i've been bugging e about getting myself a sewing machine. we've scoured ebay, amazon, craigslist and garage sales to find something reasonably priced that still works. i'm not a designer or pro by any means, but i love making our old t-shirts into cool vintage shirts for jp and converting random scraps of material into other random things. we borrowed a friend's sewing machine for a few weeks to get some projects done and i was really itching for something of my own.
i don't need a super fancy/expensive machine. really, i could do just fine with a gadget that sews straight lines in a forward and reverse motion. but i don't want hello kitty stamps all over it.
after a long while of not-so-intense searching, we found this at the bx in florida. it seemed like it would be a GREAT fit for me and it was $40. that, a fake set of wedding rings for my shrinking (yes, shrinking) fingers, and a new wallet rounded out my mother's day gifts.
i broke out my little sewing machine tonight after reading through some of the reviews online and decided to give it a whirl.
first, let me say that i was impressed with all the loot that came with the machine:
all the colors! all the options! all the sharp objects! the only thing it didn't come with was pins, which is fine because i have a ton. it comes pre-threaded with a sample square that shows you all of the stitch options and i used a marker to label which knob controlled what so that i wouldn't accidentally turn the wrong one trying to make a quick adjustment (remember, i'm no expert seamstress. i make dumb mistakes a lot)
i have a few extra pieces of material from 2 cotton twin sized sheets that were given to us (despite us not owning a twin sized bed !) and i decided to make a cover for my new buddy.
i was pretty pleasantly surprised. the stitches are even and straight.
on a whim i used one of the programmed stitch patterns for the hem, and i think it makes the cover just a little more fun and cheery:
i'm really happy with the results. REALLY happy.
this machine is by no means meant to be a workhorse-- i think i could easily get away with using it lightly every day, but we're not talking about the stuff of designers here. i also think really heavy or really thin fabrics might not fare too well based on the reviews and the way it runs. but for general, every day hemming, drape making, simple pattern making, this is a fabulous little contraption.
it is VERY small- the dimensions of the cover are 10"h x 12"w x 5"d. tiny tiny. but that's also great for me. it's not taking up a ton of room and it's getting the job done. perfect for my life!
i love that it came with tons of bobbins and thread options. i also love that it has a few different, but uncomplicated, stitch options. it has a work light (that flickers when you use the pedal, which i kind of found endearing) and you can set it to stitch automatically for those times when you have one really long line to sew and don't want to use the pedal.
there are 2 downsides to this machine that i have found in my one night of working on it.
1. it doesn't sew super fast. however, i know that will work in my favor as i use it more often than it will work against me. like i said, i make lots of mistakes, so i'll have a bit of an easier time controlling my stitching when i'm not accidentally causing the machine to sew at warp speed.
2. it's loud. no sewing machine is really quiet, but this one definitely isn't trying to claim to be :) i don't mind that so much, but another person might. and i wonder if putting some sort of padding under it would help absorb some of the sound of the machine v. its wooden table.
overall, i'm really excited about our future projects and all the great straight lines i'm going to be able to sew with this thing! i just need to give it a name :)
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