No. That's not how they work. The needle goes down, passes through a portal into BobbinSpace where some actual magic happens, then it comes back up again. I refuse to accept any other explanation....
No. That's not how they work. The needle goes down, passes through a portal into BobbinSpace where some actual magic happens, then it comes back up again. I refuse to accept any other explanation.
I'm always blown away by the huge impact of the sewing machine. Between 1884-1943 one Singer factory in Glasgow made over 36 million machines and that wasn't enough to keep up with demand. For comparison the UK population in 1901 was only 32 million in just 6 million houses. Every house wanted one. Because every house (pretty much) made and fixed their own clothes. It was such a huge amount of work. Unless you've made a piece of clothing by hand it's hard to understand how much of a labour saving device these things were. It's as big as the difference between driving and walking. And that's just the numbers for the UK, Singer sold all around the world. I don't think it's too hyperbolic to compare the sewing machine with the mobile phone in terms of penetration, speed of growth and social impact.
The fact that you can walk into pretty much any antique shop and pick up a Victorian sewing machine for probably less than £100 and probably still working is testament to how many of these things there were.
Those early sewing machines also had a big influence on the manufacturing industry at large. It helped fund and incentivize the development of manufacturing expertise and technology to produce...
Those early sewing machines also had a big influence on the manufacturing industry at large. It helped fund and incentivize the development of manufacturing expertise and technology to produce complex, precise machines in general. Companies like Husqvarna, Toyota, and Brother owe a lot to the early sewing machine industry (and sewing machines are still sold under those brand names today).
Sewing machine parts are readily available and can be repaired at home itself. We bought the machine in 80s and with little oiling and maintenance is still reliable. Wonder when they'll introduce...
probably still working
Sewing machine parts are readily available and can be repaired at home itself. We bought the machine in 80s and with little oiling and maintenance is still reliable.
Wonder when they'll introduce an - always connected - AI enabled - our best yet - sewing machine that comes with $100 yearly service contract.
And how well-made they are. The old singers are still in widespread use in some parts of subsaharan Africa where electricity is unreliable or simply not present.
pick up a Victorian sewing machine for probably less than £100 and probably still working is testament to how many of these things there were.
And how well-made they are. The old singers are still in widespread use in some parts of subsaharan Africa where electricity is unreliable or simply not present.
I have a Brother sewing machine I bought for $90 at Walmart more than 20 years ago. About ten years ago, the interlock for the bobbin winder started failing. I opened it up and screwed a tiny...
I have a Brother sewing machine I bought for $90 at Walmart more than 20 years ago. About ten years ago, the interlock for the bobbin winder started failing. I opened it up and screwed a tiny brass screw into the spot where the tab had broken off the nylon wheel. Otherwise, all I have to do is oil it occasionally and it runs as good as the day I bought it.
My only complaint is that the pedal on mine has to be pressed pretty far to overcome the starting resistance of the motor. Then I have to quickly back off or I am suddenly sewing really fast. I started to wonder about something better, with features like auto lock stitch and a better motor control. But to get a lot of those features, you have to go way up the price scale. When I read reviews, few of the mid-range models were reviewed better than the really simple ones. And the computerized ones seem like they don't add that much unless you are doing embroidery.
Granted, I only sew for the occasional craft project. Someday I may get around to modding the pedal with a smarter motor controller, but simple has been good enough so far.
What has other people's sewing machine experience been like? If you have a fancy machine, what do you like about it, and would you recommend it?
I used to have an entry level Brother—possibly the same one you have because I bought it around that same time period for around that same price—but I had to leave it behind when I moved...
I used to have an entry level Brother—possibly the same one you have because I bought it around that same time period for around that same price—but I had to leave it behind when I moved overseases.
Now I have a Janome MyExcel 18W (also known as the HD3000 in the US market), as well as a Babylock serger. Both are mechanical/non-computerized.
The Brother was good, but my Janome is much better. It still lacks features like auto lock stitch, but it has a lot more oomph, it operates more smoothly, it is less fussy about imperfect tension, and it handles seams and thicker layers better. It's also more ergonomic and thoughtfully designed in myriad small ways — like the placement of the foot lever, the ease of replacing the bobbin, the needle threader, the stitch selection guide on the sewing machine itself, etc. These aren't things I thought would matter much to me, but they really do reduce a lot of the friction to getting started on a new project.
There aren't any features that I feel like I particularly wish I had (except for the auto-tensioning system that my Babylock has, but you can't get that on any non-serger sewing machine for any price). If I upgrade at some stage in the future, I will focus on higher speed and just further general improvements to smoothness/power/tolerance of seams/etc. of the sewing action.
Along those lines, an accessory I highly recommend is a walking foot. It is primarily for stretchy or slippery fabric, but I find that even regular fabric feeds in more smoothly and easily with a walking foot. If I had to choose only one foot to ever use again, it would be this one.
