Testing Your Presser Foot

I've noticed recently that even seasoned sewing people have the presser foot pressure too high. This has generally been with vintage machines, but will probably apply for more modern ones too, if they have an adjustment. Not that I would know of course - haven't had much to do with modern machines.

Presser bar adjuster is here on most machines

Sewing ordinary stuff, the fabric will pucker if the presser is too hard or, if it's too soft, uneven stitches will result.

Testing and adjusting is really easy and will take you less than a minute (more like 15 seconds) to check. You might even test it every time you change fabrics (I do).


1. Put fabric under the foot, leaving the needle up


2. pull the fabric back gently. 


3a If it slides back pressure is too low so screw it in a little and test again.
3b If it is very tight, lower the pressure (there's usually a screw adjuster at the top of the presser bar) a little at a time until it starts to move. Now it's just slightly too loose, so turn it in about 1/4 of a turn.


4 Perform a test sew. 


Your stitches should be perfect and never pucker, even if you're sewing silk (use a microtex needle for silk).

Next will be how to set the thread tension

Repair of 1950s Singer motor

I met a fellow blogger the other day at Spotlight (Vogue pattern sale) and surprising number of amazing patterns left at only $5 each. Yes I know (bought 27), but I digress. She (thornberry.blogspot.com.au) told me to write something as I've been a bit slack recently.

So a few days later a lady from an FB group asked about repairing her older machines. Yes indeed there should be more information about this, so here is the most common electrical problem I've found with Singer motors: The wiring for the singerlight (that's what they were called by Singer) degrades and the wires touch, causing drama and blow fuses.

Warning: My friend Cyndy asked me to make an instructional piece on doing this and to make sure I warn people not to do this unless they're completely competent, familiar and comfortable with all of these concepts. I usually assume that people already do this, but she's right: Please don't play with electrical things if you have any doubts at all.

Here's the before picture (bit out of focus but still obvious what the problem is). This one is nowhere near as bad as I've seen. A lovely friend gave me a 201K23 for my birthday and the wiring was absolutely gone, and I mean no insulation left, wires totally touching each other at several places. This one would have been completely fine for decades, as the rubber insulation was completely intact, it was just the green outer that had gone. Pretty unsightly and looks dangerous, and I want to sell the machine (a 320K2). The rest of the power cable had already been replaced with the standard black.

Singer motor and light, connected by degraded flex

1. Remove the light. Prise off the end: This just pulls away with the lense still on. After this remove the bulb or it will get broken.
2. Unscrew the plate that's covering the light's mounting screw (already removed in the picture above) then remove the mounting. Put all screws back so you don't mix them up. That is, as soon as you remove the light, put the plate back.
3. Remove the motor screw then remove the motor from the machine and put the screw back in.

Now the motor and light have been removed as a unit. Put the machine out of the way until you're ready to put it all back on.

4. Disassemble the light.
4a Circlip 1. Just take a small screwdriver (jeweller's or the one for adjusting the bobbin) and unclip that circlip in the picture. This is one of two things holding the light fitting in one piece, there are no screws, just two clips.
4b Other clip is here:

Original was green, but snapped when I tried to remove it :-(

This clip is much harder to move. You don't have to remove the screw, but make sure you only turn it so the spring holds it less tightly. In the picture that means pushing the bit with the screw upwards. You need only a little turn, so the arms (already removed) can be pulled out. Pull them out. They will be pretty tight and they're sharp-ish, so try to grip them hard then pull away as you did the lense.
Now you can turn the clip and prise it off. Once off the light will separate into two.

Again, this is an after shot.

This is what the inside looks like. The wires (originally yellow and red) are soldered to those copper strips. Remove the copper strips with the wires attached.

and again

Unsolder the wires. This is a little tricky because you need dexterity holding, soldering and pulling at the same time. Make sure you remove all the solder, because the new wires have to go all the way through these holes.
The other ends are on the motor. Unscrew the long screws holding the wiring cover on. Remove the cover and the piece of cardboard and you should be looking at this.

well not quite: again this is an after shot

Unscrew what you need to and put the nuts and washers somewhere safe. The original wires are clamped and soldered to little circular washers. If you have these, use them. I don't.
Now you should have the original wires in your hand. You need to cut the replacement wire to the right size. Better to err on the larger side. Remove sufficient insulation and bare enough wire to wrap around the two posts on the motor.
Solder the new wire to the copper strips from the motor first, and before you install the other end in the motor, make sure you have both the light circlip and the white plastic motor wire clamp in place . The latter goes into the hole that the screw secures in the above picture (on the right). You don't want to leave either of these off.

