New Sewing Machine!
I got a new sewing machine!
Ah, it’s about time. I’ve always wanted to purchase and learn to use a sewing machine at some point, and I finally did just that. And here it is, my new Singer Tradition Portable Sewing Machine – 2250
If you’ve seen my new video, Start a Band, you would notice that there are four brand new puppets. They are all made using this new sewing machine. And for the four old puppets… Mac and Cheese was a prototype so he’s entirely hand sewn. Why did that to myself? Because he’s a prototype and I wanted to know how long it would take if I did that. And the answer is, my hand sewing was about 12 times slower than the machine. I figured that I’d never finish the puppets before the show if I didn’t sew with a machine.
So I got my good friend Janet to help me make the puppets. She did all the sewing (for the most part, that’s making the shape, the “bag”) and I did all other stuff with glue. That’s how Bottle Monster, Bobby, and Moostifer were constructed. But I don’t want to bug her over and over (though I know she’d gladly do it anyway), and also, the fact that she moved to New York didn’t help either. But hey, I’ve always wanted to learn to use the sewing machine anyway.
After extensive research… actually, no. I just decided to buy it because it was on sale at Target. I took it home, and started watching the DVD that came with it. It was short and only covered the basics, but that’s all I needed. It took me a little bit to learn to thread the bobbing and the rest of the machine. But once that’s done (after many trials and errors and rewinding the DVD), the rest is not bad at all. After some test runs on some scrap fabric for practice, I started sewing the puppets without any problem. The threads did tangle up quite a few times during practice, but that was because I kept forgetting to set the presser foot down. (The presser foot is this thing around the needle that holds the fabric in place while you sew so things don’t jump around.) And also I had trouble making sharper turns until I figured out (by accident) that I should lift the presser foot up, turn the fabric and then put the presser foot down again. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was called pivoting.
But yeah, I am fairly comfortable using the machine now. When I told my sister about this, she said, “I never thought you’d own a sewing machine before I do.” So far I think this cheap machine works pretty well for my purpose. Besides, it’s endorsed by Martha Stewart, so it must be bad-ass, right?
Related Posts
Music Video: Start a Band
How to make Mac and Cheese (moving mouth monster puppet with rod hands)
How to make Bottle Monster (moving mouth monster puppet with glove hands)
How to make Bobby (moving mouth sheep puppet with rod hands)
Comments(6)
I know you are going to have lots of fun with this. I had thought that you made all of the puppets on the video by hand. Whew!
Of course, many things still need to be done by hand, but the sewing part? If I had done everything by hand, I’d probably have to add like three to five hours or more (depending on the size and complexity) to each puppet. Definitely not efficient especially if I am building several at once.
All this time, I thought they were made by hand! I have to confess, I used a sewing machine a couple of times and though I thought I would love it, I didn’t like it at all. I’d actually rather sew by hand! Making a puppet would be fun.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Homophones: Two, Too, and To
Some parts still need to be hand sewn, because they are not flat surfaces. Some parts will take way too long if they are not machine sewn. Just pick and choose.
Sewing machine are a sensitive issue for me. We had home economics lessons when I was in fifth grade – part of the curriculum was sewing. I just didn’t get it. I learned how to sew by hand, but I just couldn’t handle the sewing machine – even threading the needle was too hard for me. Sigh.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Teen Fashion
Did they teach you how to use a sewing machine in fifth grade? If they did, it seems a little early.
That’s interesting because I find it easier to thread the needle on the machine (because it’s bigger) than a regular needle. Hm.