He'p me! Sewing machine advice

**Tattoo Bradley** · 17th February 07, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Dreadbelly

**Does funky Dreadfoo Voodoo™ and causes topic to rise up from the grave**

AHAHAHAHA!

**KiltedCodeWarrior** · 17th February 07, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Dreadbelly;332509...I have also found out that the package being shipped to me weighs [B

ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POUNDS.[/B] Bloody hell.

Then let's sincerely hope it was not sent USPS! With your postman, it will never make it into his truck to bring to you!

**Dreadbelly** · 17th February 07, 06:28 PM

UPS FTW!

Gogo Brown Guys!

**bunchdescendant** · 17th February 07, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by Dreadbelly

Umm... I don't have it yet. Different kind of jones, same kind of pain.

I still need a table and a motor, but from what I understand the machine I got comes with some kind of knee controls, some kind of feed system, some sort of auto bobbin thingamajig, and some other stuff that I don't even understand yet.

I have also found out that the package being shipped to me weighs ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POUNDS. Bloody hell.

Dread-

That sounds just about right-I am guessing my Rex's top end weighs about that much if it were crated to ship. Let us know how it goes.

Ray

**brandycr** · 27th March 07, 03:04 PM

I have a new Singer that I love !Does decorative stitches also which is awesome with two lilttle girls.

**cacunn** · 27th March 07, 04:00 PM

I have a PFAFF that my mother used for years. The PFAFF has a sewing foot that can be used to set the seam width. This is great for sewing the edge of the pleat.

I have an old computer desk the has a cut out for the key board. The cut out has a adjustment to change the height of the keyboard. At its lowest height the PFAFF sewing deck is the same height as the table top. This works very nicely. If I keep this up I may pickup a sheet of plywood, cut out a section on the far right, add a shelf and mount the sewing machine in the cut out.

I'd love to have a 7+ foot working surface on the left of my sewing machine.

**Doc** · 27th March 07, 05:05 PM

If you can find a singer 15-91 you will be in heaven, its straight stitch only. Its the gear dive versin of the singer dressmaker. Mine is 30+ years old and works great. My other machines are to big for kilts and such. I do have some other machines of good quality i'd be willing to sell or trade for. shot me a PM. I do sew for a living so I tend to grab good machines when I find them, and wind up not using them.

**trojanrabbit** · 28th March 07, 01:52 AM

I have similar machine. It's singer replica made in USSR in 1951. Only straight stitch and hand drive but nothing problem to sew 4 layers of heavy denim + velcro.

**Alex Mac** · 2nd April 07, 10:05 AM

I have two sewing machines: an old (early 1950's) Singer, and a four year old White.

Singer Pros: It's completely bulletproof (possibly literally... as near as I can tell, it's made of cast iron, and feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, not including the table it's built into!), and eternally reliable. Parts for it are still easy to get, and it's really easy to use.

Singer Cons: It feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, and it only does straight or basic zig-zag stitches. (It's nice to have options for some other stitches, but I'm not sure it's really necessary most of the time) It's pretty hard to do cuffs, for instance, since it's built into a table. Possible, but difficult.

White Pros: Lots of stitch options, highly portable. Having a free arm makes some things a LOT easier.

White Cons: Umm.... everything else? It's a pretty poor design, and I constantly have problems with it.

I'm getting ready to pull the singer out of storage and make space for it in my house, since I'm hoping to try making myself a kilt this summer -- I'm just not willing to put that much effort into using the newer one!

I've seen similar machines at yard sales, running as low as $10 and as high as about $100, depending on their condition.

Good luck!