Wires are now secure on the motor end

Put the white plastic back in its place and secure it with the screw. Reassemble the motor wiring cover.

All in place

With the cardboard insulation

Ready for the screws

Now the light end. Solder the copper wires to the copper contacts and insert them back into the light assembly. You might have to play with the switch a little to get them in. I used long nosed pliers. Don't bend them, you shouldn't need to force them at all.

Now it's just a matter of putting it together, replacing the circlip - you can push it over the lip and into the recess with your thumbs.

The next bit requires some force. Make sure you know which way to put the front light clip by lining it up on the machine. If you put it on backwards you'll get really upset. Put it on but not in exactly the finish position. It has to be off by a bit for you to reinsert the arms. Once you do this, turn the clip until it clicks into its groove and put the bulb and lense back.

If you screw this up, just have patience. I've done this a lot of times, and know it well. If you make a mistake, you'll probably not do the same thing again. It'd hard not to get angry if you do though :-).

Ready to go back on the machine

Doesn't it look nice? New plastic wiring should last a very long time indeed. I chose cord that has copper inside. Not sure if it makes a lot of difference but it shouldn't degrade over time.

Before putting it back on, check the brushes. These are small blocks of carbon whose purpose is to make electrical contact with the armature (of the rotor, rotating part in the middle of the motor).

Here's how to check the brushes. You're checking the size, and you can check how dirty the armature is too.

Remove the caps from the end of the motor - these are visible in the above picture. Take out the screw and you should be looking at this:

Exposed brushes

You can see the copper thing here. I pushed it up a little to make it clearer (which it didn't), but power is supplied from the wires on the right, which are soldered to the J shaped copper bit. The brass case is conductive and contains a metal spring pushing on the black carbon brush. The copper thing at the bottom is the motor's armature. This brush has already been checked and is fine. Check them every service and if less than half this length, replace them both. Don't take them out unless you have to: The ends are shaped as a curve by the armature and if put back differently you could easily lose power in the motor because the contact isn't as good.

Top of the must-have list

Just after my first Pfaff (260PE) I could see how fantastic these late 1950s models are. When reading the manual for it the free arm version was mentioned, and I decided to keep an eye out for one. Another 260 late last year, which I sold a few months ago and I then knew how rare the free arm versions were. Apparently the higher the number the better the machine, option-wide.
There was also a logic to Pfaff's model numbers, unlike Singers. Under 100 is a straight stitch, 100 to 200 is the same as the other but add zig-zag. 200-300 add pattern cams, and 300-400 machines are free arms. The highest number I've seen is 362 but I can't imagine it being any better than a 360 (maybe an extra pattern?).

I saw one for sale a week or so ago and here it is:

It's a 260 with a free arm. The free arm is the easiest one ever. Spring loaded so you pull the table out to the left, lift it a bit, line it up and let go. Everything clicks into place and stays there. Oh you clever Germans! This is way ahead of Singer's efforts of the time. The only free arms they made were the 222K, which is straight stitch only, and the 320K2 which has a much larger arm and is simply not as good a machine as this. Additionally the latter was made in very small numbers because Singer couldn't mass produce them.
Feature #2: The stitch length indicator goes from 4 to 0, but at 1 it goes down very slowly. This isn't a gimmick, it will reliably feed fabric in the tiniest increment. Very useful indeed when using the embroidery patterns, which work superbly.
Feature #3: Look at the spool in the photo. Most thread spools were wound so they had to come off by spinning but some were stack wound, as for industrial machines and have to come off from one end or they twist. Pfaff catered for this by including a transverse spool holder. This clips easily to one of the vertical spool pins and allows you to use stack wound thread.

There are other nice things like needle threader (yes it still works) but they had to compromise a little with this design. The lack of space in the bed meant they had to use a smaller motor. It only has 2/3 of the power of the 260. Considering the 260 was incredibly fast, I have to say the 360s motor is still more than adequate.

Today I noticed two little problems, one caused by me. The first wasn't: The zig-zag set to maximum was skewed to one side. Solution was simple: There is a screw that is accessed at the rear of the left side of the machine which is a simple adjuster. Thanks again Pfaff! The second was because I insisted on cleaning and oiling when I got it. It really needed nothing at all. The previous owner had taken extraordinarily good care of it and it's really like a showroom one. When I put the bed back together, I just screwed the three screws down. Well, it seems there's a bit of play in the screws and I should have aligned them. The needle plate was right against the needle and deflecting it just a little. When I set it to zig-zag, it kept catching the hook during its left swing and I broke two needles before realising what was wrong. At least they're ordinary domestic needles and I learned something about my new favourite.

