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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 07-03-2005, 06:18 AM (1 of 14)
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I have a Singer 15-91, it only does lock stitch. The machine works fabulous. Here's my problem: When I sew knits, lycra blends, rib knits, or any fabric with a little give to it (even some cottons with no stretch), my hems look wavy. How can I avoid this? |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: LeapFrog Libby
Date: 07-03-2005, 04:01 PM (2 of 14)
I do not know what a lock stitch is.. So, I don't know what kind of machine ? you are talking about.. The condition you describe happens on my machine when the presser foot is stretching the fabric as I am stitching it..There are several ways to change this.. adding a piece of waxed paper under the seam line before I start stitching is the easiest one for me..Or was, til I got my coverstitch machine..My serger does not have a coverstitch, and was too old to sell or trade up, but still works great, so I bought a coverstitch only machine.. Was the most economical way for me to go.. 
Sew With Love
Libby |
User: LeapFrog Libby
Member since: 05-01-2002 Total posts: 2022 
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 07-05-2005, 05:25 PM (3 of 14)
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A lockstitch is just a simple stitch, the most basic (--------- looks like that, and it doesn't unravel). My machine looks like this: http://www.ismacs.net/singer/images/MODEL15-91_201-21x1.jpg and the hemming attachment I'm using looks like this: http://www.singer-featherweight.com/accessories221/acc_adjhem2.jpg http://www.singer-featherweight.com/accessories221/acc_adjhem1.jpg I can't fit wax paper into the attachment with my fabric. I can't use bulky fabrics because it won't work right. I don't want to invest in a machine like a serger that will finish the seams better. Any suggestions out there about what to do based on the equipment I have? Please don't say to get rid of it, besides having sentimental value, it works, and it works better than my newer Singer. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: MariLynnTX
Date: 07-05-2005, 06:03 PM (4 of 14)
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It is not necessary to put waxed paper IN the attachment. Just put it under the fabric, between the fabric and the machine. Throw it away when you have finished stitching your seam. The lockstitch is the basic straight stitch on any machine. I've never seen the attachment in your picture, but then I no longer have my mother's little portable Singer...one of my daughters has it. I bet she might like that hemming attachment! MariLynntx
Life is a song...we give it harmony or dissonance.
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User: MariLynnTX
Member since: 08-13-2001 Total posts: 256 |
From: AndreaSews
Date: 07-05-2005, 08:20 PM (5 of 14)
Ah, I see your dilemma, sewerzzzzz. Have you tried a scrap of this fabric without the hemming attachment? Just a standard presser foot, and then you can easily slide the waxed paper or tissue paper underneath, without having to fit it into that space. Use your eye as your guide, the old fashioned way  PS: Your machine is just beautiful.
Andrea
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User: AndreaSews
Member since: 02-18-2005 Total posts: 1007 
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 07-05-2005, 09:10 PM (6 of 14)
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Thanks to my fellow sewers! I've tried not using the attachment (that's what I was doing when I first started), but it really sews hems so evenly and perfectly (if you feed the material in properly at the beginning) that I must use it now as much as possible. I must hem, hem, hem all night long!  That little attachment does wonders, it curls about 1mm of fabric under as it sews a perfectly even hem, you can set it to do a hem up to about 2 inches. It's useful because my machine only does 1 type of stitch so it helps you get a more professional looking hem without having to be extra careful, or press your hem (haven't found an easy way yet).I will try the wax paper under the fabric, not try to feed it through the attachment with the fabric, I never thought of that, duh! Thanks.  Thanks Andrea (I "borrowed" that pic from a website), I love that machine. It was my grandmother's, I remember watching her in her walk-in-closet sewing. She made the most beautiful dresses for my mother, and for me when I was little. I'm working on using these attachments: Click Here To See Webpage With Attachements (http://hubben.crosswinds.net/99ktextatt.html) |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 07-06-2005, 01:40 PM (7 of 14)
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WOOHOOO UPDATE: I didn't have waxpaper in the house so I tried slippery magazine pages and it works great, just tear it away and voila, no wavy, stretchy seams. Yippeeeeeeeee.......http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/520.gif |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: AndreaSews
Date: 07-06-2005, 02:04 PM (8 of 14)
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Ha ha! I knew you'd get it! Nice going! One of these days I'm going to invest in some special presser feet and experiment with them a bit. I only have the 2 that came with my machine--regular (that's teh technical name, I think!) and zipper. I do everything the time consuming and old fashioned way, with an iron. Funny, how I call it the old fashioned way, since your machine and its attachments have probably 50 years on my machine right? This is what I love about mechanical sewing machines--treat them right and they'll serve you and your granddaughter, too. Andrea
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User: AndreaSews
Member since: 02-18-2005 Total posts: 1007
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From: mommydionne
Date: 07-06-2005, 06:37 PM (9 of 14)
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Your machine looks just like the one I learned to sew on!! My mother still has it and said I could have it whenever I wanted to actually come and get it!!
