A Small Squee of Delight

When I was little, I thought sewing machines were the most amazing things ever. I loved threading, how the thread got wound around the machine all over the place. I used to pretend I was threading a sewing machine by winding yarn around all the knobs on my dresser. I could never quite understand, though, how the little needles managed to make so many stitches so fast.

Then I found this description of how the mechanisms of sewing machines work on How Stuff Works and literally sat there and stared at the little Flash movies for half an hour. So that’s how it does it! [the picture below is a pause of one of the Flash movies]. The whole article is just interesting, if you’re a fan of figuring out how stuff works. Finally knowing how my machine works is FABULOUS. I’m incredibly thrilled by this, and the next page in this shows the internal gears.  You can tell it really bothers me when I’m not sure how things are doing what they’re doing!

While I’m blathering on about learning how stuff works, I thought I might also mention these lovely pieces of knowledge as well, for minds of neverending curiosity.

In honor of putting in a zipper: the Glue-Set Zipper for a skirt from Sew, Mama, Sew; sewing a zippered pocket into a bag lining from U-Hanbag; a flat fly-front zipper for clothes video with Sandra Betzina on Threads (really the clearest of these tutorials, but maybe that’s the video); various other zipper types (lapped, invisible) also from Threads.  And the one I’ll be hopefully using this week or next, a concealed bag zipper with casing also from U-Handbag.

How dress forms are made -  I always thought seeing your shape via dress form was probably the best way to figure out how a piece of clothing will work on you. Well, this is a video about the process of professional dress form construction. I find it odd they start out as a base of wet cardboard.

Just noticed Margaret Wertheim’s TED talk on coral reefs and hyberbolic geometry, as modeled by crochet. It still seems funny to me that something as simple as crochet increases could so easily model a mathematical concept as difficult to conceptualize as hyberbolic space.

I’ll leave you with this: speaking of crochet, still one of my favorite explanations of how stuff works is the structural/sculptural possibilities of crochet as demonstrated by Jessica Polka of Wunderkammer for a class she taught. One day, I will make one of these. It’s not only useful, it’s pretty!

Found my sewing machine again

Since we moved, I’ve been sort of avoiding my sewing machine. It’s always a massive pain to move around my crafting stuff, and it always results in me sort of avoiding some craft or another until I finally get around to putting things together.  But I finally did get to the sewing machine things and had previously unearthed the cutting mat (which has mysteriously and sadly become warped) for my papercut project.

On Monday I took the day off and decided to work on a new sewing project. It’s one I’ve been considering for a while due to all the hand sewing and crocheting I’ve done in the past year, and the handwork I expect to do this year.  Over time I’ve gathered a collection of portable tools that currently reside in a motley collection of bags. Mostly, the bags are the result of the free samples that Clinique periodically gives out. This is not exactly ideal.

Plus, I’ve run out of room for all my hooks in the crochet hook roll I made myself. So the material there on the left is for making a new set of portable tool-holders and handwork helpers. I’ve been putting in an hour or so of work on it every night. Yes, it’s taking that much time! I’m planning 3 zippered bags, 2 pincushions, 2 crochet hook rolls and 2 more keepers of another sort, plus a long-awaited mat for my sewing machine and something for car crafting. I’m making up all the patterns – essentially refining the jury-rigged versions I have now.

Hey, it’s a lot of stuff, but if you’re going to do it, might as well go big, right? Plus, this way it will all match!

Tool talk always reminds me of chimpanzees. Back in some anthropology course I took sometime we talked about chimpanzees putting twigs into anthills, waiting for the ants to climb on, and then eating the ants off the twig. This was, apparently, very interesting because it’s a rare example of tool use by an animal. The use of tools seems to relate to learned behavior and intelligence, and humans are nearly unique in their adoption of tools.

In that case, with the immense quantity and variety of tools required to craft, that means crafters are be a pretty darn smart group of folks, right?

Why is it that I always end up choosing green and purple when free to choose any colors? In no other area of my life (clothing, crochet, etc.) do I choose green and purple. Yet it’s always my choice in sewing. Let’s review: many, many quilt designs, my sewing machine cover, and my crochet accessories holders, and stuff from pre-blog days: a pieced quilt top I made but never actually attached to a blanket, a chair cover, some pillows … all green and purple.

Ah well, I’m nattering on now. Should work on a hat or something …

My Sewing Machine

This week is all about Finishing Stuff Up.  After I discovered the likely huge problem with my sweater, I just couldn’t face it for a while. All those hours!  Luckily, I’d just gotten my sewing machine back from being tuned up, cleaned up and generally spiffied-up.  This led to several things:

1. The finishing of the Birches and Aspens quilt. I’m putting in the last few stitches. I found a border! It’s really hard to sew! Oh, well.  It was the right thing, I think, so I’ll muddle through.
2. A decision to not allow myself to start on any of my three new sewing projects until I get the pile of mending taken care of.  For 3.5 years I have ignored this pile, which now includes 6 pairs of pants to hem, 3 torn seams, 2 shirts and 2 skirts to take in, 2 buttons to sew on and I’m sure other things I don’t remember. It’s pathetic, it takes up a lot of space, and this week, it is all going away.

Finally, I realized I’ve never mentioned my beloved sewing machine. So although the month is nearly done and the meme was posted on June 1, I’m going to use the Sew, Mama, Sew meme to talk about one of my most loved things.

Here we go:

What brand and model do you have? Singer 5830-C.  It is a model that was sold for home economics classes. Therefore, it was (a) relatively inexpensive but more importantly (b) built like a rock for hard and inexpert use by silly teenagers and (c) simple to use for people just learning to sew.

