this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
24 points (96.2% liked)
zerowaste
1291 readers
8 users here now
Discussing ways to reduce waste and build community!
Celebrate thrift as a virtue, talk about creative ways to make do, or show off how you reused something!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
These are the interesting tasks I can think that I need regularly:
Considering embroidery apparently complicates things and presumably bumps the price up substantially, I would nix the last item on that list.
Some machines have a mechanical dial that shows different stitch symbols. I’m not sure how to look at that and know if my needs are covered. This is why I thought in principle I would like to have it software controlled¹. But maybe that’s overkill for my need. I’d like to avoid buying something that falls short of my needs. E.g. if none of the preset stitches can work on stretchy material it’s underkill.
I saw a Signer on liquidation but did not buy it. It had ~4 or so dials with just digits. Not sure if that was for different kinds of stitches, or other factors like speed.
I’m a bit torn because the modern cheap ones look like they will do the job, but they’re plastic and I wonder if the gears are plastic.. which I suspect means short life.
1: regarding software control, someone told me not a single FOSS sewing machine exists. The firmware is always proprietary non-free. But I was told Inkstitch can be used to create patterns that are loaded onto a proprietary machine. I’m fine with that compromise. But IIUC, that’s purely for the embroidery use case not for straight stitches, correct?
All the gears on our Singer are metal and it can perform all the of the requirements that you have listed. I should mention however that seeing on buttons is done by hand. There are way to many variables for a machine to do it. The feature I was referencing was the ability to see the edges around the hole for buttons when creating garments and the like. You use the machine to sew the edges and then a blade to cut the hole in the middle where the button goes through.
The exterior is plastic but it has a fully metal internal frame that in images looks rather robust.
For embroidery over stains/holes in clothes I recommend looking into hand embroidery. There used to be a subreddit specifically for exactly that: Hand embroidery over stains and holes. It was super fascinating to see the beautiful things people could do by hand.
I recommend browsing the singer page for this machine. It lays out nicely all the features and shows an internal shot of the all metal construction. https://www.singer.com/heavy-duty-4452-sewing-machine
Anecdotally the Mennonite who runs the sewing machine repair store in my area recommends Singer. He repairs them less and when he has to it's easier to get parts for.
edit: You are correct regarding the FOSS software workaround. Inkscape would be used exclusively for embroidery and not at all needed for straight stitches.
You seem like you'd be much better served by a dumb sewing machine that doesn't have any software, and either hand embroidery or saving up for an embroidery machine someday for embroidery tasks
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking now. I just have to make sure it has the zigzag/stretch stitch pattern. And guess i’ll be doing buttons by hand.