I bought my regular sewing machine at a small shop in a strip mall in Jacksonville, FL. When I moved into my second apartment, I wanted curtains and pillows so off I went. I got a reconditioned New Home L-373. I think I paid $150 and now I think I must have overpaid (this was 1995). I asked the guy to include the manual, but the one he gave me wasn't the right one for the machine. Consequently, I didn't really know all the ins and outs but have discovered things as I go. Every few years, I look online for a manual and I finally found one. I think I knew that Janome made or owned New Home, but it wasn't until this past week that I pulled up the manual. Wow, there's a lot I didn't know. One thing was that I could disengage the feed dogs.
Anyway, I struggle a bit with buttonholes. My mom never did make peace with them and either avoided them or hand-sewed them. Her Singer had a cam system -- no idea how that goes. Mine has a 4 step buttonhole, but I find it very difficult to stop in the right place and also to have an even distance between the two lines of stitching all the way back. I get frustrated when someone promises a tutorial in a sewalong and they're like stick this foot in your machine and hit one button and you're done!
I do have to say that these buttonholes I made in interfaced waffle are amazing. The refrigerator magnet is my seam guide. Admire!
I think I heard about Singer Buttonholers on Love to Sew I'm sort of behind in listening to episodes and I don't always listen in order. So then I started doing a little research including watching the host's demonstration. I found overviews by Brian Remlinger to be most useful (1 and 2) although I watched a few. So then I figured, well, let's see what they have on Ebay right now because if there isn't much or they don't look good, then I'll just keep it in the back of my mind in case something turns up.
Guess what? Well, I guess the title gave it away. I found a few for less than $15! I ended up getting one that is complete and in excellent condition, has the manual and all the templates for $13.72 with free shipping. How about that.
It came today and the manual pointed out oiling spots so I oiled it and then gave it a try. AMAZING. Probably a game changer. As mentioned in the videos above, it doesn't do a real satin stitch like the older attachments do, but still.
Look at the eyelet - squee!
Anyone know of patterns with eyelets? I think the ones for drawstrings for hoods and waistbands need to be bigger. Off to make something with buttons!
Comments
Post a Comment