The Sewing Place

Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....

fajita

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #45 on: February 21, 2021, 10:06:28 AM »
 :toast:

Ploshkin

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #46 on: February 21, 2021, 10:21:21 AM »
That looks simply stunning @Gavin e a fantastic achievement.  The cost of the sewing machine doesn't really count because it will get used for many other things ......won't it? ;)
Life's too short for ironing.

Sewingsue

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #47 on: February 21, 2021, 10:42:44 AM »
Wow. That is a first attempt from someone who didn't even own a sewing machine?

Serious respect  :toast:
Bernina Aurora 440QE, Brother BC-2500, Singer 99K (1938), Juki MO-654DE overlocker, Silver Viscount 620D overlocker.

Lachica

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #48 on: February 21, 2021, 13:54:03 PM »
Wow. That's great.
Mary
2020 stash: not gonna count, not gonna feel guilty.

Sandra

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #49 on: February 22, 2021, 06:52:06 AM »
Excellent work.  :thumbsup: I'd run a mile if anyone asked me to tackle such a big job.

Sandra.
xxx

Silver Rose

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #50 on: February 22, 2021, 07:02:54 AM »
Amazing, well done.
Still learning

RJR_38

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #51 on: February 22, 2021, 11:41:37 AM »
Great bag (and I do love a bag!) If your machine will happily go through that leatherette it is a keeper! That is what would put many beginners off - particularly when it comes to top stitching and attaching the handles. (Not that I am at all jealous of anyone who has a machine that does that lol).

The big question is... what next?!

charley

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #52 on: February 22, 2021, 20:49:52 PM »
@Gavin e would you kindly let me know which brand of electric staple gun you have please? Many thanks.

Gavin e

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #53 on: February 26, 2021, 21:19:45 PM »
Thanks for all of the kind comments ladies and gents. 

This will not be the last project - in fact I will soon be posting pics of the dinghy cover, but I think I will be upgrading to an industrial machine.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my singer and will be keeping it, but it’s not tough enough for the jobs I plan on doing.

The dinghy cover has been a real fight.  It looks ok but the singer just doesn’t have the strength to pull that much weight and I’ve had to feed it through by hand, with varying success.  I think I only managed it because I’m a stubborn so and so and wasn’t going to let it beat me, but while the sofa was a pleasure the dinghy cover was a real...... not pleasure.

But the finished result is good enough for what I need - a cover to last a couple of years.  It’s not good enough for the actual boat canopy though.  Not good enough at all.

However, I’ve learned that I will be able to cope with the job and the measurements and the sewing if I have the right tool for the job, so I’m buying one, which sounds extravagant but makes sense.  I think the material costs will be around £1000, maybe a bit more, and the machines look like they come in at a similar price, so call it £2000 - £2500 for the finished canopy which will save me at least a thousand pounds from quoted prices.  I can then use the machine to make new covers and canopies for the top deck, saving me more money, and then sell the machine second hand with little use and probably get back half of the cost...

That’s the plan anyway.

Even my wife thinks it’s a good plan - and she was initially dubious about me spending fifty quid on the singer!  She has a little more faith now it seems...

@Gavin e would you kindly let me know which brand of electric staple gun you have please? Many thanks.
The staple gun I used was a Stanley TRE550 - about £30 on eBay and a great gadget.


charley

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #54 on: February 26, 2021, 21:38:29 PM »
Thanks @Gavin e

Lachica

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #55 on: February 26, 2021, 22:33:39 PM »
Your calculations make a lot of sense. Then you'll have a second career/side hustle making covers & doing repairs. Anything boaty, like anything golf related, carries a hefty price tag.
Mary
2020 stash: not gonna count, not gonna feel guilty.

Gavin e

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #56 on: March 29, 2022, 22:04:46 PM »
Hello again. I'm back.

Its been a busy few months for me - got hit by a car,  had to quit my job, got hit by a lump of falling concrete, moving house, etc etc - and I've not had time for sewing.

But now its time to start the next project. However, my machine isnt sewing right and I'm not sure how to fix it.

Top stitch looks like this..  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

Bottom like this  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

What is the issue and how is it solved??

I'm assuming that something isn't at the right tension,  but is it too tight,  too lose? Or simply user error...

toileandtrouble

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #57 on: March 29, 2022, 22:38:18 PM »
You can see the top thread is pulled through to the underside, so the tension needs to be higher.
  If the bottom thread is pulled up, then the top tension would be too high.  You will soon get back into the swing of things.
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

Iminei

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #58 on: March 30, 2022, 08:17:32 AM »
Looks like just a tiny tweak will solve it

BUT FIRST

Take all threads out ... test your bobbin is wound correctly, not too tight, defo not loose .. Wind another bobbin if necessary.

Re-thread the top thread ... Holding the thread at the spool end take the thread through the guides, maintaining tension on the thread until its through the needle.

Put the bobbin in the shuttle, with your finger on the bobbin case pull the thread through the guides maintaining the tension until its threaded.

Now have a sew start on a leader or hold the threads as you start and see if you still have a problem.
The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

Gavin e

Re: Now that i’ve bought my first needle.....
« Reply #59 on: March 30, 2022, 22:32:23 PM »
Thank you for those answers.  Both have helped me to understand the way the machine works much more, which is something i am finding hard to grasp - i find it easy to see the pattern i need in my head,  but i cant get my head around what the needle is doing to create a stitch.

Following the advice given i think things have improved, but i still seem to get a much better stitch sewing the leatherette than i do the canvas?
  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]    [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]    [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]    [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  
The leatherette seems happy both sides, but the canvas seems to have tiny lumps of the canvas on the underside.  Is this simply just that I'm using too thick a needle?  Or is there another possibility?
It certainly doesnt look or feel right....