I really like the colors and design of my bag. It's not too loud (bright) and goes nicely with jeans. The structure seems sound too. No frayed or missed stitching.
Showing posts with label serger sewing machine parts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serger sewing machine parts. Show all posts
Distinctive Tape Binding Sewing Machine Presser Foot - Fits All
List Price: $18.99
Sale Price: $13.99
Today's Bonus: 26% Off
Since I own and have used both products, I'll review both the Brother SA109 Binding Foot and the Distinctive Tape Binding Foot at the same time. This will essentially be a comparison of the two.
Both products are about the same price, at the present time there is about a $2 difference, giving a slight edge to Distinctive. Both can be used on most low-shank sewing machines that accept this type of snap-on foot. I've never cut my own binding but have always used bias tape so I cannot state for a fact how either would work for hand-cut binding strips.
The construction between the two brands is quite different. The Brother is made completely of metal while the Distinctive is a combination of metal and plastic. Therein lies the biggest difference between the two. The Brother has no adjustment so is limited to a maximum finished size of 1/4" (7mm) while the Distinctive can be adjusted from about 3/8" to 3/4" (5 to 20mm) finished size. Advantage: Distinctive
The construction design also has an effect on ease of use. The Distinctive Foot has 2 grooves in the plastic. You place your folded bias tape edges into the groves, adjust for width, snap the foot onto the machine and slide the fabric between the two edges of the binding tape. The Brother design is more like a narrowing funnel. Push the bias tape through the opening until it appears on the other side, snap the foot on the machine, and slide in the fabric. You can, of course, perform the above with either foot on the machine, but I've often found it easier to attach the foot after I've put the binding tape in. With the design difference I've found the Brother foot easier to use. Keeping the bias tape and the fabric correctly aligned was easier and I was able to sew a little faster. If I didn't keep the bias tape and the fabric aligned exactly right when using the Distinctive foot, I had the bias tape come out of the groove. If I was lucky I caught it right away, if not, I would have to remove the stitches and re-do a small section. I think it may be especially problematic if you cut your own binding strips and they aren't pefectly straight. Advantage: Brother.
In conclusion, I'm a guy who has taken up quilting as a retirement hobby. I have arthritis and my hands shake a bit so I look for anything that will make things easier for me. I happy I own both the Brother SA109 and the Distinctive Tape Binding Presser Foot, they both work well in different ways. The Brother is easier to use while the Distinctive is more versatile. Neither is perfect, but for me, they are a much better solution than applying bias tape by hand or trying to perfectly fold, iron then sew binding strips into place with a regular presser foot. For that, they each get 4 stars.
Spiritual Awakenings Animals - Beautiful Bengal Tiger Print
List Price: $26.99
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
I use the product for quilting, way above my expectations. The delivery service was most PROMPT, no worries as to where my order was! I purchase a lot of fabric from quilt shops, but will purchace from this site more often. I will recomend this site to my quilting friends.
SINGER Sewing Machine Belt and Bobbin Winder Ring
worked Great brought my singer 128k Back to life I was leary at first of changing the flat leather belt (yes i did say leather) to a round rubber one but it has indeed brought my singer back into the running of the workhorse it should be. for those of you shopping around for belts, I would recommend you measure your belts and see if A. the length is the same as this one. or B. see if it is flat or round or has teeth like treads. or C. look up the parts manual on the internet they all have one some are just buried due to them being old.
Distinctive Overlock Overcast Sewing Machine Presser Foot - Fits
List Price: $16.99
Sale Price: $11.99
Today's Bonus: 29% Off
Using on a very basic Singer 8280 machine.
What this foot IS NOT: a serging foot with built-in cutter (such as ones available from my manufacturer)
What this foot IS: a perfect piece to help you fake an overlock stitch with a basic sewing machine
If you have the kind of sewing machine that changes feet by lowering down the shank onto the foot and snapping in place, this will probably fit. I wasn't absolutely sure it would fit my machine, but for $12 I was willing to take a gamble. Neither the picture or the instructions that came with this foot were very clear on how it actually worked, but there are 2 parts that help you use an overlock or even a basic zig-zag stitch (all I have) to finish raw edges. First, the little black piece that sticks out of the front helps you keep the fabric perfectly lined up with the needle. Second, a piece like a bar runs down the middle of the foot and the needle goes back and forth over this bar when stitching. The bar keeps the fabric from rolling/bunching up onto itself as you sew (which is what happened to me when I tried to edge using the zig-zag without this foot). This is a great foot and will keep me from having to buy a serger for awhile.
