The Sewing Place
Machine Talk => Sewing Machines => Topic started by: Celia on September 26, 2019, 15:17:16 PM
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This is something I often wonder about, how often do you use your decorative stitches and how many different ones do you use.
I am trying to prune my sewing machine collection and wonder how much I will use the fancy stitches even if I do more quilting. I will never make lots of really big quilts as I do not have the room space but don’t want to leave myself without something I need.
My favourite machine is my straight stitch machine Janome HD9
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I tried a honeycomb stitch to hem a fairly stable knit, when I was tempted by a coverstitch machine. It was good. (Thank you, ejvc).
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I only use decorative stitches on odd occasions. I only have one machine that is computerized (just) a simple one. I wish I had one that did lettering, that is the only thing I miss. Most of my sewing is straight stitch which is why I love my vintage straight stitch machines. I wouldn't ever buy one with hundreds of fancy stitches. I think the blanket stitch, feather stitch and various zig-zag styles are the ones I use most. Occasionally I will do a flower or a leaf pattern as extra decoration. :vintage: :)
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I don’t use mine as much as I used to. I used to wear a lot of plain tops but nowadays I mostly wear patterned ones.
My machine has a number of very large designs and I’ve used them as borders on jackets etc. But I have found them a bit difficult to keep straight as they wander all over, so I import them into my embroidery and do it in the frame. Soooo much easier. I have used them on children’s stuff and also think they make great decorative hems. After all, we don’t have to use a straight stitch!
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Many years ago I made a set of table napkins using a machine embroidered scallop and trimmed closely, but that's about all (except for the time when I
accidentally on purpose had the machine set to embroider a row of ducks across Terry's work overall which needed patching. :devil:
I use the utility stitches - triple zig-zag, blind hem and 2 forward 1 back stretch stitches sometimes, and the overcast stitch which looks like blanket stitch for machine aplique, but that about all.
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I sometimes use a decorative leaf, flower or X stitch with gold thread - or with a mix of two different co-ordinating threads - on a padded notebook cover or other crafty stuff. For some reason folk always admire the decoration and think I must be clever! 0_0
PS I remember at the time I bought my Janome thinking "well, I'll not be using those stitches anyway".
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There is one of the stretch stitches on my machine that gives a sort of herringbone effect. I use this a lot for appliqueing pieces of vintage fabric/crochet onto cushions. It seals in the edges nicely. I have never used any of the few "embroidery" stitches it has.
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My two newer machines have hundreds of decorative stitches but I probably only use about 6 in total. I bought the s/m's for their other features, not the number of stitches. :D
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Never really use any decorative stitches...my machine has hundreds, most are unnecessary.
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Our boat curtains had a row of sailing boats along the top & fishes along the bottom, because I could. DH's tropical shirts each had a different stitch around the facings - cars, ants, Greek key (that took forever) I can't remember the others. I was a sucker for lots of fancy stitches but actually they're not necessary.
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I don't use them very often but have experimented with different ones on the napkins sets I periodically make. I've used the letters to personalize a larger square for the back of a quilt. But I don't recall ever doing anything decorative on clothing as I'm concerned that it would look a little too homemade.
So far I've preferred the honeycomb stitch for the napkins as I was trying to do something that would cause them to not folder over so easily when they came out of the dryer and it actually worked pretty well so I see myself using it in the future. Plus I liked the way it looked.
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Thank you everyone for your replies. This has in the main confirmed my feeling re my Machines. I have always felt a if a manufacturer produced a really good quality machine with the good extras and a selection of useful stitches it would sell well.
I have had the good fortune to try lots of different machines over the years and every time I think I might have found what I want I find something missing or something i.e. buttonholes that does not work so well.
I think this is the reason so many of us have a collection of machines not just 1 or even 2.
If anyone thinks they have that 1 great. Machine please let me know
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The fancy stitches are simply a by-product of the machine's ability to make the utility stitches. The manufacturers just throw in a lot of additional variations on the higher end machines.
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I have lots of built in stitches on my old Pfaff 1475, but rarely use them. When I do, it's usually the more basic fancy stitches rather than the more complex embroidery stitches.
I use the blanket stitch, the herringbone, all the zigzag stitches all the time, but I can't remember the last time I used the decorative stitch.
The exception is the lettering, which I use a lot - it's far easier than sewing on name tapes.
My Bernina 730 has a lovely ricrac stitch, but that is the only fancy stitch I use on that.
The Singer 611g has some nice decorative stitches, but up to now, I haven't used them.
Jessie
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Yes @b15erk I think your choice of stitches is much the same as I am looking for, I also would like a good alphabet.
The machine I have which fits these things is a Husqvarna but it also has embroidery and is a very large machine therefore I don’t get the chance to use it very much due to space problems.
I could sell this one but that leaves me without a good large size alphabet and here the question starts again which machine???
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I will add that I do use the utility stitches. Primarily the seam/overcast and the blanket stitch. I have one stitch that does a wavy S shape that's fairly long and tend to use that when I quilt diagonally because then I don't have to concern myself with trying to obtain perfectly straight grids.
I have found the seam/overcast on my Viking #1 is more secure than the one from the serger.
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I use the 500a for decorative stitching sometimes, it has a load of built in stitches and the cams which are nice too, but I don't use them often.
