The Perfect Stitch

[Sewot]

Thank you Kwaaked for this.
At last I am reading answers from you and Brenda that I wanted to know.
When I google straight stitch, nobody covers the " slant " on the stitches or why they are there but just tension.
I cannot go industrial for three reasons.
Too expensive.
No room for one.
I only want to make my own clothes.
Yes there is a fourth.
If the seamstresses of the fifties produced beautiful clothes on a 201 or lesser machine ( don't take offence)..I am referring to a beaten up old relic that just about sews and all they could afford!!!!)then I imagine myself that far back wanting to achieve that goal but today.
I think that is one of the reasons a lot of us " go vintage".
You have clearly, like me, taken your stitching seriously to wind your own wooden bobbins.
I love it.
Any pics of the bobbins and the mug with wire?
I can see myself starting to do the same.
Yes...I agree with Gütterman threads not producing thick enough thread.
On the latest of my images I sewed the hem with coates thread for a reason.
It is slightly thicker and more in keeping with the thicker threads sold and designed for these old machines in the fifties or earlier?
Someone advised me " don't use Coates".
I found Coates thread performed better than Gütterman but that is only my take on it.

[Kwaaked]

I have an industrial (3 of them) but I own a commercial property with 2500 square feet of space and most of the alterations I do is on one of them.  I also have many other machines to do what I want them to do.

As far as it goes, no I don't have a pic of my set up but here https://archaicarcane.com/standing-at-a-crossroads-thread-cross-wound-vs-stack-wound/ shows what I mean.  I use mugs I get for free from vendors (the 24-32 out plastic ones with handles) because I have them on hand and don't use them, but I can't take credit for the idea...I got it from Treadleon over a decade ago.  As to winding, I use one of the big Simplicity winders and the EZ wind spool holder with wooden spools I pick up all over the place, I just put a mug on the floor and wind it through the thread loop.

Now the slant in and of itself isn't going to alter how the clothes are made of hang, by the way.  All it is going to do is tell someone in the industry if you made it on a domestic or industrial.  It's not off enough to change the seam at all.  To the eye, it still looks and hangs straight.  And really?  This is only something you run into in college with certain professors who think home sewing is silly and there is no way the untrained plebs can do any great work....and these professors often don't sew themselves.

[Renegade Sewist]

Something else that I didn't see here in regards to "perfect" stitches is consistent stitch length and skipped stitches. Some cheaper machines or heavily used machines, as in somewhat worn out, don't feed well or consistently or skip stitches with regularity. For general sewing it's not a problem unless you're doing machine sewn hems or topstitching.

As for it bouncing around on your calico I would attribute that to the wrong size or type of needle or the needle being dull. A lot of sewing problems are due to wrong or dull needles.

[Esme866]

You guys have me dying to do a comparison. Unfortunately only the #15 is here (I'm at Mom and Dad's). All fabrics, supplies and other machine is at home 25 miles away.

As for "perfect". My Mother was a perfectionist in her youth as was her father before her. I learned at an early age
the expectation of perfection makes for a rather miserable existence and often leads  to projects dropped by the wayside.

I choose to strive for the best possible quality. Much more realistic to achieve.

As for threads - wow - is that an issue these days!

@Sewot - I noticed you're in OZ, Kwaaked and I are both in the same US state - Tennessee. Everyone satisfied with Gütermann seems to be in the UK. I strongly suspect what is being offered in the UK may be what is called Mara 100 here, and we have to order that from supply houses. The Gütermann that's readily available in B&M stores for home use is horrible. Shreds like crazy! I can't even stand to use it for a sample garment. The Coates that is readily available gives me no trouble- but the color offerings are limited. I wonder if the same is true on your side of the "other" pond. :thinking:

I find that all of the newer threads I've purchased (even Mettler and ???- both $$$) have such a high twist they must all be waxed for hand stitching, otherwise they knot like crazy. I use a spool of 50 year old industrial thread for hand basting - no twisting and knotting - and no waxing required. I've several spools from my Grandmother. The colors are such that I'm certain my niece and nephew will have to deal with it when I'm gone.

Sewing was so much simpler/easier 30 years ago.

[Kwaaked]

Esme, I use Mara and call it Gutermann and I order from them proper or Wawak, and only if I can't wait for it from CTSUsa.  I rarely walk into a B&M store for much, all of my actual sewing supplies except for patterns and very occasionally fabric comes from online stores.  Being in Tennessee, you are also aware how much isn't here...I live at the Al/Tn border, and I can drive 45 min to Florence or 2 hours to Murfreesboro (or 3 to Nashville) for supplies and in the end, they have a 10th of what I want, so I stick to online.

Most of my thread comes from CTSUsa on that end, if Coates would have approved my wholesale application, I'd probably use them but their retail plastic spool sucks on all my machines even with the setup so I don't use it.  But most of my thread is industrial spools and most people have no need for it, so I never recommend it to anyone.  Basting thread I use Torre from Bias Bespoke.

On the perfectionist end, I am one.  My clothes may be ugly (see weird zebra pants from hell with ribbon fringe on here) but they were certainly sewn well.  Perfectionism is a weird quality...you may find being one miserable, but I find leaving errors to be a nightmare.  No, I don't always achieve perfect, but I come as close as I am able.

[Esme866]

@Kwaaked I'm only sewing for myself so much of my sewing thread stash matches my fabric stash, so I have yet to order any Mara (which in case has anyone confused is made by Gütermann.) And if I want to match a color (I'm picky with this) I have a quilt shop that carries Mettler and Sulky which takes the hugest part of $7, but at least I can color match.

Nashville and Atlanta are almost equal distance for me. Fortunately I have 2 upholstery jobbers close by.

As far as perfection, I'm not a "good enough" person at all. I simply find quality a reasonable goal.

Now if my tailoring and fitting skills would follow suit.....

Having access to so much information these days is wonderful, but I'm glad I'm not having to learn from scratch. There's just so much that "isn't good" mixed in with the "satisfactory" and "wonderful" that trying to learn must be daunting.

[Sewot]

Well I have been guilty of perfectionism.
Lets be clear about this.
I would rather be just normal!!!!  as trying too hard sometimes can absorb me completely and I turn into a geek.
No....
Okay...I am a geek!!
But I enjoy being geeky because I l earn things.
I looked up on your site about threads and watched Dr Bobs thread delivery video.
Okay so we get cross wound thread here in Oz ( for the home sewer) So that means on my 201K I will have to alter its delivery from that of the supplied vertical spool pin.
I will make a sturdy vertical spool pin that is lower than the machine and deliver the thread like yours without twisting it.
Yes I agree to not liking noisy spools and prefer a quiter machine.
I thought it quite off putting for the professors to say that home sewing is silly.
I strongly disagree with them for that.
Oh crickey I am being assertive again.
But heck!.....we home sewers get a kick out of doing what we do and it keeps us active.
They need to listen to the words of Albert Einstein....
Without imagination you have nothing!
Mind you he also said
" all a man needs for total happiness is a table with a bowl of fruit and a violin to play"
So on that front I will give up sewing , eat fruit and play my violin!
Pete

[BrendaP]

 I strongly suspect what is being offered in the UK may be what is called Mara 100 here, and we have to order that from supply houses. The Gütermann that's readily available in B&M stores for home use is horrible.

Yes definitely - Gütermann Sew All is Gütermann Mara 100 - just a different put-up for the domestic market.

Sew All
Mara 100