Won't mention how much it was, but it wasn't much. Luckily the lady was just happy it went to a good home.

Layette for newborn

I've bought a couple of patterns over the years for these and thought they'd come in handy. Of the three I had,  one was missing the instructions, another was missing the pattern and the third was complete.

I felt pretty good when finding out about an ex I'm still great friends with was due to give birth late September (or so I thought. She actually gave birth on the 3rd). I looked closely at the pattern: Kids clothes in the '50s were pretty impractical, and really, unless you're going to a traditional church service to baptise your newborn, I wouldn't.
So gritted my teeth and went to the local sewing shop. $17.50 later I had Butterick B5585.

Mine also has a warning sticker

The warning sticker says to disregard the suggested fabrics on the pattern and avoid chenille molleton and flanelette made with 100% cotton and acrylic. I chose jersey, which is probably polycotton but I doubt it's less prone to burning. The pattern says you must only choose jersey. I dislike this fabric: It's hard to put through the hemmer foot because it insists on curling the wrong way and generally misbehaving.
It also says "very easy", which it was. Here are the results:

Have to make the cute bonnet to go with it

Horrible t-shirt fabric. Pain to place

Dress. The embroidery is iron-on

They could both have been made in the same day, they're that simple. Another bonus is that each garment uses only 1/3 of a yard! Good thing, since the pattern cost so much.
I'd recommend this pattern if you want to whip up some clothes for a newborn, but if you can get it secondhand, even better!
Made both on my new Pfaff 360.

Kids' Pyjamas Butterick 9987 1960

This was a pretty easy garment to make. My great nephew (a large-ish two year old) will be cosy and warm when he gets them (view B), but it was really difficult to find a natural fabric with animals printed on it. My go-to shop didn't have any either! It should have been flannelette but I had to struggle with cotton jersey.

This needs a special needle, a jersey needle (yes, duh!).
The fabric wasn't that much more difficult but any thickness and it won't stitch. This was especially the case when I didn't trim the collar seam allowance. I did it to keep as much fabric as possible on the garment (it is a cold Winter in south eastern Australia) but I shouldn't have done it. As a consequence I couldn't do a buttonhole for the top button. I felt he probably wouldn't use it anyway (definitely, if it's not there!). The buttonholer does a rubbish job on this fabric and when it gets up to four layers it won't catch the thread at all.
Quite a good pattern, though.
You could sew the whole thing in a day, and I recommend the crazy cat pattern, but not jersey fabric: Very cute!

Demonstrating some attachments using a Singer 319K

The Singer 319K Swing needle machine

I have a soft spot for this machine. It was the first vintage Singer I ever bought. It had a major limitation that I managed to overcome. The limitation was the fact it needed a special needle.

Make it use a normal domestic needle

To overcome this, I had a very experienced sewing machine expert modify the bobbin case to make sure it could safely use normal needles. The 206x13 size is only made in normal point sizes 80 and 90 these days which limits the machine to about 10% of its capabilities. Additionally the twin needles haven't been made for decades and are almost impossible to get.

So, you modify the bobbin and your machine can now do 15x1s. This means you can now sew jeans, canvas, stretchy fabrics, silk. OMG! Hold on, that's not the whole story. You need to read your manual. Yes, yes, I know, only wimps read manuals. In that case I'm a card carrying wimp, but I bet I can do more with my 319 than you can (I'm virtually sticking out my tongue at you).

This one made in 1960, behold the mighty 319K

Below is the last garment I've made (finished it on Friday). About 99% of the work was done on the 319K. The 1% was when I stitched the ribbing to the cuffs. I used a free arm Bernina record because it's a bit easier and I had one right here.

Reversible bomber jacket

Buttonholes

The buttonholes on this jacket were made using a Singer buttonholer. You can do without but it's such a huge pain that you wouldn't want to. Besides, old buttonholers are very cheap on that auction site we all know. You'd pay about $15 for one that doesn't use templates or $30 for the template one. I use the latter, because if you try swapping to a buttonhole size you did earlier it's impossible with the non-template one. Consistency is what I look for and the template buttonholer achieves this. Always use the cover plate rather than dropping the feed, because the plate (being higher) increases the foot pressure so it will hold the fabric much better.

