Sewing Machine....handheld / portable?

squiggles

I had one of those handheld sewing gadgets years ago,although it did sew i found it very difficult to keep it straight lines,i needed 3 arms,one to hold the machine,one to hold the material and one to feed the material through,it went to the charity shop in the end.

sooz

i have the jml one. it is ok, but rather basic and plasticky [as you'd expect]

is great for sewing thin fabrics, sheer curtains etc, but can't cope with too much thicker. so might be ok for summer but not winter clothes. still much much more portable than the big machine, which doubles as a door stop

ooh, also bought it from homebase on 10percent day - this weekend again i think, so was 18.00 not 20.00

cath-w

To be honest I would avoid the handhelds ones and get her a 'proper' machine instead. If you are worried about a machine going missing then what about getting her a hand sewing kit instead? This way she could keep it in her room and it may be a bit safer. She will be able to do most sewing by hand, it is a lot slower of course. I handsewed my wedding dress, including the button holes.

For a good starter kit I would buy:

(1) Good pair of dressmarker scissors (they need to be very sharp but can be very expensive unfortunately).

(2) Taliors chalk

(3) A stitch unpicker

(4) A book on sewing skills

(5) Long, large headed pins

(6) A selection of sewing needles

(7) Pin cushion

(8) A nice box to put everything into.

Hope this helps,

C.

gravitytolls

The trouble is the hand held ones tend not to be so robust, and can't stitch through thicker fabrics.

My hubs bought me a small one several years ago, from a local department store called Roys, I've seen them elsewhere for about £25. And it stitches beautifully, seams and hems, but it can't go through more than two layers of cotton, so if I'm hemming over a seam, I have to do it by hand.

Boot sales often turn up old hand machines, they're far too heavy to steal, aare normally well made, and will last for years, they're pretty easy to use, and are about £15.

zodiac

I love Roys! I always visit when im on holiday, great little town

Just so know you, I was in Woolworth and found a small sewing machine for £15. It was on the top shelf, out of the way and had a sale sticker on. I just throught that maybe you local woolies might have the same, tucked out of the way.

calleyw

squeaky wrote:

Heh heh

It's so nice to be right. Makes such a refreshing change

Wll being a man and all that it rarely happens


Yours


Calley

squeaky

calleyw wrote:

Wll being a man and all that it rarely happens

Yours

Calley

<sigh> Yes dear.

loopy_lass

i got a remington hand held thingy sewing machine, theyre ok for quick fixes.... but nothing major

hth loops