The sewing thread

ivyleaf

I don't have an overlocker, so French seams it will have to be or possibly the zig-zag stitch!

loocyloo - Same here with the zips! I look back with astonishment at some of the things I made - only fairly simple stuff, but looked effective - I will probably need to start again from scratch, to an extent. Come to think of it, I haven't put in a zip using my current machine at all and it's 17 years old - I just haven't been well enough to get to know it properly.

maryb, Wow, I can understand your not wanting to move away! It's a shame though.

PollyWollyDoodle

Another one here who is a little nervous of zips, I've put them in bags etc but back in the day when I used to make my own clothes I don't think invisible zips were around.

Interesting about needing to wear something a few times before it feels right. I made a lightweight top last year, wasn't very happy with it but then the weather was too cold to wear it anyway. Yesterday I got it out and while it's not perfect it's better than I remembered (and no worse than some things I've bought in the past) so I put it on. Maybe another day wearing it round the house and it'll be ready to wear outside!

Artytarty

Invisible zips. Don't be scared of them, it's really very straightforward if you have the correct foot. That is not the same as a standard zip foot which may have come with your machine. It is a little square foot with a small prong int middle which pushes the zip coil out of the way allowing the needle to get very close.
I have a great leaflet showing how to,put them in and I still refer to it because it doesn't yet come as second nature to me. Once you figure out which way the zip goes, the sewing is simples.
Try YT for videos etc.
It's easier to put the zip in before closing up that seam but you can do it either way.
Go on! Give it a try! if I can do it, you can too.

ivyleaf

Arty - about feeling the clothes you make might look home-made - I wonder if it would help if you ordered some embroidered labels to put in them? Saying something like e.g. "An Individual Creation by Artytarty"

It might sound odd, but a label may make all the difference.

Artytarty

I could do that I suppose!. Though Nobody will see it but me.
The problem is that I'm not proud enough to say I made it when asked where it's from or admired, and I am embarrassed to tell you all I usually tell a white lie and mention some city or other, never an actual shop.

ivyleaf

Ah, there you are then Arty - if they are admired or you're asked where they're from, that should tell you they don't look home-made.

I remember making some skirts and blouses which I wore to work; the skirt pattern had some unpressed pleats at the front and back, and two wide tucks near the hem, with a lapped zip. It looked really effective, but the pattern was just a rectangle (well, three rectangles sewn together) and couldn't have been easier to make I think it was a Vogue one. I made two plain ones and two floral print ones *reminisces happily*

Mind you, the most efficient seamstress I've ever met was one of my colleagues. We had a fabric shop across the road from the office at the time. She would go over there in her lunch break, buy a pattern and fabric, and come into work the next day wearing the finished garment

beautiful_ravens

Hi,
Any ideas about this - I was happily sewing and the machine suddenly went full pelt and wouldn't stop, I had to unplug it. Plugged it in and out a few times [at the machine, not the wall] and it was still going; eventually it stopped... is it likely to be a faulty pedal? [the pedal wasnt stuck on the table or anything!]
Its pretty old, I got it off ebay to replace my plastic machine because I wanted a really heavy machine.

ivyleaf

Oh goodness, beautiful ravens :eek:

Is there anywhere near enough to you that sells machines and has an engineer? If so and you can speak to him/her, they may be able to suggest the cause. But if it's going to need servicing, that can be quite expensive. I paid for my daughter's mechanical machine to be serviced a few years ago and that cost £60, and it hadn't even needed any parts replaced - it's the ruddy VAT that's the killer!

I wonder if it has 2 speeds, so that if you press down too hard on the pedal by accident it goes to high speed and then gets stuck? Can you take the top off the pedal and see if it looks as if something's got stuck in one position? Try some WD40 on it? (on the workings of the pedal, I mean.)

Sorry if that's no help, I don't know what else to suggest.

beautiful_ravens

@ivyleaf
Thanks. The nearest place is a half hour drive, then park and ride, then a fair walk, and the machine weighs a ton! I took the old plastic one there once to get the tension sorted [it didnt get sorted] and it was as you say, about £60.
I'll hazard a look inside the pedal first...!

ivyleaf

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

@ivyleaf
Thanks. The nearest place is a half hour drive, then park and ride, then a fair walk, and the machine weighs a ton! I took the old plastic one there once to get the tension sorted [it didnt get sorted] and it was as you say, about £60.
I'll hazard a look inside the pedal first...!

Good luck

If you did want to take it to the shop, if you ring them in advance, they should be able to arrange for you to park round the back and enter by the back entrance - that's what our local one does at any rate, when people are bringing machines in.