Buttons

The buttons were sewn on with the 319K. You do this for a quick and consistent result. The machine does a far better job than I ever could.
Every zig-zag machine probably comes with a button foot, which is made so you can see more of the button.

Close-up of finished buttons

Here is the button foot with button in place:

Put a needle F-R between the holes

Now, a couple of things to note. Before starting to stitch, lower the feed dog. On the 319 you do this by tilting back the machine as though you were changing the bobbin. You'll see a big thumb screw near the bobbin area. Unscrew it all the way until it gets tight again. You will notice that the feed dog has now dropped and will not smash your button when you start sewing (yes I've done it).
When sewing a button, you'll get a better result if you place a needle front to back between the two holes before starting to stitch it (which I haven't done in this picture). Reason is that after removing the needle, the button will be loose, even though there are many stitches holding it in place. You take all the threads so they are between the fabric and button (use a hand needle if necessary) and in pairs, wind them in opposite directions around the button five times then tie them together. You will have made a shank for your buttons. If you don't do this, the fastened button will pull at the fabric it's closing and this looks pretty bad. The thicker the fabric, the longer the thread you need to leave and of course you need to wind it a few more times.

Roll hem

Ever read in a sewing pattern's instructions "turn 1/4" toward wrong side twice"? Before I discovered the roll hem foot, I was at the ironing board with a ruler struggling to measure and press. My partner told me this is what you have to do, but after reading the manual I learned about this amazing foot.

fabric turned at the back to show the results

It's included with every sewing machine sold since the 1880s and is simple to use. I'd recommend practising for about 30 minutes before going into production. You have to control the feed so the edge and the main parts are even. You can see the result here: Perfectly straight line and consistent stitch.

Engaging the Zig-zag

The zig-zag is engaged by lifting the lever that has a picture of a zig-zag on it. You set the bight (width of zig-zag) and away you go. Very easy indeed.
If you select bight of zero you will get a straight stitch (with any pattern disc) which is obvious if you think about it. Any pattern you select is a straight stitch if the bight is zero.

Pattern relies on bight being more than zero

Overcasting

This is like overlocking/serging except it uses a simple zig-zag right at the edge. Rather than guess, or try some other way of making it straight, use the all purpose foot.

This is in the manual. If you don't have an overlocker, overcasting will finish the seam just as well. Here is the relevant page from the book:

This manual can be DLd free from Singer's web site

This means that you don't really need an overlocker. Hey, you just saved a small fortune!

The Ruffler

How many times have you seen these things and thought it looked like a medieval torture instrument? Never? Maybe it's just me then. Well the ruffler is an excellent tool for ruffling and for creating pleats.

Note plate at top right and screw underneath

The plate at the top is set to 6 here. This means the ruffler will only fold once every six stitches. Stitch length is still controlled by the usual means. The throw of the ruffler (how much fabric it pulls) is controlled by the screw. Some rufflers will have the adjusting screw on top.
You can also set the top plate to 12, meaning it will throw every 12 stitches. Set to 1, every stitch will ruffle, so you better make sure the throw is fairly short or you'll end up with a pirate shirt!

Interfacing

You might notice three pictures above that this fabric has interfacing on part of it. This is because I wanted to show you some embroidery. These days it's referred to as fusing, which is probably a portmanteau of fusible interfacing, fusible meaning it will fuse when you heat it enough to melt the glue. I doubt you can even buy the non-fusible variety these days, I know I've never seen it.
Application is extremely easy. Cut it and place when you want on the wrong side of your fabric. Press the iron at the appropriate heat level (I make it as hot as possible) and put a little pressure on the iron for ten seconds on each part of the fusing. After you do the whole section, it should be fused. If not, do it again. It's a pain when this stuff comes off.

Seam Guide

I haven't bothered with a picture of this, but Lizzie Lenard has a picture of one.
Screw it to the bed of your machine, adjusting to the width of your choice and use it to ensure you sew straight Lizzie's tip of putting felt under it is a good one and will prevent damage to your machine's paint.
Machines made in the latter half of the 20th century (like the 319K) also usually have a needle plate with lines marked 3 to 8. These are eighths of an inch. Also, at central position and with the general purpose foot, the distance between the needle and right side of the foot is exactly 1/4" (2/8) on the 319K (the 201 has this feature too). Very useful, as I frequently need that measurement. For those who are more metrically inclined 1/4" is 6mm, 3/8" is 1cm, 5/8" is 1.5cm. I'm not trying to be smart there. I live in a metric country but learned to sew using pre-metric patterns and pre-metric machines. Metric doesn't come into my sewing very often at all.

