Stitch and bitch thread #4 I needle the help I can get.

[NutellaEllaElla]

Continuing our supportive little group until we run out of material

haha no definitely not face masks! I'm not really sure so I want to future proof the machine I get as much as possible.

Has anyone got this Brother FS210 machine or similar?

john lewis link

@continuousmonotonousbeep I’ve only just upgraded from my 20 year old Toyota and it was an impulse buy so I’m not really up to speed with the alternatives. However my necchi which came from Aldi for £149 is ticking all the boxes for me and the novelty of 200 stitches has all but worn off

My brother overlocker is fabulous and i envisaged getting a brother machine on the strength of it. @NutellaEllaElla is your new machine a brother?

I’m not sure the perfect machine exists but looking is a lot of fun.

May I join please? I'm m hoping to find time to do a bit of cross stitch & embroidery this spring.

Welcome @52andblue. I hope you don't feel blue. I love, adore, some of the embroidery i've seen online. Floral, even hairstyles! So pretty. I've never learned yet though.

@Jins, yes I have the Brother Innovis-F420 and can't recommend it highly enough, it's flawless. I'm usually queen of bargain hunting and i'll search relentlessly for the lowest price online or whatever, but i'm SO GLAD I followed advice to buy from a local independent shop. They've been endlessly helpful when i've had stupid questions, panics and whatever else.

Continuousmonotonousbeep no experience of that machine but I can do without the temptation! I have a good old Brother XL 5500 which chugs along nicely but I am evermore tempted by something with a few more gadgets like needle threaders or thread cutters. I'm telling myself that if I keep sewing I can treat myself to one.
I plucked up courage to get an overlocker about 3 months ago (the Aldi Necci) one and have to say it's transformed my sewing experience.

Looking forward to seeing your blouse Jins.

Friday tomorrow and the start of the weekend for me. Looking forward to finishing off a few things and I might try to wangle a day out in the direction of somewhere where I might find a market for some (unnecessary) fabric shopping 😂

@toomuchlikemyusername prepare to be as delighted as I was recently. Your sewing machine has a thread cutter. It’s on the front face.

The reason I know this is that I found the thread cutter on my 20 year old Toyota when I was packing it up for retirement. A thread cutter was a must have feature on any new one I bought

I’ve put the photo of the Toyota one for you.

@Jins
Well....there's a thing! Yes indeed I do have one! Thank you
Quite how long it will take me to get used to using it and not reaching for the scissors, goodness only knows.

@Ulysses my Fiskars rotary cutter didn't even last as long as the pack of replacement blades that came with it. I have a couple of Olfa ones now and they are much sturdier, a design that takes the strain a lot better and the blades are super hard.

@continuousmonotonousbeep

On a positive note though, I've decided I need a new machine. I've got a 9 year old Janome J3-24 and the feed dogs are knackered, it won't do a buttonhole anymore, and it rattles about and makes a racket. It has been serviced in the last 12 months but I think it's time to upgrade. Any recommendations with a £500 budget? I would like to possibly make and sell bits on etsy (despite being crap at making masks) so maybe having an embroidery function would be good?

This is mine. www.sewingmachines.co.uk/browse-machines/sewing-machines/m50qdc?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAiA0KmPBhBqEiwAJqKK41UH9L9cuoiOZT9-wVbaG2jV8PE1jkTZxtTCd2Yp4s2t1_zUZ7-HmRoCLb8QAvD_BwE

£100 over budget (it was cheaper in the sales) but very sturdy with a powerful motor - it's currently handling multiple layers of needlecord without a grumble. Lots of extra feet. I don't quilt but use the extension table a lot to give more support to larger items.

No specific embroidery function, mind.

Thanks Pickachew just bought one. I notice that’s what they use in our local sewing shop too. I was going to ask for a shot when I was in there the other day as well but thought against it in these Covid times. I did buy a pair of nifty Fiskar spring loaded fabric scissors which are proving really useful. I’m hoping the design means that they won’t be borrowed by the kids to cut out paper 😡

I have a basic Husqvarna machine, an E20. It was quite cheap before COVID, but now it's really increased in price. It has no embroidery stitches but is a solid little work horse. It does have a thread cutter and a needle threading doohickey, which is now no longer working (might need to replace my needle I guess)

This is what I appreciate about mine, BTW. That pocket corner is 7 layers of cord plus 6 of interfacing!

My old brother fs60 would have spat its dummy out over that.

My blouse has moved along. It’s a really quick sew. I need to do a lot of tweaking to get a better fit so I’ve foregone the French seams. I need to do a shoulder adjustment as well which surprised me as their rhapsody blouse fits me well and it has a similar yoke detail. I’m going to have to do a bit of bodging with hand sewing. It’ll be wearable I think but the next one will be better

I'm enjoying these jeans. Lots of careful, precise stitching and pressing. There is a shit ton of work to do before they even start to resemble jeans!

Beautiful @PickAChew. You are so neat.

That is gorgeously neat and accurate @PickAChew, very impressive, my machine really struggles with more than a few thin layers. Maybe I should nudge the budget up a bit

Neat (when I concentrate) but sloooow!

Do you have any tips for neat details? My tram lines tend to be really not parallel.

Ballad blouse complete. Shoulder bodging worked but I’ll go down a size next time.

Another offcut down and effectively a free top for summer.

This is going to be a very useful pattern.

Wow that looks brilliant!

Your top is really pretty @Jins Will be super for summer.
How much fabric did the pattern take?

@PickAChew your jeans detail is fab. So neat! It's made me start clicking on links to new machines.

Not much sewing for me this weekend but I did manage to acquire a couple of bits of fabric.
The pink/white jersey and the blue lining fabric were from a local scrap store and cost a whopping £2 for both. At least 1.5m of each. The blue (small) flowery one is a chambray type weight and the one with the larger flower is a lively viscose. 1.5m and 1m of each respectively from a market in a town we visited for other stuff. The Pringle style knit was a purchase a couple of weeks ago. A bit of a splurge at £30 for 2m but I do love it.
Instead of sewing tonight, I'm going to have a look at my patterns and do some planning instead.
It also means I can have a glass of wine as I find that sewing and drinking doesn't work for me!

Hope everyone of having a good Sunday.

It is a lovely viscose, not a lively one!

@toomuchlikemyusername the fabric requirements for the sleeveless version are 0.9m of 150cm wide fabric. I managed to squeeze it out of less but only because I could cut the yoke on the cross grain of a much smaller piece.

That’s a nice fabric haul. I’m proud of myself for walking past Abakhan without going in today 😂

I just go very slowly and make use of the markings on my machine. It's harder when they're not visible but my standard zigzag foot has markings on it, too, which I can use as a reference. If I'm sewing something heavy or slippery that pulls to the left, I use the quilting table to support it.

And so far, that cord behaves pretty well. I had a bit of difficulty putting the pockets together with the lining fabric walking along the pile and it generally takes a few fierce stabs to pin it straight but it generally does what I ask of it.

Viscose can be rather lively, tbh!

That's a lovely top @jins. Very summery!