Best Sewing Machine for DIY

[zooshooter]

The real challenge now is to find as many uses for the machine as I can to justify the cost.

One thing that my wife LOVES when I get around to making them is shopping bags that stuff into tiny little drawstring pouches. She already had a few so I just modeled mine after those with no real pattern. I start by making the drawstring bag, probably my favorite part, and then sew it into the hem of the larger bag once it is ready.

[jellyfish]

... I did however run into a new Viking Emerald 118 and after a little reading and with Jellyfish's glowing reviews I decided to go for it.

Enjoy your new HV! It is a great machine.

[Kayak_Medic]

My sister has that machine and it works great. I’ve used it.

The only real problem with it is that the default is for the needle to be at one side (not in the center). I can’t remember which side. You may need to tape out your seam allowances if you are used to sewing in the middle, or move it to center.

I actually ended up buying a Brother SE625, sewing/embroidery machine. Absolutely LOVE it. The needle defaults to the left, but you can easily select a standard straight stitch that places the needle to the center or the right. All sewing plate hem guides are marked for the left default position. One of the things, among many, that sets this machine so far ahead of my old basic Singer is the number of feed dogs. My old Singer has 4 individual dogs, and this one has 7. I find it feeds fabric so much better, especially the very thin stuff like Membrane 10 Taffeta. I always had an issue making a lock stitch on my Singer when starting my seam close to the edge. Many times, the thinner fabric would get pushed down between the feed dogs, into the needle hole. This thing will automatically place either a lock or reinforcing stitch at the beginning and end of a seam, with the "lock stitch" being two or 3 stitches in one spot, and the reinforcing stitch being the typical backwards a couple then forwards. It's freaking awesome!

[P-Dub]

....Anyone know where I can get a pattern for a good ridgeline organizer or is it best to just create one from scratch?

You don't need a pattern--just fold a scrap of fabric or netting in half, add loops to hang it, sew some vertical lines if you want pockets... boom! Easy to make more if you don't like the first few... Best part is that you can keep modifying it until you get something that is exactly what YOU want!

[Roman3006]

I lucked out and found a pfaff 1222E at goodwill for $29.99 the first day I was shopping for a machine and the first good will I stopped at. Turned out to be in like new condition. Im trying to sale it then i can buy a new machine and use the rest to finance my hammock, bugnet , tarp and a underquilt. May have enough to do two set ups. Not bad for $29 and I almost didnt stop just at the last second I turned in and if I hadnt read these forums I wouldnt have known the pfaff name. Another thing this good will was in a well to do area so if anyone is looking try those first probably better chance of finding more expensive machines.

[Roman3006]

I just looked at amazon they have a singer 4423 on sale for $119.

[esmith]

Sew last night I picked up some polyester fabric from the local Fabricville. It litterally said "Unknown Content" on the indentifying tag. That seemed perfect.

There was a 50% sale so I got my 4 yards for about $14.00 Canadian. It was the heaviest poly they had in the store. I'm 165lbs on a good day so no worries.

Last night I cut it to size, I went with 11'6" leaving me with 3 inches per side for the channel on an 11 foot hammock. the width is about 61".

I used my 5mm rolled hem foot (Thanks Jellyfish for bringing that to my attention). I cut the ends with sissors so you can imagine the fraying going on. The sides were done at the factory and heat sealed. They were a breeze after first doing the ends. I'm happy with the results of my first attempt.

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I'm really loving the new machine:

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I am thinking about a hot knife. Is there a brand people in DIY prefer?

Also Thanks for the tip Zooshooter, Shopping bags in a sack seem like a great idea!

More Pics to follow after i make some progress,

Cheers until then!!

[mrcheviot]

Nice work!

Hot knife - depends on your budget really. The cheap way is to get a 20-25W soldering iron (pencil style) and experiment with different tips. A 10w or 15w will cut the fabric, but the heat drain from the cutting surface + straight edge makes them a little lightweight for long cuts. I used one of these for a long time with a metal straight edge and had no issues, other than waiting for it to heat up. If you're only occasionally cutting fabric, this is the way to go. For more frequent/higher volume use, the Engel knife is the one to get - either the German made one (which is over $200), or a quality clone like the ones Sailrite sells. There are some cheaper knockoffs avail with spotty reviews, so buyer beware.

If you don't yet have a good straight edge (which you want when using any hot knife), the orange Swanson Savage is cheap and avail via Amazon prime. Not sure if that works out for you in CA.

If you don't yet have a good cutting surface for a hot knife, tempered hardboard sheets are cheap and widely available - 4'x8' is a common size in the US at least. It's easy to build a supporting frame, or just to lay down one or more sheets on a large floor space for temporary use.

[esmith]

Thank you Mrcheviot,
I really appreciate your detailed response. I had not though of the soldering iron. Brilliant!

I have a weller here with a 50W base station, should work well. I guess I will need to get a tip specifically for this.

As much as I would like to think I'll be finding all kinds of time to make all kinds of hammocks and tarps etc...

The reality is I most likely wouldn't need to use a hot knife very often so over $200 is a little much to just be sitting around. (I already have many pricey items to hold my dust collection)

For a surface, I got hold of a steel 3' X 2' shop counter top. It fits over an old drafting table I had kicking around. It makes a great place to cut with the soldering iron but might be small for large cuts.

I guess I'm going to have to clean out the garage and sweep the floor soon.

I wasn't aware of Swanson (other than TV diners I guess) so thanks for bringing that to my attention!

Cheers!

[mrcheviot]

Nice. The irons w/ the base may be a bit unwieldy if you're doing long cuts, but I suppose where there's a will there's a way.

The 50W iron would normally be overkill, but with the steel counter acting as a big heat sink/drain maybe it'll work just fine. I mention this because if I recall, a 50W soldering iron steady temp is in the 750-800F range, which is HOT. You may get stray melts or even little flames (my hot knife is 60W and it gets red hot and can light threads on fire, I tend to hold trigger for 10 sec and then feather 2 sec on/off until I'm done w/ the cut). If it runs too hot and it doesn't have a temperature control or lower wattage setting on the base, you can DIY yourself a temp control using a light switch receptacle and a light dimmer dial (google has lots of info, I'll be installing one of these imminently).

Happy cutting!