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I've only used the decorative stitches for crazy quilting - something that I want to do more of.
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I've only used the decorative stitches for crazy quilting - something that I want to do more of.
@MitchOfTheNorth
Thank you for this suggestion
Yes that is a thought, I have done that in the past and I would like to do more, I did also do some heirloom stitches to decorate the fabric once, the only trouble is some of them take a long time to do if the item is too big.
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My Brother machine does a bunch of decorative stitches as well as some basic lettering. So I will sometimes bracket lettering with these. E.g. <3 name <3
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I could sell this one but that leaves me without a good large size alphabet and here the question starts again which machine???
The largest font on a regular sewing machine, at least on the Janomes (that I know of) is 9mm ... hardly billboard lettering but then I got Elvis to help me out if I want anything larger ...
The Splurges largest lettering (9mm)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xbnfC6zXgWFh7k06rDwsB-xHhGYBD3FgCyoECjXPReLVIx0n97wcBZUGAEmUSuUikgA-RE7zG-i86u9crzxDJNHoJH0CVmWQftc5HzrcWKy23ldH2jNq6l9w9E7ljr1umwUmTq_yxVrFiaJ2mAM5Kl_Y-WFGEl9NG1gbBta_JuUsI0GTUNkrkVZheNJbABvQT8Vnnhx2XoXKIm5NZ8JhDTwjlHebQqsuxMw8xobnYE9_Uzgi0Azy-viYSkmA-fzqs0ti7oVjB0lEX-hmj0xI-JGSeD4dudjE1MGrj_y6fuA88k14NmpJ6pz0s1362WZUsdUbdNSLnKepI3Ob-hgTaIYa3zB3LX2hy4pRTVxO5y9zYBqMy9iYmu8rwot0xwbBiqb9-vDFDoWMQWeKMjWv_mK08-cxcLXQmi7fLU_nelvcIsiyTR8W8mahtXQMeiJ7mCQ4ib2_Z9XibXAYY8x-ytMr8EBzCjKRRCzTjDeIfbPRCe_0rJMdy4M5OZVyede76jNnBD4RSqQfLuHyeOn35do6I8crLajg4tMCtc2xzQUJQXRgosZ37HxuGy8cWPteifTSms2nBWqC84bCX8Luf3qJTClmE1d0ubIVNZ1LzDXhvw0Z-3NhnkjmLUC_z6cttz-lYUOSvLjZauKExYlStosK6tFRUCJqAbEWYTAabCk_HkLXBe2NC5vijCNMmSSMR5DQbZ3mV6DeayLlAvshgodjgVReRjhEOIcN0LrMbw=w1018-h773-no)
Elvis's (not largest but you can work out the difference from the scale of the Blanket stitch)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cotvILUifm2ue3IXU3K1xEaTn-ZJDzFqfH1yKxpDV1yqMZ0i7k59C2CvHxjxTRy23MRdHqQyxn1LTq7sHJCedDOu2N5HxCoGJjxHaZJ_LDxZeu4HuOZjW-gvoacSCsH14siFJesVH-yIsYjRsRw-5aGqfTGgFu4Isz1sXlUBdqB6a3-GEjIO8o0BjtntpP63-m1BzQaE0NHu5TTc8efzFtaCSS1WO4D0YfO4mIzswOfBjk8WcHDFUfjJZY6FwFKhcqpe_dP14L71cMR6Wx0zcWxJ0ZDaRId3eC9h5vrrW_0ZMg-uTviZeR-GRr2pe5Oi0Du4WxQWBP0HyHSpXzllVKGyFTA6tISY9iy1iBVIP1Fp1tOw9-XGNvK7bmY1C8-EwycBKjPZh_1SpoLn4KFZ7BCVC3uik15lRdrZLsPVW28j9JVBFnhGQFBTR1z8vP885NTba8unrn9534mjzUjrb1jT6MgsmxFPGHXs1zLzQlY2_9oSoXbLSE0l3FwMYvJrOWPXu9OzDMF39WlsRrMzKqsVp7wYYxAYe6I00gjkjI-gltkb6AyqTg7JvpHK-fzGnAduaAlf9GGM9pnBiMmM3w3W7d38JVCnF6ixzpZnsVEEFxrwvMig8JqVI6VqVyE16z1RejrcVrp19h9xdRVTxzkMKRSRpl6vZ45l9H6G7G0QCEp_eq_kqSoBq1R-lYUF4oUEBkBMWdaXB68qkBLZp8xr9zpMbjr__9LAiGhIhA=w1035-h773-no)
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I haven’t made anything like full use of the decorative stitches, but I do use them when I patch jeans and things. I’m a fan of visible mending, so if I can use a decorative stitch as well then I’m happy 0_0
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I use some of the decorative stitches, most specifically the sine wave one - handy for household things. Most of the rest are a bit meh. The lettering isn't all that - looks very like the first of Iminei's examples. Instead, if I have to put a name on the inside of a garment, something I do if I'm making for re-enactors, I use the free motion option and 'handwrite' it.
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I use a lot of the decorative stitches on my Janome 8900, mainly in metallic threads, to add texture and variety to the ‘panels’ I make.
A small section is shown on my avatar.
Edit...sorry avatar not showing much detail