If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
|
Posted by Anne Donnelly on February 1, 2006, 1:53 pm
Hi folks,
Thanks to the advice on here a few weeks ago I've bought a second-hand
Singer.
It's a 99K electric. I've no idea how old it is as I can't find the
serial number. Still, I don't suppose that's important.
It seems to work ok although the belt looks a bit mis-shapen so I
think I'll invest in a new one. The bulb works and it's even got a
bobbin winder. Oh, and an extra oddly shaped foot that I haven't
investigated yet.
So, thanks everyone for their advice.
OK, now the stupid question.
When I sew a seam I get two loose pieces of thread at the start and
two more at the end. Is there an easy way to fasten these off ? Do I
have to do it all by hand ? In that case it'd almost be quicker to sew
the whole seam by hand.
Thanks,
Anne
|
|
Posted by Kathleen on February 1, 2006, 3:19 pm
Anne Donnelly wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Thanks to the advice on here a few weeks ago I've bought a second-hand
> Singer.
>
> It's a 99K electric. I've no idea how old it is as I can't find the
> serial number. Still, I don't suppose that's important.
>
> It seems to work ok although the belt looks a bit mis-shapen so I
> think I'll invest in a new one. The bulb works and it's even got a
> bobbin winder. Oh, and an extra oddly shaped foot that I haven't
> investigated yet.
>
> So, thanks everyone for their advice.
>
> OK, now the stupid question.
>
> When I sew a seam I get two loose pieces of thread at the start and
> two more at the end. Is there an easy way to fasten these off ? Do I
> have to do it all by hand ? In that case it'd almost be quicker to sew
> the whole seam by hand.
You finish the seam by backstitching 3 or 4 stitches to prevent
unraveling. Then just clip the threads close to the fabric and call it
good.
Kathleen
|
|
Posted by Kate Dicey on February 1, 2006, 3:21 pm
Anne Donnelly wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Thanks to the advice on here a few weeks ago I've bought a second-hand
> Singer.
>
> It's a 99K electric. I've no idea how old it is as I can't find the
> serial number. Still, I don't suppose that's important.
There's an oval cartouche like bit on the bed of the machine at the
right hand side, under the badge on the pillar. The combinations of
letters and numbers there is the serial number.
>
> It seems to work ok although the belt looks a bit mis-shapen so I
> think I'll invest in a new one. The bulb works and it's even got a
> bobbin winder. Oh, and an extra oddly shaped foot that I haven't
> investigated yet.
New belt is probably a good move. As for the foot, show me pix and I'll
try to identify it.
>
> So, thanks everyone for their advice.
>
> OK, now the stupid question.
>
> When I sew a seam I get two loose pieces of thread at the start and
> two more at the end. Is there an easy way to fasten these off ? Do I
> have to do it all by hand ? In that case it'd almost be quicker to sew
> the whole seam by hand.
Depends what you are doing...
Long straight seam on a garment: back-tack! :) Just flip the stitch
length lever up to the top, and sew about 6 or 10 stitches backwards!
:) If you have an older 99 that has the turning knob length regulator,
just stop a thread or two from the edge and turn the work round and
stitch back over the previous half inch or so (mine is like that).
If the seam is crossed by another seam and/or likely to be trimmed off
at the end, don't bother to finish it. I've never had to worry about
one coming undone, and I sew professionally.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
|
|
Posted by IMS on February 1, 2006, 7:11 pm
Hi Anne, congrats on our 'new' machine!
On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:53:51 +0000, Anne Donnelly
>Hi folks,
>
>Thanks to the advice on here a few weeks ago I've bought a second-hand
>Singer.
>
>It's a 99K electric. I've no idea how old it is as I can't find the
>serial number. Still, I don't suppose that's important.
It's on there somewhere...on the bed, either on top or below, near the
edges.
>It seems to work ok although the belt looks a bit mis-shapen so I
>think I'll invest in a new one. The bulb works and it's even got a
>bobbin winder. Oh, and an extra oddly shaped foot that I haven't
>investigated yet.
A new belt will make a world of difference, also make sure to completely
check the wiring over, to make sure there are no cracks or brittleness.
>So, thanks everyone for their advice.
>
>OK, now the stupid question.
...no such thing!
>When I sew a seam I get two loose pieces of thread at the start and
>two more at the end. Is there an easy way to fasten these off ? Do I
>have to do it all by hand ? In that case it'd almost be quicker to sew
>the whole seam by hand.
