The Best Sewing Machine

I am asked this question a lot: Which is the best sewing machine? I also hear this claim being hotly debated amongst groups of sewing enthusiasts. In my mind, it's a lot like asking a group of American car enthusiasts, 'Which is better, Ford or Chevy?' (Or Dodge, etc.)

The answer is the same: Whichever one you like best. I happen to sew on Pfaff machines. I bought my first top-of-the-line (TOTL) Pfaff about 10 years ago and loved it. My favorite feature is the IDT which is exclusive to Pfaff. It's a feed foot that pulls fabric from above in addition to the traditional feed dogs pulling the fabric from below. Because I sew with a lot of specialty fabrics (and have a fondness for plaids) I find this feature to be invaluable.

Now, I've also sewn on Bernina, Husqvarna Viking, Janome and Babylock machines. And I started my sewing adventures on a very vintage Singer straight stitch machine. I even own a (working condition) 120 year old White treadle machine. I've enjoyed sewing on every one of them.

So what should you look for in a machine? I'll likely go into greater detail in a future article. But in a nutshell I strongly recommend taking the following three things into greatest consideration:

~Dealership. A good dealer is a prize worth holding onto. They stand behind their products and will work with you (not against you) to help you love your machine. My first Pfaff machine was actually a serger purchased 13 years ago from Quality Sewing and Vacuum. I'm still a customer thanks to their outstanding customer service, and a year and a half ago I became a sewing consultant for them. I am proud to represent them because I have experienced firsthand as a customer their commitment to excellence and amazing customer service.

~Type of Use. How and where will you use this machine? Everyone I know has slightly different expectations for their machine. Are you sewing on light or heavy fabrics? How many hours a day/week/month/year? Do you want to do machine embroidery? Mending? Light industrial? Will you be traveling with this machine? Be open minded about the possibilities but also honest about what your needs are. For example: I need my machines to be reliable workhorses that will sew on a huge variety of fabrics from chiffon to Melton without complaint. But now that machine embroidery software has evolved into a much more dynamic, user-friendly tool, I am more easily able to create the designs I want to stitch. Combine that with hoops big enough to do a jacket back in one hooping, well, I find I am doing a LOT more machine embroidery than I ever did in the past. So I am glad that I have machines that are dual-purpose. But if you find that you 'just want to sew' or conversely, have much more fun 'decorating' than sewing, you should consider buying a machine that is more specialized and likely less expensive, too!

~Ease of Use. You need to 'test sew' on machines prior to purchase. Take a variety of fabrics with you in case the dealership doesn't have samples on hand. You might want to take a fresh pack of Universal 70 or 80 needles with you as well. A dull needle can make a good machine look bad. Test sewing on machines not only gives you a chance to get a feel for the machine (and gives you a better basis for comparison) but it also helps you to gauge the level of willingness of the staff to help you learn.

Only you can know what you think you want from a machine. If you're not sure, consider buying a high quality (previous top model) used machine - you'll get lots of features for less money, and if the dealership is reputable they should give at least a limited warranty on used machines.

Sewing When Distracted

I have to admit this is more common than not for me - I am easily distracted and my brain is always spinning with the various projects, deadlines, ideas, etc. that are swirling around in its foggy depths. Sometimes I wish I had a device similar to the Pensieve (brilliant!) in the Harry Potter books: a place where I could take all the excess ideas, projects, etc. out of my head and store them until I was ready to take them out and put them to work.

Until that day comes, it's just a matter of muddling through - I employ various strategies to try to stay on task and keep focused. I'd love to hear what others do!

First of all, I keep a white board where I list all the various projects and deadlines that I have on my plate. It really helps me to keep them floating fresh at the surface rather than precipitating (like sugar out of my iced tea) to the bottom of my brain.

I also make lots of other kinds of lists. I use a lot of sticky notes which end up all over my studio (and home). Article outlines, project ideas, sources for supplies - all sorts of things get noted and because I can stick them to the wall/monitor/sewing machine/telephone, they have a much higher probability of actually getting done or being remembered.

From there, it's more a matter of willpower. Sometimes I find I'm getting distracted because I'm not enjoying what I'm working on. Whether it's frustration or boredom, the result is the same. In this case I usually set little rewards for myself for progress made. The carrot on the end of the stick, if you will. It might be a few minutes walking around the garden, a game of Sudoku or window shopping at favorite websites. Sometimes I will try to intersperse other smaller, potentially more interesting projects at intervals within the larger project.

Somehow or another, with a lot of hard work it all gets done and usually on deadline. But it's a perpetual struggle. I wouldn't trade my funky brain, though. It may be random and more than a little scattered at times but it comes up with some pretty interesting stuff.

So what do you do to stay on task?

Machine Embroidery - Bigger Isn't Always Better

I've been working on needle felted designs for a jacket project I will be teaching in August in Puyallup and Silverdale, The Felted Jacket. We'll be doing something out of the ordinary (I don't know if I'm capable of doing the ordinary anyway) - a jacket that is not only embellished with needle felted designs but is also constructed using a needle felting machine (or tool).

So, I've also been auditioning various machine embroidery designs to use with these jackets. There are several ways to incorporate machine embroidery with needle felting. In this instance, I am looking at this outline design to be placed over the top of a background of colorful needle felted fibers.I was really glad I 'auditioned' this particular design, for as you can see - bigger wasn't better. these are both stitched out onto two layers of cutaway embroidery stabilizer, to fit into the same sized hoop. I love this design - The Three Graces - and my usual strategy is to make it as large as possible. (I'm in love with the huge hoops for my Pfaff Creative Vision!) But when I enlarged the design, I lost some of the detail - most noticeably in the hands and faces. It was an important lesson for me - not everything enlarges gracefully (no pun intended). I'm going to try a couple of different resizing programs - just in case - but chances are I'll stick with the original size. Stay posted for the jacket design!