Hi everyone,
Forum and sewing newbie here. I've done some hand sewing in the past but am completely new to machine sewing and am about to buy my first machine, so I thought who better to ask for recommendations/advice to get up and running.
I wear a lot of stretchy leggings so to begin with I'd like to make some of those and then maybe progress on to more difficult garments like bikinis, swimming costumes and cycling shorts when I get more experienced.
I have done a bit of reading around and given that I'm going to be working with tight-fitting garments made from stretchy materials, I'm thinking I'm going to need an overlocker, but from what I can tell most of the overlockers aren't suitable for finishing things like hems and waistbands so I'm not sure what to do.
I saw some of the more expensive overlockers that can coverstitch as well but ideally my budget is £400 so they're probably out of my price range unless I could buy 2nd hand, and I don't know if that's advisable with how complex these machines are.
There are two machines within budget that might do everything I need, however I'm not sure so I'd appreciate any advice you could offer. The first one is the Elna 664 Pro and the second one is the Brother 4234d.
The Elna can do a 2-thread flatlock stitch which, from what I can see, would look fine on the ankle cuffs or waistband of leggings if the looped part were on the inside, as then the only thread visible on the outside would look like a ladder stitch. I may well be misunderstanding this though!
The Brother machine is capable of doing a blind hem stitch which would definitely look fine on leggings but would it be suitable for tight-fitting clothing that has to stretch? I read somewhere that it could unravel.
The other option would be for me to buy both an overlocker and a sewing machine, but in order to do this within budget I'd need to find relatively cheap models of each and I'm therefore concerned about sacrificing quality in trying to cover both bases within a relatively small budget. So I suppose my main questions are:
would either of the overlockers do everything I needed in order to make leggings (if so I could always buy a sewing machine at a later date to make the swimwear etc)?
Or if not, would it be feasible to hope for two separate yet good quality machines within my £400 budget?
The lady who wrote this article apparently works with activewear companies in the US and she recommends the Brother 1034D overlocker:
https://www.seamwork.com/issues/2016/01/strong-sewingIt costs about £180 so if it's any good and I could also find a good sewing machine for somewhere around £120 then the two machines option could be viable...
Thanks,
Fiona