All that being said, the Babylock is my darling. I wish I could do all my sewing on it.
Thank you for all the information! Can you elaborate on the kind of sewing you do? I can see how the serger would have been great for sewing masks during the pandemic, but otherwise it seems like...
Thank you for all the information! Can you elaborate on the kind of sewing you do? I can see how the serger would have been great for sewing masks during the pandemic, but otherwise it seems like it should be mainly for making clothes?
I use it to make clothes, and occasionally other items like tote bags. I believe some quilters also use sergers for piecing, but I have never made a quilt myself, so I can't really comment on it.
I use it to make clothes, and occasionally other items like tote bags.
I believe some quilters also use sergers for piecing, but I have never made a quilt myself, so I can't really comment on it.
I personally have found YouTube an extremely valuable resource for learning how to sew. If you can, maybe look for a secondhand sewing machine that is in good working order because this will save...
I personally have found YouTube an extremely valuable resource for learning how to sew.
If you can, maybe look for a secondhand sewing machine that is in good working order because this will save you money. People often buy an entry level sewing machine when they start, and then upgrade to a fancier machine later and sell their first one. Sewing machine shops will sometimes have secondhand machines to sell (people sometimes trade them in when they upgrade), and this can be a particularly good route to go because they will service the machine and make sure it's in like-new working order before they sell it.
Sewing machine shops are also good because they will often offer sewing lessons and let you test out a range of machines before you buy. Most sewing machine shops also do repairs and servicing, so they may have some insight about which models give people the most trouble.
Whether new or used, you will want to get a pretty standard sewing machine—nothing specialized like a serger, an embroidery machine, etc. The only two stitches you really need it to have are a straight stitch and a zigzag stitch, so don't get sucked in by marketing about how many obscure stitches a sewing machine has; you will mostly won't use them. A couple of the others can be nice, but they are mostly just time savers and not strictly necessary.
You will want to avoid sewing machines that have a lot of features compared to other machines at that same price, because the manufacturer will have had to cut a lot of corners to meet that price point. Your sewing machine should have metal, not plastic, internal machine parts, and reviewers should describe it as a workhouse, heavy duty, or the like. A solid, well-built sewing machine will have fewer issues with jams, knotted threads, etc.
I have generally heard good things about Japanese sewing machines (Elna, Janome, Brother, etc.) and some not-so-good things about Singer. However, you will probably want to look up the individual model and see what people say about it, because there are always exceptions.
I love sewing and sewing machines, any and all machines really, but unfortunately the veritasium presenter just weirds me out which is a shame because it looks interesting. (Edit to add: I forced...
I love sewing and sewing machines, any and all machines really, but unfortunately the veritasium presenter just weirds me out which is a shame because it looks interesting. (Edit to add: I forced myself to watch the vid and yes it was mostly interesting; i wish I liked the presenter though).
He comes off as such a smug ass, so pleased with himself. Ugh, it gives me creeps me to remember. A long-ago sketch by Peter Cook went "for my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man"...
He comes off as such a smug ass, so pleased with himself. Ugh, it gives me creeps me to remember.
A long-ago sketch by Peter Cook went "for my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man" (or something like that, it really was long ago); somehow the presenter reminds me of that. My reaction is perhaps just from some odd suppressed memory of mine, but ugh again.
No. That's not how they work. The needle goes down, passes through a portal into BobbinSpace where some actual magic happens, then it comes back up again. I refuse to accept any other explanation.
I'm always blown away by the huge impact of the sewing machine. Between 1884-1943 one Singer factory in Glasgow made over 36 million machines and that wasn't enough to keep up with demand. For comparison the UK population in 1901 was only 32 million in just 6 million houses. Every house wanted one. Because every house (pretty much) made and fixed their own clothes. It was such a huge amount of work. Unless you've made a piece of clothing by hand it's hard to understand how much of a labour saving device these things were. It's as big as the difference between driving and walking. And that's just the numbers for the UK, Singer sold all around the world. I don't think it's too hyperbolic to compare the sewing machine with the mobile phone in terms of penetration, speed of growth and social impact.
The fact that you can walk into pretty much any antique shop and pick up a Victorian sewing machine for probably less than £100 and probably still working is testament to how many of these things there were.
Those early sewing machines also had a big influence on the manufacturing industry at large. It helped fund and incentivize the development of manufacturing expertise and technology to produce complex, precise machines in general. Companies like Husqvarna, Toyota, and Brother owe a lot to the early sewing machine industry (and sewing machines are still sold under those brand names today).
Sewing machine parts are readily available and can be repaired at home itself. We bought the machine in 80s and with little oiling and maintenance is still reliable.
Wonder when they'll introduce an - always connected - AI enabled - our best yet - sewing machine that comes with $100 yearly service contract.
And how well-made they are. The old singers are still in widespread use in some parts of subsaharan Africa where electricity is unreliable or simply not present.
