Sewing with a machine

My mother taught me to sew with just a needle and thread when I was four years old, and since then, I’ve learned to use a machine, crochet, knit (though I’m terrible at it), embroider, and even do some simple tailoring.  While there are clothing manufacturers that can do the job for me, there is something satisfying about being able to create a garment from a length of raw fabric.

The Evolution of the Machine
There are Many things one must consider when choosing to sew diapers (or anything for that matter) with a sewing machine.  A lot of people assume it’s the only way to sew anything.  But if you look at the history of sewing, the machine only came about in the mid 1800’s.  The concept of using a machine to make clothes is only 160 years old!  People had been working on producing a sewing machine since the late 1700’s.  But Elias Howe invented the first functional sewing machine in 1846, and it wasn’t until 1851 that Issac Merrit Singer made the machine small enough to use in a home.  He combined Elias’ Machine with Benjamin Wilson’s automatic feeding system and created the Singer sewing machine.  These were gorgeous!  My father actually restored an old one and used it.  Even with it being about 90 years old, the old machine sewed like a dream (once dad got the rhythm of the pedal going right).  From there, the sewing machine industry grew.  By the 1900’s, Singer’s machine was being used in most American homes and the electric machine became popular around 1905.  Now there are over 20 different brands of sewing machine, ranging from the high priced (and oh so beautiful) Bernina to the low-end, specifically functional Kenmore to the ever popular Singer.

Your Specific Machine
One of the first things you need to do is become familiar with your specific machine.  Does it have a self-threading mechanism, does it use a flat or inverted bobbin, how is it threaded?  All of these are questions one must ask when using a machine.  All of these questions should be answered by the owners manual or instructions.  Make sure you go over every inch of your machine before using it so you know how it works and the capabilities of the machine.  Some machines wont do a “zig-zag” stitch.  This makes sewing elastic very difficult.  Some machines (lower end) wont backstitch which makes tying off the thread difficult.  An example of a machine that wont do a backstitch is the Singer-Sew-Easy.  It’s a small, hand-held machine that only does a straight-stitch.  If you’re doing light hemming and can figure out how to tie off, then its pretty nice for small projects.  You also need to know how to change stitches.  If your machine is confusing, you may end up with an odd-looking stitch that doesn’t do what you want it to do.

Buying a Used Machine
If you buy a used machine, you must also make sure none of the parts are broken or jammed.  When my mom let me borrow her old machine, there was a wad of thread caught in the mechanism and I wasn’t able to use the machine at all, the needle wouldn’t move!  Most machines are pretty easy to test.  If you start to use the machine and have no troubles, simply check the outside and go on.  If, however, you’re having troubles, a screwdriver comes in handy.  Many jamming problems can be fixed by either oiling the mechanisms or removing stray pieces of lint and thread either by picking or blowing them out.

Bobbins
The “Bobbin” is a very small spool of thread that makes the bottom of the stitch when sewing with a machine.  In some machines, you simply drop the full bobbin into the top of the machine and it goes from there, others have a bobbin casing that goes into the machine vertically and you have to take parts off of the machine to get to it.  That is why it is important to find where your bobbin is and how it functions.

Most machines come with a way of making a new bobbin from any spool of thread.  Some people even mix and match their bobbins with a coordinating spool of thread, making for some interesting and colorful stitching.  I would only caution, when doing this, to stick with the same TYPE of thread.  If you’re using polyester black, use a polyester white to make the black-white combo that you want.

Threading the Machine
The specific way you run the thread through the mechanisms of the machine, from the spool to the needle is called “threading.” Each brand of machine is threaded differently.  There’s even one Bernina that I know of that threads itself.  That is one of the main things you need to learn about your machine.  Thankfully for us, most machines, even if you loose the manual, will have instructions printed directly onto the machine.  Most problems with tension, stitching, and bobbin-pick-up can be solved by simply rethreading and starting over.  That’s why I always run a test-piece of any fabric through the machine before actually starting to sew.  If, for some odd reason, the thread has caught wrong on one of the mechanisms, the stitching will not look right and probably wont hold either.  It can also cause the thread to break or the machine to jam.  None of these are very fun.

The Foot
While there are many different types of sewing-machine feet, most of your work can (and will) be done with a simple standard-pressure foot.  While it only allows you to stitch in straight lines and around slight curves, that’s all you have when sewing a diaper (when sewing a flat diaper you literally only have straight lines).  The other main type that may be useful to use is the “walking foot.”  This still only makes a straight stitch, but it will also make sure your fabric all goes through at the same rate.  Sometimes, when sewing multiple layers of fabric, one decides to slip through faster.  The walking foot is especially useful when working with slippery or sticky fabrics.  PUL is notorious for sticking problems…. A walking-foot can help with this.

Choosing your Stitch
Most sewing machines come with a WIDE variety of choices when it comes to stitching.  They can make very beautiful edging especially when working on little girl’s dresses and things of that nature, but when you’re only going for functionality, it can be a hassle to try to figure out which stitch you’re wanting to use and then switching to that specific stitch.  Most sewing machines switch stitches by knobs or dials on the side of the machine.  They’ll normally have a key printed on the machine to make it easier, but they’re still a bit of a pain.  I’ve used a lot of my scraps in the past getting the stitch to look exactly like I want it to.  Thankfully for us, there have been some major improvements in the way stitches are chosen.  If you have the money for the machine, and the inclination to use the fancy stitches, you can get a machine that changes stitches electronically!  Yay for living in the 21st century.

When working with diapers, I use one of two stitches.  Makes it simple for me since I don’t have to keep re-adjusting the stitch-knobs to find the right length and width with every new diaper.  The stitches I use are the Straight-Stitch and the zig-zag stitch.  Zig-Zag is for sewing on elastic, the Straight-stitch is for everything else.  On my machine, I actually had to almost “create” the zig-zag stitch.  The machine will do a width and a length of stitch.  SO, I took my straight stitch, usually set at the smallest width and about mid-length, and set it to the widest width and longest length I could set it.  It goes across my 1/8th inch elastic like a breeze and makes a pretty little stitch.  Best of all, all I have to change is length and width, I don’t have to worry about style of stitch. J

Resources

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=829