Just a note, if you need to straight-stitch something, either switch back to your regular foot or be sure to use the straight stitch that's offset to one side. If you use the centered straight stitch, the aforementioned bar that runs down the middle will break your needle.
Brother LS2125 25-Stitch Function Free Arm Sewing Machine
List Price: $149.99
Sale Price: $90.61
Today's Bonus: 40% Off
I can only sew with a basic ability. I needed a machine to save time on basic repairs and very simple projects that took too long to sew by hand. This machine was very easy to learn and use. I am not overwhelmed with options that I dont know how to use anyway. I have only run into a few problem (all caused by me) and I was able to figure out what I had done wrong easily. It is a great machine for learning or for someone who only needs to sews on occasion.
Royal Knitting Yarn Ball Skein Wool Winder w/ clamp
My wife got one of these a couple of years ago. It doesn't hold a lot of yarn but she shays," Good enough for most."
The plastic gear tear on the pinion often slip, which isn't a critical failure, but makes for a slighlty jerky motion when you're trying to maintain steady tension. Everyone of her fellow knitters has one of these Royal winders and the gear slippage thing happens to all of them. There's a model that supposedly works much better (The Royal Jumbo) and holds a lot more yar but costs about 6 times as much. Ah well, what's a little clunk clunk while winding? ;-)
The plastic gear tear on the pinion often slip, which isn't a critical failure, but makes for a slighlty jerky motion when you're trying to maintain steady tension. Everyone of her fellow knitters has one of these Royal winders and the gear slippage thing happens to all of them. There's a model that supposedly works much better (The Royal Jumbo) and holds a lot more yar but costs about 6 times as much. Ah well, what's a little clunk clunk while winding? ;-)
SINGER Futura CE-250 Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine
I purchased this machine because I wanted to learn to do machine embroidery and didn't want to spend a fortune. I think it is an excellent value. It seems very solid and sewed beautifully with no adjustments straight out of the box. There are sensors in the thread path that are very sensitive and incorrectly report broken thread quite often. As soon as I got the hang of flossing the thread into the sensors this became less of a problem. There are several yahoo groups dedicated to machine embroidery and the nice people there were of great assistance to me as I got started.
Folks like me who are new to machine embroidery should understand that the sewing machine must be physically attached to a computer while you are embroidering. The soft ware running the computer sends the information to the sewing machine one color at a time so don't think that you can download the design and then sew it out later. You are going to need a computer to run the embroidery feature of this machine. I'm using an old computer that was discarded at my office because it was too slow to run large office programs over a network. I took all the other software off and it runs the Future software just fine. If you are going to need to acquire a computer to run your embroidery machine you should consider that cost along with the price of the Futura.
Thread is the paint of embroidery and since it is different than regular thread you are also going to have to make an investment in thread to get started. The price of a spool can vary greatly but if you buy a bunch at one time it can be pricy so think about this to when deciding to make the plunge into machine embroidery.
The difference between the Futura 250 and the Futura 350 is the software. If you plan to create your own embroidery designs you should know that only the basic software comes with the 250 but you can purchase the full software separately. Making clip art into machine embroidery is much more difficult than I first thought and to run the Futura software the sewing machine must be connected to the computer even if you are just working on the design and not doing the actual sewing. There are other software packages that do not have this requirement. You could use them to make the art into embroidery files but you will still need to be connected to your Futura to stitch them out.
I am extremely happy with this product and would recommend it to other people like me who just want to have some fun and spice up their craft and sewing projects. If you are looking to do embroidery professionally then purchase a higher priced and faster machine.
Folks like me who are new to machine embroidery should understand that the sewing machine must be physically attached to a computer while you are embroidering. The soft ware running the computer sends the information to the sewing machine one color at a time so don't think that you can download the design and then sew it out later. You are going to need a computer to run the embroidery feature of this machine. I'm using an old computer that was discarded at my office because it was too slow to run large office programs over a network. I took all the other software off and it runs the Future software just fine. If you are going to need to acquire a computer to run your embroidery machine you should consider that cost along with the price of the Futura.
Thread is the paint of embroidery and since it is different than regular thread you are also going to have to make an investment in thread to get started. The price of a spool can vary greatly but if you buy a bunch at one time it can be pricy so think about this to when deciding to make the plunge into machine embroidery.
