Throw in those sinfully delicious parlors where you mix your own flavors and toppings and the choices are literally endless. Now, the decision time is significantly increased as we ponder the possibilities and drool on glass cases. PICK one already! Easy to just hit the little x in the upper corner of your browser and postpone the decision until you can sort through what it all means.
Mending clothes — a straight stitch, zigzag, and blind hem stitch are about all you need. Making clothes — add an overcasting or overlocking stitch. Stretchy fabrics — add a handful of stretch stitches like zigzag stretch, blind hem stretch, and an overlocking or overcasting stretch stitch. Amber, thank you for posting this useful info!
Now I know what they were really intended for. Thank you so much for posting this! I recently got a Janome with a million more stitches than my 80s Singer had, and was completely lost. The handbook only helps so much.
Let me know if you would prefer I remove this page…or if you have any other sewing resources you could recommend! Thanks again for these amazing tips! Thanks for your concise explanations. Will be pinning a printed copy on wall above my machine for quick reference. Saves time not plowing through the inst. Great post! Thank you for the information here, it help me to look a little deep into my machine and see how it really work.
I am going to have a lot of fun now. Its great for hems as well, it makes a stretchy stitch, less prone to breaking than a zig zag. I use it to sew elastic waist bands, and to hem t-shirts.
I have been sewing for years but did not know what some of those stitches were for. Great help. Thank you for your explanation. Hi Amber, thanks very much for giving this detailed information. I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me in making a decision on purchasing this machine.
I have had mine for 10 years and it is a dream! Had to take it in once for some problems but otherwise just perfection. Hi Amber, thanks for your prompt response to my question. Have you had any problems with those functions. Thanks again. Thank you so much for this very helpful pin. Very helpful.
I am not a professional tailor. I want to buy one mini sewing machine to stitch only old cloths. Please tell me which brand is good? Loved the Blog. Very useful. Thanks for sharing all of this some of these stiches may save me time. Thanks so much. Gold dust! What do the little 1, 2, and 3 mean beside stitch selections 45 — 48? They all look like straight stitches to me. Actually, I think I know the answer to my own question!
I think they are used as spacers when programming stitches in sequence. Give it a try! You must try them out. Stitch 52 looks like a smocking stitch on my machine, which is generally used for sewing elastic in garments, but I have used it once as a decorative stitch.
You can manually adjust your zig zag sewing machine to sew beautiful buttonholes — but it needs great effort and practice.
With a buttonhole stitch, you can do that very easily. Some machine come with one step buttonhole stitch, and some with 2 steps. This is a stitch used to make easy scallops. Though I have tried many times the scallops I make with this stitch turn out to be horrible. Check out this post on other different and more effective ways to make scalloped edges. This is my favourite stitch for neatening fabric edges. You can use an overcast presser foot for this. Another use is to stitch seams in knits for its stretch instead of the straight stitch.
You can also make picot edges and shell-tucks with this stitch and overcast foot. Learn how to make overcast stitches in detail here. This is another stitch which makes beautiful shell tucks along the fabric edge. These are stitches used to join two fabric pieces together. This stitch is also called a cross stitch. You can use it to join two stretchy fabric pieces in an abutting seam. If you want to know other stitches used as insertion stitches check out the post. A Ladder stitch is used to make channels for elastic and ribbon.
Also called a Rampart stitch. The Multi-Stitch Zigzag is commonly used to finish fabric edges. You can also use it as an insertion stitch. You also get a stretch overlock stitch in some machines.
A stretch overlock stitch would look like this. If you have a sewing machine with many decorative stitches — count yourself lucky. You are probably among a small percentage of people with sewing machines with decorative stitches in the world. But you may be keeping these stitches idle for lack of knowledge about the power of these stitches.
Almost all sewing projects can be embellished beautifully with these stitches. You just need to use a good sturdy thread and have some patience.
Most of the clothes we sew are made with fabrics which are difficult to sew-so that translates to sewing it with decorative stitches too. With some precautions, you can avoid the frustrations people usually have with these stitches. First and foremost test the decorative stitch in a fabric scrap from the same fabric you will be sewing.
Experiment with the stitch length and width to see which is most suitable. Use a suitable backing on your fabric and stitch away. If you have the straight stitch presser foot attached, change it to the multipurpose presser foot or better a satin stitch presser foot with a hollow area underneath — this will help the presser foot to go over bulky stitches easily. If the fabric is puckering or you are not happy with the way stitches have formed loosen the top tension of your sewing machine. Checkout this post that details how to adjust sewing machine tension.
Handy for pivoting around corners, etc. When the machine stops, the last stitch will have been completed and the needle will always stop at the end of the needle bar stroke. Found on computerised machines, this feature locks the stitch by automatically reversing at the start of the seam.
This is a guide built into the machine which recommends which presser foot, tension, stitch width and stitch length to use for that particular stitch. Like having the instruction book in front of you at all times. Mostly found on computerised machines but also on some mechanical machines. Built-in needle threaders are helpful but certainly not essential. A small hook locates behind the needle and through the eye. The thread is then placed into the hook and is taken through the eye as the hook is withdrawn.
Leaving the tension dial midway, around 4 or 5 on a 0 to 10 scale and providing the same thickness of thread is used both top and bottom, the tension dial should rarely need adjusting whether automatic or not.
Only handy for users who do free hand embroidery or darning. If the machine does not have this facility then it will have a plate to cover the feed. A common misconception is that an overlocker will do everything that a sewing machine will do and more.
Overlockers are professional machines which are used together with a sewing machine and not instead of a sewing machine.
Although they can be quite versatile, the basic task of an overlocker is to trim and wrap the edge of the fabric, preventing it from fraying. The overlock stitch can be seen in the construction of most factory made garments.
They can also be used for sewing seams, rolled hems, attaching tape, elastic, beads, etc and blind hemming. However, some tasks require special attachments and not all attachments are available for all overlockers, especially the lower priced models. The process of choosing an overlocker is different from a sewing machine. Whereas the price of a sewing machine increases as the capability and amount of features increase, features available with an overlocker are not as extensive.
Instead, most overlockers will perform similar tasks but the more expensive overlockers will cope better with difficult fabrics and will also be easier to thread. A 4 thread machine which can be converted to be used as a 3 or 4 thread and it will have a differential feed.
Other standard features are an easy to follow colour coded thread path, adjustable stitch length and cutting width and an instructional video or DVD will be included. These overlockers will include all the features of the previous price range plus be capable of trimming and overlocking a wide range of fabrics from delicate lightweights to heavy soft furnishings.
The tensions units will be the "lay in" type and the left looper will have an easy threading device. As well a 3 or 4 thread combinations, it may be capable of being used with just 2 threads and it will have an easy change rolled hem. These overlockers are serious professional machines which will be of solid construction and capable of daily use. They may have unique features such as the Jet Airs which "blow" the thread through the guides or tubes as they are on those models , computer controlled or automatic tensions which adjust for various stitch combinations and built-in cover hem.
As the price of overlockers has come down, 3 thread overlockers have largely been discontinued with 4 thread machines replacing them as the entry models. Not every task requires 4 threads to be used so 4 thread overlockers can be used with only 3 threads and some of the more expensive models can be used with 2, 3 or 4 threads. A 4 thread overlocker, for example, will have 2 needle threads and 2 looper threads.
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