Choosing the Right Sewing Machine for the Job

The Little Poppins Bag is close to being done. I completed one step and went on to the next and before I knew it, I had only the bottom left to sew on. That will need to be done by hand, hopefully tonight.

I was reminded again that some machines are better than others for certain tasks. Sometimes the issue is motor strength. An anemic motor isn’t going to allow the machine to sew through multiple layers of foam interfacing easily. Sometimes, though, the actual structure of the machine gets in the way. I think I’ve talked about this before, but it is worth revisiting.

I took my Janome 6600P to class because it is relatively portable and I knew it would do the job I asked it to do. Its motor is plenty strong and has sewn through everything I’ve thrown at it so far. However, maneuvering in tight spots is tough. Much of that has to do with the position of the light, which is in a housing sticking out to the left of the needle. I had a lot of trouble sewing certain parts of the Poppins bag because it kept getting hung up in that spot.

I took out some of what I had sewn in class when I got home and redid it on the industrial Necchi, which has no light and thus a much slimmer profile with more room to maneuver a bulky bag:

(That green throat plate is a Teflon plate; even though I don’t sew much vinyl, I keep it on there because it has clear measurement markings.) If it were up to me, I would forego the light on the Janome altogether—sewing machine lights are notoriously dim and most people end up putting LED lights above the bed—in favor of more room to move.

The Necchi is also a treadle, which allows me to sew as slowly as I want/need to, including stitch by stitch if necessary. The “motor strength” is provided by my legs, but it’s hardly a strenuous workout. And the BV is a straight-stitch only machine that makes a beautiful topstitch. For sewing bags, it is my machine of choice.

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Robin and I are heading to Missoula today. I am going to pick up the Janome 3000 coverstitch machine. We’ll see what other trouble we can get into.

I ran across this video from Shabby Fabrics yesterday. The project is a tabletop Christmas tree made using Bosal moldable foam interfacing.

I have never seen this product before, probably because it has to be ordered. This is part of why I watch YouTube videos—to find out about things I can’t get locally—and I like the Shabby Fabrics, Riley Blake, and Fat Quarter Shop videos for precisely this reason. Has anyone else used this moldable foam interfacing?