The difference between the Futura 250 and the Futura 350 is the software. If you plan to create your own embroidery designs you should know that only the basic software comes with the 250 but you can purchase the full software separately. Making clip art into machine embroidery is much more difficult than I first thought and to run the Futura software the sewing machine must be connected to the computer even if you are just working on the design and not doing the actual sewing. There are other software packages that do not have this requirement. You could use them to make the art into embroidery files but you will still need to be connected to your Futura to stitch them out.
I am extremely happy with this product and would recommend it to other people like me who just want to have some fun and spice up their craft and sewing projects. If you are looking to do embroidery professionally then purchase a higher priced and faster machine.
Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper MATTE (8.5x11 Inches, 50
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $14.70
Today's Bonus: 26% Off
I LOVE this paper...with ANY printer I have ever used it on, I get consistently bright, clear, rich color. Excellent for my graphics and photoshop printouts. It is the only matte paper I will use. Be sure you get the Ultra Premium paper....Presentation Paper is NOT the same thing.
Michael Miller 'Flower Fairies' Purple Toile Cotton Fabric
I love this fabric. It is beautiful. I couldn't find the perfect baby bedding for my second girl, so I made it out of this. I thought purple fairies were a perfect compliment to the first daughter's pink princess theme. Be sure to wash before sewing; it does shrink.
Maxell Battery 2032 Priced Ea,sold Pk/5 - BAT-MCR2032
Very happy with these 2032 cells. Honestly can't comment on the longevity of these batts. But so far, so good. Price is certainly outstanding. And the service from EuroTool is exemplary. Will be back for more eventually.
Distinctive Roller Sewing Machine Presser Foot - Fits All Low
List Price: $15.99
Sale Price: $10.99
Today's Bonus: 31% Off
Get this and put it into your sewing supplies. Then, when you decide to sew on vinyl, plastic, oilcloth, leather ( thin) or other slippery fabrics, you will avoid yelling so much! Great little trick that even my longtime sewing friends did not know about.
Westcott Stainless Steel Office Ruler With Non Slip Cork Base
List Price: $7.80
Sale Price: $3.99
Today's Bonus: 49% Off
Never thought I'd review a ruler, but this is just such a ripoff. I bought the aluminum version of this and I really loved it when I first bought it, it seemed heavy and well made. I thought this would be the last ruler I'd ever have to buy. But after two months of VERY occasional use, the print is starting to come off! It looks like it's 30+ years old now. What good is a ruler with no print? The Westcott name on this ruler is meaningless, the original Westcott quality is obviously not there anymore. Oh well, the logo will probably rub off soon too anyway.
Cricut Cartridge Simply Charmed
List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $23.99
Today's Bonus: 66% Off
This cartridge literally has something for EVERY holiday and season and celebration! Im very happy with this cartridge and it is easy to use! From fathers day to St Pattys dayfrom weddings to birthdays and new babies.. totally worth the money and will keep you busy for days and days and come in handy MANY times!
Darice 80-Piece Deluxe Art Set
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $19.49
Today's Bonus: 51% Off
This set is of extremely poor quality. Every material is cheap. Some people might try to rationalize that it's okay to give something like this to a child, because hey, kids don't care if the supplies are crap, right? Well, some kids do care, and the ones who don't know any better will still be frustrated that the materials don't "work" properly. The colored pencils don't even compare in quality to Crayola colored pencils, which aren't the best quality from an artist's standpoint. The pastels are junklike oily crayons...again, a set of Crayola oil pastels are of much better quality than these (Crayola actually makes a pretty good set of oil pastels, and Amazon sells them). The "watercolor cakes" are a complete joke. They're lightly glued in, and every time the case is closed, several of them fall out. The drawing pencils are so cheap that you'd do way better to just use a regular #2 school pencil to draw with. Ours also came with markers, which were the extremely low quality type you get when you buy a book from the dollar store with markers included...horrible. My kids were gifted two sets over Christmas, and while we appreciate the thought behind it, it was shocking how crappy the quality of ALL the materials was.
It's unbelievable that this set could be priced as high as $39.99. Right now it's on sale for $12.95, but honestly, it's still not worth even that much. Don't fall for the temptation to get "80 pieces" for just a few bucks. Those 80 pieces will either end up in the garbage, or cause your budding artist much frustration and disappointment.
