Stitch and bitch #7. Hanging by a thread

Several machines! I've recently acquired a second hand Pfaff Ambition. Stitches beautifully but I'm not impressed with the build quality compared with my little Janome.

A specialist dealer would be best rather than somewhere like Hobbycraft

Actually, now that I think about it, my entry level Janome was from John Lewis and my mid-level one was from the Knitting and Stitching show. I remember particularly because I had a shoulder injury and didn't have a permanent sewing set up so I was asking the weight of all the machines that I was interested in. About 80% of the sales people put the machine on the floor and told me to lift it instead of just telling me the weight. By the time I got to the Janome stand I think I said something like "Don't make me pick up this machine! Can you tell me the weight of it using words?"

Anyway, I've had the current machine for about 3 years (bought during lockdown), I gave my mid-level machine to my friend because her sewing machine wasn't powerful enough to make masks and it's still going (20-25 years old) and my very first machine is still in my sewing room but I haven't used it for around a decade so I have no idea if it still works.

Thank you all, this is very helpful. I do have a sewing shop with multiple brands of sewing machines about 45 min drive from me so will visit that this summer.

I have my Mil's 40 year old New Home machine which I've had serviced. I've tried free motion embroidery on it but a) it doesn't have a foot (it specifies no foot for machine embroidery ?) and b) the thread keeps breaking. I'll get some new thread and see if that helps but I just want something that works!

Mine is an Aldi special. A Necchi with 200 stitches, letters, etc etc. An impulse buy a couple of years ago but I love it. My back up is my old Toyota and my back up back up is a 1964 singer 99k. I’m not owning up to the Singer treadle machine which has been under restoration for decades. I did actually sell my very first machine last year.
DH has been busy collecting vintage toy sewing machines for me as well. If I ever need to do some slow chain stitch I have a selection to choose from

Can you 'feel' my excitement? I have had my Toyota RS2000 for decades and just discovered that it has an 'overcasting foot'! Tomorrow I'm going to give it a go on a scrap of fabric and if it works I'm going to use it on all the remaining seams on my top. (Had a couple of days of good weather so I've damaged my elbow working in the garden but tomorrow it's supposed to rain - BRING IT ON! I will be sewing!!!!)

I have an early 00s Elna that I inherited from my grandma via my mum. I really like it, it barely raises an eyebrow while sewing jeans. Used to have an entry level Janome which was great - sold to a colleague but part of me wishes I'd kept it. Also have a vintage Babylock overlocker which I love.

And yes to doing some sewing while it rains tomorrow!

A lightweight canvas because of trying to keep the weight down. I've done a duffel type bag with quilting cotton but didn't put a security loop but if I had then I would have attached to the wadded fabric with a crossed box for strength.

First sewing job of the weekend - tightening the elastic on my green Arthurs. The weight of my mobile in the pocket kept threatening to pull them off my bum!

Next the grey knit maxi. I think I might see if I can actually use the lines of my Arthurs to add some curved shaping on the side seams...

My fabric arrived significantly brighter than the photo but that’s not a bad thing for a summer wedding. Will prewash tomorrow as drying will be tricky if the weather is as promised.
Met a friend for brunch and nipped into Abakhan for some turquoise shirring elastic. Reasonable restraint all things considered as I got the elastic, some plush back elastic and only added some unneeded viscose and some swimwear Lycra. Excess spend of £9 which is good for me

Oh my! I've had so much fun with the overcasting foot! Really pleased with the seams. Just finished pinning the bottom hem which I'll do by hand. Got to have a think about the sleeves, they are supposed to have a cuff but I don't like the way it's done in the pattern so I'm going to pin it my way and see what I think....

I could do with some help please! Having whizzed through my seams I needed to sew a row of 'normal' stitches. Changed back to my normal foot, checked machine is still threaded and set off. Nothing! The upper needle is going along quite happily but it appears to be ignoring the bobbin.... Re- threaded the needle, reinstalled the bobbin (the one I've been using which has plenty of thread on it) and tried again. Nothing. It just won't catch the bobbin thread.

Any suggestions?

Please?

I'm going to leave it overnight, hoover it in the morning (with my mini hoover attachments) and try again with a different bobbin and thread. If that works I'll try with the thread I've been using today and if that doesn't work I know it's the problem.......

@SleepingisanArt Did you have to change your stitch to use the overcast foot? It might need to be changed back to a straight stitch. Or, to quote the IT Crowd, have you tried turning it off and on again?

Sorry, I've never used an overcasting foot.

I've kinda rescued my knit maxi. It's not great but it's not terrible now! I mean, it's wearable!

I probably should have cut the centre pieces on the fold.

No pockets because I didn't have enough fabric.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar I'm utterly puzzled as I had put it back to straight stitch, changed the foot back to the normal one and checked everything was threaded properly. It's definitely plugged in and switched on! (For many years I was a software tester and we've had home computers since the days of floppy discs so my mantra for everything is 'check all the wires' and 'turn it off, wait and turn it back on again' 🤣🤣 )

@TragicMuse I like your maxi! Is it your own design or a pattern I can buy (in case I ever get my machine working again!)?

Thank you @SleepingisanArt

It's an adaptation of the Sew Liberated Arthur pants. I folded in the crotch pointy bits of the centre front and back and smoothed the line a bit but apart from that cut the side leg pieces as drafted. Then I used the pleat option as for the zip fly so I shortened the front elastic waistband piece to fit.

It's relatively straightforward but I think it works...

@TragicMuse it does work! Notes have been made.

@SleepingisanArt is the end of the bobbin thread definitely pulled up through the baseplate?

@InMySpareTime Yes it is. I'm at a loss which is why I've walked away and will look at it with fresh eyes in the morning. At least I've done most of my top so can finish by hand if necessary but I really don't want to be defeated by my machine!

Cool! I'd def advise smoothing the centre front and back lines straight and cutting on the fold I think. I will if I do it again!

I know there's not many Minerva customers on here but has anyone else seen the stuff about their birthday celebrations in September?

I quite fancy going to the red carpet reception thingy!

I’ve had the most unproductive weekend ever!

I changed my mind about the Melilot (but thanks for confirming that I will need a microtex needle Pickachew). So I then started tracing the Quinn trousers, but decided -once I’d finished- that I really wasn’t in the mood for sewing trousers and all the alterations that was going to involve.

This was followed by a quest for a simple top pattern that wasn’t boxy or too loose ...hours later when I finally found something and the perfect fabric to go with it, I decided that may what I really wanted to do was just sew a t-shirt.

Clearly I’m too fickle to achieve anything this weekend 😂 Hope everyone else had a more productive weekend than me!

I cut out a pair of Bobs but decided to try another top pattern first, the Agustina top from Fabric Stores. Made several silly mistakes but it's a wearable toile so I'm not that bothered. So, the Bobs will have to wait until tomorrow evening instead. I've also pieces together the Harvest top from Peppermint magazine but when I checked the hashtag on Instagram I didn't love the final product that much. I think I might try it in a knit fabric instead.