With some of these models there was no reverse. My grandmother uses to
make very tiny stitches to start, then lengthen them. SOmetomes she
would stitch about three stitches, lift the presser foot, move the
material, lower the foot, and stitch over the stitches she just made.
Enjoy!
-Irene
--------------
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20
--Mae West=20
--------------
|
|
Posted by joy beeson on February 2, 2006, 12:08 pm
On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:53:51 +0000, Anne Donnelly
> When I sew a seam I get two loose pieces of thread at the start and
> two more at the end. Is there an easy way to fasten these off ? Do I
> have to do it all by hand ? In that case it'd almost be quicker to sew
> the whole seam by hand.
I very rarely backtack a machine-sewn seam: you lose more
by weakening the fabric than you gain by strengthening the
stitches.
If the end of the seam will end up inside a hem or another
seam, nothing at all need be done -- unless it is likely to
come undone before you can get the hem or the other seam
sewn. (I vaguely recall having had trouble with this when I
was younger.)
Making the first and last half inch of stitches smaller can
help. (But not so small that the needle-holes overlap!) Or
you can leave an inch or more of tails, and pull on them to
tighten the stitches up again when required. (Cut the
tails off after sewing the crossing seam or pinning the
hem.) If you expect to really maul the fabric around, tie
the two threads together in a square knot.
At the point of a dart, I stitch beside the fold for a while
to twist the two threads into an inch or so of cord, then
tie a knot in the cord: form the cord into a circle over
the point of the dart, use a pin or needle to pull the ends
of the threads through this circle, then stick the pin
through the circle into the point of the dart and tighten
the knot around it, so that it ends up as close as possible
to the fabric. Then trim the cord to about half an inch.
It's probably a good idea to leave a long tail the first
time you try, so that you can tie the knot without the pin
-- but use the pin to control where the knot ends up.
When you do need to thread the ends into a needle to hide
them, it's nearly always sufficient to simply poke or draw
them inside something. If the threads are quite long, take
a long stitch through the french seam or whatever -- check
the other side before drawing the needle through, to make
sure that you are going between the layers rather than under
them -- and cut the thread close to the fabric under slight
tension, so that the end pops back inside.
If the thread is too short for this, push the needle in
where you want the thread to go, then thread it. It will
unthread itself when all is inside the seam.
When a tuft follows the needle out of the hole, you can snip
it under tension or, if too short for that, stick the needle
through the upper layer and wave the point back and forth
between the layers until it catches the thread and pulls it
in. This last is also a good save when you cut the thread a
tad too long, but so short that you can't snip it again.
Or stretch the fabric gently; thread-ends often pop back in
by themselves if given a bit of encouragement.
When the threads are *really* short, thread the needle and
push it between the layers eye first. When the needle has
gone in far enough that the thread is free of it, pull it
out again.
When you sew two pre-hemmed edges together (the tops of the
slits in my poncho shirts, for example) it is necessary to
put in a bar tack, work a crows-foot tack, sew on an
applique', sew a bit of tape across the seam -- or
something. Except when you *want* the seam to unravel; I
left the ends of the seams in my Youth-Hostel sheet sack
entirely raw, so that strain undoes the stitches instead of
tearing the fabric. Much easier than putting in a gusset,
and it folds flatter and weighs a gram or two less. The
stitches can't ravel very far without help -- think how
often you have to snip the thread when undoing a seam on
purpose.
Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~dbeeson594/ROUGHSEW/ROUGH.HTM
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net
|
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 > last >>
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Newbie just bought a singer 514 Help! | November 14, 2008, 8:56 am |
| Newbie just bought a singer 514 Help! | November 14, 2008, 8:57 am |
| Newbie just bought a singer 514 Help! | November 14, 2008, 8:58 am |
| Singer Esteem 1732 question | March 10, 2008, 11:20 pm |
| Singer sewing machine question | December 17, 2006, 12:42 am |
| 1914 Singer Model 15 question | October 29, 2008, 7:55 pm |
| Stupid lettering - why is it not working | October 3, 2007, 2:22 am |
| just bought my first pattern ;-) | December 8, 2005, 11:46 am |
| Bought a new Machine! | February 7, 2006, 8:18 am |
| Bought a serger... | June 4, 2006, 8:59 am |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap