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Sewing Textiles - Sewing: clothes, furnishings, costumes, etc.
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Posted by PatTX on April 28, 2009, 11:42 am
Hi, everybody. I last bought a sewing machine in 1982, a trusty Pfaff 1463.
It's time to buy something new, but which one? Are there any brands that are
made sturdier and better than the others? I need a machine that will be able
to work on fabrics for making new seat covers for a '79 Prelude as well as
everyday repairing and sewing. I have a bunch of cotton duck to use to make
tote bags for a local children's hospital, so I need a tough machine. OTOH,
I don't do quilting (now) but who knows about the future?
Any ideas?
thanks,
Pat
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Posted by BEI Design on April 28, 2009, 2:47 pm
PatTX wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> Hi, everybody. I last bought a sewing machine in 1982, a
> trusty Pfaff 1463. It's time to buy something new, but
> which one? Are there any brands that are made sturdier
> and better than the others? I need a machine that will be
> able to work on fabrics for making new seat covers for a
> '79 Prelude as well as everyday repairing and sewing. I
> have a bunch of cotton duck to use to make tote bags for
> a local children's hospital, so I need a tough machine.
> OTOH, I don't do quilting (now) but who knows about the
> future?
> Any ideas?
Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.
You may end up with a full-blown walking foot industrial...
http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp02500.html?ovchn=SPRI&ovcpn=Froogle&ovcrn=Froogle&ovtac=CMP
or a good used, all mechanical, all metal 50s-60s era Singer
401A...
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZSingerQ20401AQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ
or.....
?????
First read this:
There is a "what machine should I buy" FAQ.
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm
Then come back with additional questions.
Beverly
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Posted by PatTX on April 28, 2009, 6:47 pm
BEI Design wrote:
::: Any ideas?
::
:: Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
:: impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.
Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
older two-step buttonholer, though.
I looked at an industrial machine today, but I'd have to give up the
free-arm and accept a heavy duty permanent stand. Where to put that? I
already turned the dining room into the computer network room (after I moved
the bicycles out, that is!)....That's where the space constraints figure in,
I guess....
As to budget, I was going to start around $1,000, but that's flexible. After
all, we only get a new machine every 20-30 years....
I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
1982 Pfaff!
Just tryin' to do my due diligence....
Pat
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Posted by Pogonip on April 28, 2009, 7:19 pm
PatTX wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> BEI Design wrote:
> ::: Any ideas?
> ::
> :: Since you don't state what your budget is it's almost
> :: impossible to advise you. Also space constraints factor in.
>
> Even so, you gave some valuable advice, and I appreciate that. For sewing, I
> want a free-arm, a killer buttonholer, and durability. For making those seat
> covers out of auto upholstery, I am thinking I need something a little
> tougher than usual---although a lady I talked to today at a store said that
> our Pfaff may be suitable for the job (mainly since it has already proven to
> be able to sew naugahyde, leather, and upholstery fabric). It has that
> older two-step buttonholer, though.
>
> I looked at an industrial machine today, but I'd have to give up the
> free-arm and accept a heavy duty permanent stand. Where to put that? I
> already turned the dining room into the computer network room (after I moved
> the bicycles out, that is!)....That's where the space constraints figure in,
> I guess....
>
> As to budget, I was going to start around $1,000, but that's flexible. After
> all, we only get a new machine every 20-30 years....
>
> I thought that I first should interview repair people so as to mostly
> eliminate some brands and narrow down the field that way. The lady at the
> shop said not to buy Viking, Euro-something,or Simplicity, and maybe not
> Singer. These ideas were based upon her hearing the repair guy cursing those
> machine while trying to fix them! Oh, and the difficulty of getting repair
> parts, too. She showed me a new Elna which appeared to be a clone of my
> 1982 Pfaff!
>
> Just tryin' to do my due diligence....
>
> Pat
An older Pfaff is a hard machine to beat. My favorite in the buttonhole
department was the older Singers that you just dropped the button into
the foot, and it made a buttonhole to fit, but I wouldn't recommend
those particular machines for general sewing. If you have room, though,
you could have a "dedicated" buttonhole machine. I've used the very old
Singer buttonhole attachment, which uses cams to select the desired
buttonhole and has several different "styles" - regular slot, slot with
a rounded end, bound, and gotten excellent results. My Pfaff 1475 is
notorious for poor buttonholes. Other than that, it's a great machine.
For $1,000, you may find yourself looking at good used machines as the
new ones tend to run multiples of that price.
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/
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Posted by Betsy on April 28, 2009, 8:53 pm
Pogonip wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> An older Pfaff is a hard machine to beat. My favorite in the buttonhole
> department was the older Singers that you just dropped the button into
> the foot, and it made a buttonhole to fit, but I wouldn't recommend
> those particular machines for general sewing. If you have room, though,
> you could have a "dedicated" buttonhole machine. I've used the very old
> Singer buttonhole attachment, which uses cams to select the desired
> buttonhole and has several different "styles" - regular slot, slot with
> a rounded end, bound, and gotten excellent results. My Pfaff 1475 is
> notorious for poor buttonholes. Other than that, it's a great machine.
>
> For $1,000, you may find yourself looking at good used machines as the
> new ones tend to run multiples of that price.
I love the buttonholes my old Singer 301A makes with the buttonhole
attachment. I always find it worth switching machines to use it for the
buttonholes and often switch to it for straight stitching too.
--Betsy
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> trusty Pfaff 1463. It's time to buy something new, but
> which one? Are there any brands that are made sturdier
> and better than the others? I need a machine that will be
> able to work on fabrics for making new seat covers for a
> '79 Prelude as well as everyday repairing and sewing. I
> have a bunch of cotton duck to use to make tote bags for
> a local children's hospital, so I need a tough machine.
> OTOH, I don't do quilting (now) but who knows about the
> future?
> Any ideas?