Sewing Machine Day 2024 is on Thursday, June 13, 2024: SEWING MaCHINE?!?!?

Thursday, June 13, 2024 is Sewing Machine Day 2024. Singer Sewing Machines‎ Shop Singer Fashionista Machines with Accessory Packages at HSN!

Sewing equipments were when typical house objects, utilized for fixing worn and broken garments, along with for making brand-new items from textiles and material-- recently, nevertheless, they've greatly faded away from the average house.

Sewing Machine Day urges you to take advantage of a stitching equipment-- dig yours from your attic or cupboard, or take into consideration picking a new or used sewing equipment from a charity establishment or second hand shop. Repair, modify and make clothes, curtains, textiles and designs for the day!

I'm a sewing machine tech and will tell you these are throw-aways because so much of them are plastic. Once a plastic gear wears out or breaks ts cheaper to buy a new one then get it fixed. These machines are all plastic. Ok, if you seldom use them but if your going to sew every day these are not good machines. You would be much better off buying an older used machine and having it serviced by a reputable dealer or tech.

Good luck.

a new sewing machine?

There are many fine sewing machines that you can get with basic functionality. Make sure the machine you pick will sew on the weight fabric you're going to use the most. That is, don't get a low end machine and then expect to sew denim and upholstery weight fabric.

Janome is a good name in machines, so is Bernina, Viking-Husqvarna, Pfaff, White, Elna and Brother. Avoid Singer these days. They aren't what they used to be.

Go to your local fabric shop, such as a joann's, and check out the machines. Ask the salesperson for advice. You can also try a local vacuum/sewing shop. Google for local businesses that sell sewing machines. Once you've done some research and know what brands you like and features you need/want, then you can search the internet for really good deals, such as www.allbrands.com, if your local shop isn't offering a sale. Some shops give additional discounts if you trade in your old machine as well.

Lastly, have you had your sewing machine serviced lately? Machines need thorough cleaning and tune ups (oiling) just like any other piece of machinery. Perhaps a checkup at your local sewing machine/vacuum service center would bring it back to life for much less than the price of a new machine.

Heavy duty sewing machine?

Three things to think about: 1) How much will you use it? 2) How much do you want to spend? 3) How much room do you have to devote to the machines?

If you're using a machine only once in awhile, a gear driven household machine, preferably straight stitch only, like a Singer 201 will work just fine for your canvas and for leathers up to the weight of pigsuede. So will sort of heavy duty machines like a Sailrite. In fact, if this is once in awhile, you can probably manage with a Singer 15-91, which I can often find for under $20, in need of a little cleaning and oil, a new needle, and being threaded correctly. If you're going to be sewing on the machine 20 hours a week or more, week after week, month after month, then you're definitely looking for a commercial machine made for heavy fabrics and light leathers, or an industrial machine designed for that weight.

How much do you want to spend? Could be anything from a few dollars up to several thousand. More money gets you more modern machines that often have stepper motors so that each stitch delivers the same punching force of the needle. With old mechanical machines like the 201 or 15-91, the needle penetration force is lower at slower sewing speeds, which means you sometimes need the force of the needle just when you, as a beginner, are going to want to slow the machine down. If I were to want to sew a gi, I could do it fairly easily on my $10 15-91 (1954 vintage, overhauled by me) and probably would because I've got some attachments for that machine that make doing seams like the double stitched flat-felled seams used for jeans and gis fairly easy. I could also do it on my 2 year old Juki F-600, but I don't have the folders for flat felled seams on it. And I don't need the fancy stitches that machine can do. Difference in current price between the two machines? About $900.

On the other end of things, for machines that you can use practically 24/7, you can find old industrial machines for not much; but you'lll need a place to set it up pretty permanently, because they need a stand (heavy!!!) and motor (the standard wound motors are heavy, the newer electronic motors are not so bad), and there's usually an oil bath filled with a few quarts to a few gallons of oil to cool the machine. Oh, and most of them take 220 V, not standard household 110V.

On the other hand, with an industrial, you've got a machine that will sew for many, many years, can be fitted with all sorts of folders that make life easier to make certain kinds of seams, and some of them are designed to keep the plies of fabric from shifting relative to each other... like: where the needle moves with each stitcn, in addition to the feed dogs feeding the fabric like a home machine. (That's part of the secret why commercially sewn garments tend to have much less ripples in the seams than home sewing machines do... they use higher foot pressure and lower thread tension than home machines.) Industrial machines generally work on only a fairly narrow range of weight of fabrics, so if you want to sew both heavy and lightweight fabrics, you'd have at least two industrial machines.

Between the extremes of the home machines and the industrials are the commercial machines, meant for tailors and dry cleaners and some of the sailmaker's machines. These are usually portable (well, luggable!) and work on 110V. They're meant for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week sewing; and can be found new or used.

If you're thinking about buying one of the old home direct drive (beltless) machines, you probably should read John Giordano's book, The Sewing Machine Guide, which is about selecting and maintaining a good vintage machine. You may also want to join the yahoo group "Wefixit", which is a group of folks who like to keep these old machines up and running -- you'll find a lot of knowledge there.

If you're after a commercial or industrial, new or used, then you need to talk to the manufacturers of those machines (if you're after new) or a good industrial sewing machine dealer. Some home sewing machine dealers also sell commercial or industrial machines, but most do not. In general, you'll send them samples of the fabrics you want to sew, tell them the weight of thread you want to use, and the type of seam needed. They'll sew off some samples and send them back for you to select from, then ship you a machine that you (or your local industrial machine mechanic) will then need to set up. If you think you need an industrial, you may want to start your education with some of the blog posts here: esp.