Before I sound like an art-supply snob (I'm not!), let me say that this review is not in any way about me trying to sound superior and saying how the expensive professional supplies are superior to discount-store supplies. This is me saying that, while there *are* better options out there than Crayola-type supplies, this set makes Crayola-type supplies look like expensive professional supplies in comparison. I'm saying that these materials are absolute junk, not fit for anyone to use. I felt obligated to do a review, to save someone from wasting even a few bucks on something this bad. You'd do so much better to buy separate, decent sets of oil pastels, watercolors, colored pencils, and drawing pencils. None of these items are expensive on their own, anyway. Again, Crayola makes decent oil pastels and colored pencils. But for just a few dollars more, Michael's and Hobby Lobby sell brands that are artist quality, for reasonable prices; you could probably pick up all these supplies for less than $30 and have quality, lasting art supplies for your child (or yourself).
Portable Mini 2-speed Sewing Machine
I have been traveling with this machine in my motorhome for over 2 years now. I have hemmed clothes, made curtains, made pillows, made director chair replacement seating, made picnic table cloths and on and on.
This thing just keeps on purring, methodically turning out nice neat strong stitching. It only does one type of straight stitching, so you can not do a zigzag for knits. I have never used it for knits and wouldn't even try, it's not made for that. But for regular woven cloth it's a charm.
My blog shows many of the projects I have done with this machine. I don't think Amazon will let me post my blog link, but if you look at my name above then add "dot com" you can find my webpage blog and then use the search built into my blog, to search on "sew" to see my articles and pictures of me using this machine.
It only does a forward stitch, not a reverse. But to start my seam, I do about 5-10 stitches, then stop, rotate the project 180 degrees, sew the 5-10 stitches back to start, then rotate 180 degrees again, then continue my seam to completion and do the same curious moves at the end of the seam again. This has worked flawlessly so far and locks the seam in place.
Also, before you sew your project, use a scrap of material to practice on first, to make sure the seam is doing nicely before you sew the project. A scrap of the same material you plan to sew on next is best all around. I always do a practice run on a scrap first.
I had an old quilted bedspread that had some holes in it. I wanted to cut it down to make jumbo pillow covers, because the colors were perfect for my RV. It sewed through the double layered quilted material perfectly. I was truly amazed. In case you are wondering, I sewed velcro on the 4th side of the pillow covers. Then I was able to stuff the pillow, then velcro it very neatly together. You can't even tell the 4th side is velcro. Zippers are hard work, and I've never tried to do a zipper with this machine, I just use velcro instead.
Recently I used old bluejeans for some projects and sewed right through the triple stitched side seams of the bluejeans just fine. The cheap needles that came with it did not last. Buy only Singer machine sewing needles as they are the best and milled correctly. Since installing the Singer needle, it has not broken in over a year. So don't even bother with cheaper or off brand needles, buy Singer needles only. They work.
Also, if your thread is breaking too much, throw it out and buy new thread. Sometimes thread can dry-rot and get cantankerous. New thread will generally fix this. It has a bobbin winder that works on the machine.
I store mine in the original box, in plastic so that the machine remains dust free between uses. This is very important for any sewing machine. Every day dust will eventually clog up and shorten the life, so always cover your machine completely when you are through sewing. Don't let it sit even overnight uncovered, if you like to protect your machine so it will last a long time. If you leave yours uncovered when not in use, you will be very sorry down the road. Sewing machines need to be undercover at all times except when in use.
Some reviewers had trouble with the bobbin, but they didn't do it standard style. First you thread the needle to have the thread go straight back about 4 inches. Then you insert the bobbin, making sure it is seated correctly. You may have to hand turn the knob on the end of the machine towards you very slowly, to get the bobbin to seat correctly. You need to leave about 3 inches of the bobbin thread pulled out. Leave the slide door to the bobbin open for the next simple step. Afterwards, close the slide door.
Now turn the knob on the far right towards you very slowly to make one complete stitch (do not insert material!) As the needle comes back Up (from going down!) it will have a tiny loop, where it picked up the bobbin thread. Now pull that loop out carefully (it will be poking through the hole beneath the needle), so that you now have TWO threads pointing towards the back of the machine, one is the threaded needle, the other is the bobbin thread. Now you can close the bobbin door and start your seam. Later you can trim the excess thread off the item you are sewing.
If you don't understand this very basic step which is universal to ALL sewing machines with bobbins, then you need to buy a how-to book or take a beginner sewing class to learn the basics about handling a sewing machine. Once you know the basics about handling ANY sewing machine that has a bobbin (and all do except the unique chain stitch machines which I am not even sure they make anymore. Anyhow, the basics of handling a big machine are identical to handling this compact machine. So LEARN the basics if you expect to make things with this machine.
I have sewed on regular sewing machines, but my motorhome has very limited storage, so I bought this tiny machine and do not own a regular sized sewing machine anymore. I applied the SAME basic principles to this compact machine as I did on the full sized machine and it has worked flawlessly for me.