Jeanette
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User: mommydionne
Member since: 01-08-2004 Total posts: 838 
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From: sewerzzzzzz
Date: 07-13-2005, 10:44 PM (10 of 14)
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The only thing I regret not having with the old machine is a zig zag stitch and a blindstitch or serger type stitch otherwise this machine sews anything and everything (even 4 layers of denim). It's from the 1950's. My mother has a Singer from the 1960's that cost $300 with a cabinet 40yrs. ago. It won't sew fleece, knits, or other types of material that well, it seems to always skip stitches and get that birds nest. We've tried everything (tension adjustments, overhauling) but nothing seems to work, from what I've been told it was a quirk of those machines. Mommydionne: If you can get that machine grab it and have it overhauled. The wires dry up and crack over time. My grandmother passed away in 1976 and her machine sat idle in the basement of my mom's home until last year when I took it. I cleaned it really well and my hubby said give her a little tap on the foot pedal to test her out, well, poof, a flash and a puff of smoke, and several hours later he took the machine apart and rewired everything. Now, she works great, except recently I kept feeling like I was getting a metal splinter in my arm, it turns out that I was getting a small shock from the metal so the hubby is back to work on her again checking all the connections. |
User: sewerzzzzzz
Member since: 02-27-2005 Total posts: 81 |
From: natred2
Date: 07-14-2005, 10:13 AM (11 of 14)
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Sometimes we digress when we progress I think. What an awesome machine!!! I used to have an oooold White, which had all kinds of attachments and had a knee control. Sounded like a train but sewed beautifully.... ( lost due to my ex *sigh*) I miss that machine. My parents bought it for me at an auction when I was 11. I would love to have it back now, it had some attachments that I wish I had now, like your hemming one. I'd die for something like that.
Don't be so open minded your brains fall out.
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User: natred2
Member since: 04-09-2005 Total posts: 81 
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From: Longblades
Date: 07-14-2005, 10:20 AM (12 of 14)
| Gosh, looks like my Mum's machine too, the one I learned to sew on. I just use whatever ordinary paper I have around, blank newsprint is good. Can then be picked out by hand or thrown in the wash to dissolve. I don't like wax paper because the wax can come off on the fabric and get into the bowels of the machine. 'Course the paper bits do too but they can be vacuumed out, wax is harder to remove. |
User: Longblades
Member since: 07-14-2005 Total posts: 182 |
From: MariLynnTX
Date: 07-14-2005, 07:36 PM (13 of 14)
My mother had a White and later a tiny portable Singer and both of them sewed well, but she never bought any attachments for either of them. I now have a Pfaff 1475CD (came out sometime in the the 1990's) and it does everything! That's when I became really serious about fme, which led me to drawing designs and then writing my book about it. I love this machine. It sews on any fabric, does any stitch, sews through the thickest fabric and an enormous number of layers of denim or whatever you need it to sew through...and does it beautifully and I'm not certain which year I bought it, but it still runs perfectly and has only once needed a new part. I need a new needle threader and this is after 10 years of my doing custom sewing on it! The most unusual thing I've made is an elephant costume (no pattern!)  for a pony to wear in a parade--I also made a leopard fabric loincloth for the little boy riding it! MariLynntx
Life is a song...we give it harmony or dissonance.
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User: MariLynnTX
Member since: 08-13-2001 Total posts: 256 |
From: elegante
Date: 07-22-2005, 06:49 AM (14 of 14)
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was so delighted to see the praise for the old sewers. Altho i have 2 excellent computer machines, I still keep my 2 old straight-sewers in good order and am a devotee of their attachments.. That adjustable hemmer is wonderful and i like the underbraider as well. The instructions which came with the machines were VERY EXPLICIT, unlike many of the modern manuals; even better, most of those ingenious attachments came with the machine,free. Nothing beats them for sewing heavier work, and i have not found stretch sewing a problem either.( I do use paper underneath for some jobs). I also have an old elna SU which i sometimes use. Many of the embellishment techniques i like involve straight sewing, so, rather than buying an expensive attachment for the computer machines, i'm quite happy to use the old straight sewers if they have an attachment which does the same effect... Elaine
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User: elegante
Member since: 11-03-2004 Total posts: 5 |
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