I have a Brother sewing machine I bought for $90 at Walmart more than 20 years ago. About ten years ago, the interlock for the bobbin winder started failing. I opened it up and screwed a tiny brass screw into the spot where the tab had broken off the nylon wheel. Otherwise, all I have to do is oil it occasionally and it runs as good as the day I bought it.
My only complaint is that the pedal on mine has to be pressed pretty far to overcome the starting resistance of the motor. Then I have to quickly back off or I am suddenly sewing really fast. I started to wonder about something better, with features like auto lock stitch and a better motor control. But to get a lot of those features, you have to go way up the price scale. When I read reviews, few of the mid-range models were reviewed better than the really simple ones. And the computerized ones seem like they don't add that much unless you are doing embroidery.
Granted, I only sew for the occasional craft project. Someday I may get around to modding the pedal with a smarter motor controller, but simple has been good enough so far.
What has other people's sewing machine experience been like? If you have a fancy machine, what do you like about it, and would you recommend it?
I used to have an entry level Brother—possibly the same one you have because I bought it around that same time period for around that same price—but I had to leave it behind when I moved overseases.
Now I have a Janome MyExcel 18W (also known as the HD3000 in the US market), as well as a Babylock serger. Both are mechanical/non-computerized.
The Brother was good, but my Janome is much better. It still lacks features like auto lock stitch, but it has a lot more oomph, it operates more smoothly, it is less fussy about imperfect tension, and it handles seams and thicker layers better. It's also more ergonomic and thoughtfully designed in myriad small ways — like the placement of the foot lever, the ease of replacing the bobbin, the needle threader, the stitch selection guide on the sewing machine itself, etc. These aren't things I thought would matter much to me, but they really do reduce a lot of the friction to getting started on a new project.
There aren't any features that I feel like I particularly wish I had (except for the auto-tensioning system that my Babylock has, but you can't get that on any non-serger sewing machine for any price). If I upgrade at some stage in the future, I will focus on higher speed and just further general improvements to smoothness/power/tolerance of seams/etc. of the sewing action.
Along those lines, an accessory I highly recommend is a walking foot. It is primarily for stretchy or slippery fabric, but I find that even regular fabric feeds in more smoothly and easily with a walking foot. If I had to choose only one foot to ever use again, it would be this one.
All that being said, the Babylock is my darling. I wish I could do all my sewing on it.
Thank you for all the information! Can you elaborate on the kind of sewing you do? I can see how the serger would have been great for sewing masks during the pandemic, but otherwise it seems like it should be mainly for making clothes?
I use it to make clothes, and occasionally other items like tote bags.
I believe some quilters also use sergers for piecing, but I have never made a quilt myself, so I can't really comment on it.
Thank you!
Do you have any tips or recommendations for someone who's interested in getting into sewing?
I personally have found YouTube an extremely valuable resource for learning how to sew.
If you can, maybe look for a secondhand sewing machine that is in good working order because this will save you money. People often buy an entry level sewing machine when they start, and then upgrade to a fancier machine later and sell their first one. Sewing machine shops will sometimes have secondhand machines to sell (people sometimes trade them in when they upgrade), and this can be a particularly good route to go because they will service the machine and make sure it's in like-new working order before they sell it.
Sewing machine shops are also good because they will often offer sewing lessons and let you test out a range of machines before you buy. Most sewing machine shops also do repairs and servicing, so they may have some insight about which models give people the most trouble.
Whether new or used, you will want to get a pretty standard sewing machine—nothing specialized like a serger, an embroidery machine, etc. The only two stitches you really need it to have are a straight stitch and a zigzag stitch, so don't get sucked in by marketing about how many obscure stitches a sewing machine has; you will mostly won't use them. A couple of the others can be nice, but they are mostly just time savers and not strictly necessary.
You will want to avoid sewing machines that have a lot of features compared to other machines at that same price, because the manufacturer will have had to cut a lot of corners to meet that price point. Your sewing machine should have metal, not plastic, internal machine parts, and reviewers should describe it as a workhouse, heavy duty, or the like. A solid, well-built sewing machine will have fewer issues with jams, knotted threads, etc.
I have generally heard good things about Japanese sewing machines (Elna, Janome, Brother, etc.) and some not-so-good things about Singer. However, you will probably want to look up the individual model and see what people say about it, because there are always exceptions.
Thank you so much for this, it's super useful! Bookmarking it so I can't have it on hand.
I love sewing and sewing machines, any and all machines really, but unfortunately the veritasium presenter just weirds me out which is a shame because it looks interesting. (Edit to add: I forced myself to watch the vid and yes it was mostly interesting; i wish I liked the presenter though).
What about him weirds you out?
He comes off as such a smug ass, so pleased with himself. Ugh, it gives me creeps me to remember.
A long-ago sketch by Peter Cook went "for my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man" (or something like that, it really was long ago); somehow the presenter reminds me of that. My reaction is perhaps just from some odd suppressed memory of mine, but ugh again.