If you buy this machine because you are NEW to sewing, then you need some scrap material to practice on, before you begin a project. Just because the machine is smaller with less options that a full sized machine, does not mean you can instantly "know" all about sewing. Learn the basics and you will LOVE this little machine as must as I do.
This thing just keeps on purring, methodically turning out nice neat strong stitching. It only does one type of straight stitching, so you can not do a zigzag for knits. I have never used it for knits and wouldn't even try, it's not made for that. But for regular woven cloth it's a charm.
My blog shows many of the projects I have done with this machine. I don't think Amazon will let me post my blog link, but if you look at my name above then add "dot com" you can find my webpage blog and then use the search built into my blog, to search on "sew" to see my articles and pictures of me using this machine.
It only does a forward stitch, not a reverse. But to start my seam, I do about 5-10 stitches, then stop, rotate the project 180 degrees, sew the 5-10 stitches back to start, then rotate 180 degrees again, then continue my seam to completion and do the same curious moves at the end of the seam again. This has worked flawlessly so far and locks the seam in place.
Also, before you sew your project, use a scrap of material to practice on first, to make sure the seam is doing nicely before you sew the project. A scrap of the same material you plan to sew on next is best all around. I always do a practice run on a scrap first.
I had an old quilted bedspread that had some holes in it. I wanted to cut it down to make jumbo pillow covers, because the colors were perfect for my RV. It sewed through the double layered quilted material perfectly. I was truly amazed. In case you are wondering, I sewed velcro on the 4th side of the pillow covers. Then I was able to stuff the pillow, then velcro it very neatly together. You can't even tell the 4th side is velcro. Zippers are hard work, and I've never tried to do a zipper with this machine, I just use velcro instead.
Recently I used old bluejeans for some projects and sewed right through the triple stitched side seams of the bluejeans just fine. The cheap needles that came with it did not last. Buy only Singer machine sewing needles as they are the best and milled correctly. Since installing the Singer needle, it has not broken in over a year. So don't even bother with cheaper or off brand needles, buy Singer needles only. They work.
Also, if your thread is breaking too much, throw it out and buy new thread. Sometimes thread can dry-rot and get cantankerous. New thread will generally fix this. It has a bobbin winder that works on the machine.
I store mine in the original box, in plastic so that the machine remains dust free between uses. This is very important for any sewing machine. Every day dust will eventually clog up and shorten the life, so always cover your machine completely when you are through sewing. Don't let it sit even overnight uncovered, if you like to protect your machine so it will last a long time. If you leave yours uncovered when not in use, you will be very sorry down the road. Sewing machines need to be undercover at all times except when in use.
Some reviewers had trouble with the bobbin, but they didn't do it standard style. First you thread the needle to have the thread go straight back about 4 inches. Then you insert the bobbin, making sure it is seated correctly. You may have to hand turn the knob on the end of the machine towards you very slowly, to get the bobbin to seat correctly. You need to leave about 3 inches of the bobbin thread pulled out. Leave the slide door to the bobbin open for the next simple step. Afterwards, close the slide door.
Now turn the knob on the far right towards you very slowly to make one complete stitch (do not insert material!) As the needle comes back Up (from going down!) it will have a tiny loop, where it picked up the bobbin thread. Now pull that loop out carefully (it will be poking through the hole beneath the needle), so that you now have TWO threads pointing towards the back of the machine, one is the threaded needle, the other is the bobbin thread. Now you can close the bobbin door and start your seam. Later you can trim the excess thread off the item you are sewing.
If you don't understand this very basic step which is universal to ALL sewing machines with bobbins, then you need to buy a how-to book or take a beginner sewing class to learn the basics about handling a sewing machine. Once you know the basics about handling ANY sewing machine that has a bobbin (and all do except the unique chain stitch machines which I am not even sure they make anymore. Anyhow, the basics of handling a big machine are identical to handling this compact machine. So LEARN the basics if you expect to make things with this machine.
I have sewed on regular sewing machines, but my motorhome has very limited storage, so I bought this tiny machine and do not own a regular sized sewing machine anymore. I applied the SAME basic principles to this compact machine as I did on the full sized machine and it has worked flawlessly for me.
If you buy this machine because you are NEW to sewing, then you need some scrap material to practice on, before you begin a project. Just because the machine is smaller with less options that a full sized machine, does not mean you can instantly "know" all about sewing. Learn the basics and you will LOVE this little machine as must as I do.