Machine Embroidery

First of all I was disappointed last week when I discovered that I couldn't do free motion embroidery successfully on my 319K. I'm pretty sure I tried it on the 320K2 last year successfully and the 320K2 comes with a darning hoop and hopping foot. The only difference between those two models is in the bobbin area, since the 320 has to squeeze everything into that little free arm (no room for droppable feed dog - boo!) but the 320 can do FME, so swings and roundabouts, really. The 319 can't FME but its feed dog drops. Here's what happened when I tried to FME on the 319K: I guided the fabric from front to back (like in regular sewing) and it works but as soon as I moved it sideways or back to front, it won't pick up the bobbin thread and I got skipped stitches. I could just limit myself to going front to back, but I might as well just pop the foot back on and have better control. This is what I did for the self portrait below.
UPDATE: FME does actually work on the 319K. I discovered that this particular machine had an issue where the needle wasn't near enough to the hook to pick up the thread when it was moving any direction other than front to back, and after adjustment, she now does a lovely embroidery stitch.
In the manual it suggests using the stitch pattern, or "fashion" discs (A.K.A. cams) to make pictures. I'd suggest just using the zig-zag and guiding the fabric around the picture you drew (in pencil).
The reason you need to fuse it is that the stitches tend to pull the fabric together during the zig-zag stitch, so it also helps if you reduce the thread tension (I set it to 2. Normally it's at 3.5). You might have to play with it to get it right, so again, use a test piece first.
I just drew a smiley face and traced around it:

Yes I actually do look like this, except my eyes are larger and further down.

So, are you getting the most out of your machine? I love attachments and special feet.The geniuses that invented them didn't do so because they're good gimmicks to sell machines. They were made to save you time and allow you to produce a more consistent result. Learn to use them, don't just look at them, and you'll wonder how you ever sewed without them.

Industrial strength sewing machines

I wrote a bit of a rant about this on an ad, because dishonesty is one of humanity's major problems.
It's a lot more common in the UK than here, but when you see the words "Industrial Strength" in a sewing machine ad, together and in that order, I can say without any doubt or hesitation that the seller is trying to rip you off.
The seller is attempting to make potential buyers believe that old machines like theirs are in some way just like industrial machines. This is a lie. There is no such thing as industrial strength and a machine is industrial or it is domestic. Actual industrial sewing machines are many times heavier and many times more expensive than domestic machines. People who own factories aren't so stupid as to buy a $3,000 Singer 132K6 to sew upholstery if a $90 Singer 201 plus cheap walking foot will do just as well. If you believe the 201 would do the job, you're dreaming. Industrial machines are made for a very specific task and are made to run at high speed, non-stop for half a day, every day. Your domestic machine is not.
I'll point to an article from a fellow blogger. He describes all the differences between industrial and domestic machines and explains all the reasons they aren't the same.
The other thing not to be very suspicious of is "Semi-industrial". It's true that Singer made light industrial machines for home manufacturing (e.g. 103K, 206K10) but these machines are always mounted on benches with large treadles or bench mounted (and very large and heavy) universal motors.
On eBay UK last week I saw a 99K being peddled as an industrial strength machine! These aren't even full size and have quite a small motor attached. However, there's no way to complain or report the dishonest seller for lying or misrepresenting an item. I doubt this is an oversight for eBay.

Heavy doesn't mean heavy duty: It pays to be suspicious if anyone uses the word industrial for a domestic sewing machine.

Do some research. I'll make it easy for you.
Assuming you have an old Singer, here are two invaluable resources:
ISMACS model list
ISMACS Serial numbers

Look your machine up. The serial number will give you the date of allocation of the serial number of your machine, which will be approximately when it was made. It will also tell you the model number.
The model list gives you a bit more information about what your machine is, the needles it takes, and other information. The usage column clearly tells you if the machine is domestic or industrial.

ISMACS is the International Sewing MAchine Collectors Society. They've collected a lot of information that can help you in making a good choice. You can always ask me or any other enthusiast. Not ripping people off is one of my favourite things.

I don't want you thinking that the 201 isn't an awesome domestic sewing machine either though. If you sew at home you can't do better than one of these little wonders. My favourite is the 201K23. I like the look of black ones the best but the tan versions seem to keep popping up in better condition.