(My machine, above, with part of the base removed for hemming pants. When I sew, it always looks just like this with my pins and a pair of scissors resting there. My machine isn’t inset into a table, because honestly, I have moved too often to have a special piece of furniture for it!)

How long have you had it? I believe since 1995 (14 years!). My grandmother saw my fledgling hand-sewing efforts, and purchased this machine for me.

How much does that machine cost? My mom says about $100, but the prices online currently are more.

What types of things do you sew? I have sewn lots of home items but also quilts, clothing, handbags, paper…

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? Sometimes every day, sometimes weekly. I’ve used it fairly consistently except for the 2 years of grad school when I didn’t sew at all. Not sewing, incidentally, was one thing I really despised about that experience. There was just no room in my tiny NY apartment, and no time either.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? Love my machine. Should she have a name? Velma?

What features does your machine have that work well for you? She’s well built, and is all metal internally. That’s the most important thing. Fairly heavy – stable. She has 10 stitches of varying lengths and widths, is easy to thread, she sews evenly, hasn’t any problem with thick fabrics or multiple layers, can sew very fast or pretty slow depending on my comfort level, she has never broken, only has tension issues when I do something stupid, has a convenient button-holer and a fair number of feet & whatsits. Oh, and she’s dead simple to use.  I need to get more of her special feet.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? Occasionally I wish for more arm room for quilting. And the bobbin threading can be irritating in the middle of a project if I haven’t pre-threaded enough.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine? I mentioned my grandmother got it for me. I guess what I’d mostly relate is that this machine is what really drop kicked me into crafting as a Thing Miriam Does A Whole Lot And Enjoys as opposed to Something I Did Once And Got Bored With Quickly. I love sewing and textiles in general, and I know I owe much of that to the speed with which I was able to teach myself to sew on this machine.

Oh, one more story. I didn’t know my machine had a thread cutter until last year when my mom said I probably did. I am almost an entirely self-taught sewer, and until I saw someone mention thread cutters on a blog, I just didn’t know it was a typical sewing machine feature! Lo and behold, my machine has one.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Yes, certainly, if you can find one, because of its reliability. As far as whether I think someone would enjoy using the machine, I think it depends on what sort of sewer you are. Do you want to plug it into your computer and have 400 decorative butterfly stitches? Then this is not your machine. Do you just want a machine that won’t break to sew and mend garments, quilts and household items on a more-or-less regular basis? Then this might be your machine.

I have zero need for decorative hoo-ha on my machine, or a machine that does it all for me. I like machines and am not afraid of experimenting with them, and I like to know how they work inside and out. Thus a simple mechanical sewing machine I can take apart works perfectly for me. I like digital, but don’t like digital appliances. They break.

I find I still use the straight and zigzag stitches most of the time anyway, and I do appreciate owning something that’s what I actually need instead of having a bunch of stuff I don’t use. Plus, lord help any machine that requires high maintenance in this house. It would just stay broken. I just took my machine in for its very first professional tune-up the other week.  I’m not alone in my love for the beauty of practicality – my review of my machine here reminds me of the post that Irene of Mushroom Villagers wrote about the exquisite simplicity of her rock-solid 1950s Singer machine and how one might go about finding one like it.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I think it depends mightily on what your experience level is and what you want to sew. I’d look for peer reviews of people with blogs so I can see what they sew and how often with the machine they recommend. Find a professional seamstress or professional textiles crafter. I’d also take it for a test run in a store, see if I was comfortable with the controls, and try to sew something difficult or many-layered to see how it responded.

Do you have a dream machine? Not to replace my machine, I just want more specialization, machines that can extend what I can do.  One day, when I have space, I’ll consider a serger and maybe a long-arm quilter.

And that’s all she wrote. About her machine, anyway.

Update 11/6/2010: I’ve had some great commenters and a couple of people who have found this machine at garage sales. I hope you enjoy it! I’ll repeat a couple of things from the comments just because I think they’re important to owning this machine:

The product page for the Singer 5830 is here and has information and links. Go to this address:  Singer Sewing Machine Manuals and type in 5830 (no C) in the box to get a downloadable manual.  To find out what accessories (bobbins, feet, etc) are available for this machine, go to Singer Sewing Machine Accessories and type in 5830 (no C) to get a list of what else you can purchase for it.

The tension on this machine can be a bit of a bear, so I have a couple of pieces of advice. #1 – Before you start sewing with it, take it to a professional and have them clean and oil it, but most importantly have them set the tension. As I’ve shown in the photo, A is where the sewer adjusts tension for thick or thin fabrics, etc. if you really need to. B is where a professional should set the tension, and the user should NEVER mess with that lever!!!

My other piece of advice from now 15 or 16 years of using this machine is that if your tension is off and you get bad stitches in back, or if your thread breaks, just stop. Stop and unthread and rethread the machine entirely, both bobbin and upper thread. Do a general check – are you using the right thread for your project and material? Do you need to clean out the lint? Is there something else wrong? Then try again.

Update 11/27/2011: A useful question from the comments: If you’d like a brand-new machine that is similar to this machine, visit the Singer Scholastic section. There isn’t quite a “new model” of the 5830C. My machine is right in between the 5511 Scholastic Heavy Duty and the 8280 Scholastic.  Mine is a heavy-duty with 10 stitches, 4-step buttonholer, Free Arm and steel bed plate. The 5511 will be faster and more heavy-duty and has 11 stitches.  However the 8280 is the only Scholastic model with a free-arm, and I would have a hard time sewing without that feature.