Hawaii Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Any girls sew?
I'm getting a machine for my birthday and wondering what I should look for when buying one and where to start... Any tips/advice? Im' so excited! I can't wait to start making pillows for the house and curtains... beyond that I hope to make Bella some cute pillowcase dresses for summer.
Re: Any girls sew?
I do, I do!! Well... recently it's been nothing but hemming pants but I did make some cushion covers last year when I found some microsuede-ish material in a bargain bin at my local sewing store.
My machine's really old... like older-than-I-am old. It's a Singer and unfortunately, according to a bunch of reviews, they don't make them like they used to, and the new ones are getting mixed reviews.
Having said that, I think any machine will be fine for makine pillows, curtains. I think the people who were complaining are the ones who program quilt designs into the digital programmer-thingy.
I've really only sewn on this machine so I don't really know how features/ location of the back-tack button, etc differ from machine to machine. Also, since this machine is so old, I'm sure the newer ones are way more user friendly.
Have fun with your new machine!
Oh fun!!
I sew lots, but have honestly never had a good (fancy/expensive) machine and wouldn't know what to look for. I used my great grandma's singer my entire life and it was probably from the 60's. I finally upgraded to Singer that was on special at walmart about 6 years ago - it just has the basic stitches and suits my needs. I mostly sew home decor stuff, some clothes, lots of machine quilts and that type of stuff. I have sometimes looked at the ones at costco that have way more stitches (and is a little more computerize), but I am pretty happy with the basic model. I would highly recommend that type for your needs.
Maybe someone else will chime in with better specifics in regards to models and stuff to really look for.
I agree! So that is kind of why I think the less bells and whistles it has (while still doing the basic stitches you need) the less likely it is to break down.
The one I have has worked perfect for the past 6 years but I'm not holding my breath and expecting it to last 50+ years like my last one!!
Check the crafts board and look at some of the old posts. There are a lot of sewers there and I have seen many posts recently asking about what is the best machine to buy and reviews of machines. It's very informative.
I'm considering purchasing in the future for basic sewing.
Oooooh I'm jealous! I used to sew all the time, but haven't done any since moving to Australia (that's what happens when you don't have a machine lol).
Like chika, the machine I used was an old Singer - my grandmother's actually. I do agree with this:
To be honest, even though the ones with all the bells and whistles and digital stuff are cool, you'll only need a model with the basic functions unless you're planning on doing some kind of freaky fancy stitchwork - so I'd do some online research and chat to the knowledgeable people at your local fabric store to find a good, solid, no-frills model (bonus: it will be a lot cheaper than the flashy ones, and even if you end up wanting to do complicated stuff later, you can always upgrade) and go to town!
Oh, yeah...I'd actually be happy just to learn how to hem pants because I almost always have to have my pants hemmed. Even petites are too long for me usually! I don't mind being short but having a 28 in. inseam kinda sucks when it comes to buying clothes!
I sew and was also using an old Singer Machine from the 60's for a long, long, time. My brother and SIL gifted me with a newer "digital" Brother Machine...it has some fancy stitching options and does some overlock (not as professionally as a serger, but it does a great job with stetch fabrics), smocking, embroidery, etc...I think it was in the $200+ range and they got it from Costco about 10 years ago.
I'd advise not to spend a lot of money but to get a machine that has good user reviews...offers a button hole option, zipper foot, a variety of stiches, etc. I also like that mine has a removable piece that allows for sewing arm sleeves, etc. If you think you'll be doing mainly straight stitching for home dec and simple clothing for Bella, you can easily get away with a model that's under $200.
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I don't sew, but my mom does, I picked up alot of fabric for her so she could make hawaiian appliques for onsies for Ella when I was in Maui last month. Luckily, I remembered to pick up business cards that have the websites on them too, so if you're interested in ordering Hawaiian fabric, here ya go:
Singer Sewing Center - www.gotfabric.com
Fabric Mart - www.hawaiifabricmart.com
Sew Special - www.sewspecialmaui.etsy.com
Cerclage placed @ 21w6d due to CI (IC)