up by Peter Miller from Bendigo
I have to give them a plug
https://sandpsewingsupplies.com.au/?fbc ... cvbMZKS5Kv
Peter also spent an hour or more properly setting up Ceciles other machine too.

[Moondog55]

And I have a new but S/H machine too now.
So I'll have to sell something. A Brother DB-2
Pix follow tomorrow

[Moondog55]

My new machine