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Archive for January, 2013

What sewing machine is best for making lingerie?

January 26th, 2013 3 comments

I am a beginner but I’d really like to get it right by buying the right type of machine (for delicate materials and basic materials like cotton to make bras etc.)

Would a serger be better? I’m a bit clueless but I’m determined to learn.
Thanks in advance to anyone who answers,

A serger is very helpful for jobs like attaching elastic and sewing covered seams, but you’ll still need a good sewing machine too. The one you’re looking for for lingerie will have adjustable stitch length and width, adjustable presser foot pressure, and will sew well with size 8/60 sewing machine needles — take a pack each of microtex points and stretch points along when you’re testing, as well as common lingerie fabrics like batiste, silk charmeuse, and stretch satin. I’d also suggest you look carefully at electronic machines because of the fine control they offer compared to mechanicals. But mechanical machines will certainly work for lingerie.

Suggested reading:
Jan Bones: Lingerie Secrets
Karen Morris: Sewing Lingerie that Fits
Kwik Sew’s Beautiful Lingerie
Singer Sewing Library’s Sewing Lingerie

Otherwise, here’s my standard beginner sewing machine advice, all of which is also applicable to you:
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

What I want for beginners in sewing:

– a machine that doesn’t scare you
– a machine that isn’t balky (cheap new machines are often very
balky or need adjustments often and are rarely repairable —
just too frustrating to learn on!)
– very good straight stitch
– good zigzag (4-5 mm is fine, more than that is gravy)
– a method of making buttonholes that makes sense to you
– adjustable presser foot pressure (which helps some fabric
handling issues)
– accessory presser feet that don’t cost an arm and a leg
(machines that use a "short shank foot" typically handle
generic presser feet pretty well. Some brands of machines use
proprietary or very expensive presser feet)

If the budget stretches far enough:

– blindhem and stretch blindhem stitches
– triple zigzag (nice for elastic applications)
– a couple of decorative stitches (you won’t use them nearly as
much as you think)
– electronic machine because of the needle position control and
because the stepper motors give you full "punching force" at
slow sewing speeds — mechanical machines often will stall at
slow speeds.

Please go to the best sewing machine dealers around and ask them
to show you some machines in your price range, *especially* used
machines you can afford. You’ll get a far better machine buying
used than new, and a good dealer is worth their weight in sewing
machine needles when you get a machine problem — often they can
talk you through the problem over the phone. While you’re trying
things out, try a couple of machines (sewing only, not combo
sewing-embroidery) over your price limit, just so you can see
what the difference in stitch quality and ease of use might be.
You may find you want to go for the used Cadillac. Or you might
want the new basic Chevy. Might as well try both out.

Suggested reading: John Giordano’s The Sewing Machine Book
(especially for used machines), Carol Ahles’ Fine Machine Sewing
(especially the first and last few chapters) and Gale Grigg
Hazen’s Owner’s Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and Knitting
Machines. All of these are likely to be available at your public
library.

Used brands I’d particularly look for: Elna, Bernina,
Viking/Husqvarna, Pfaff, Singer (pre 1970), Juki, Toyota

New "bargain brand" I’d probably pick: Janome (who also does
Kenmore).

What sewing machine to buy for hemming pants?

January 26th, 2013 2 comments

I just want to buy a simple basic sewing machine under $100 to hem my pants.

I don’t need it to do any fancy needlework. All I need is to hem my pant legs. Can anyone recommend me any brands?

Thanks alot!

If you’re going to hem pants with a straight stitched-through hem (like jeans), any decent straight stitcher will do. I typically find old Singer 99s and 15s around for $0-20 that just need cleaning, oil and a new needle.

If you want to do a more professional looking hem, such as is used on dress pants, you want a machine with a "blind hem stitch" (and ask for it to be demonstrated for you).

Or you’re going to learn to hem by hand… takes very little time and
costs you a packet of hand sewing machine needles — less than $1.

With a budget of $100, you’re either going to be going for a used machine or a new one that is not going to last long or be repairable.

My standard beginner sewing machine advice:
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

What I want for beginners in sewing:

– a machine that doesn’t scare you
– a machine that isn’t balky (cheap new machines are often very
balky or need adjustments often and are rarely repairable —
just too frustrating to learn on!)
– very good straight stitch
– good zigzag (4-5 mm is fine, more than that is gravy)
– a method of making buttonholes that makes sense to you
– adjustable presser foot pressure (which helps some fabric
handling issues)
– accessory presser feet that don’t cost an arm and a leg
(machines that use a "short shank foot" typically handle
generic presser feet pretty well. Some brands of machines use
proprietary or very expensive presser feet)

If the budget stretches far enough:

– blindhem and stretch blindhem stitches
– triple zigzag (nice for elastic applications)
– a couple of decorative stitches (you won’t use them nearly as
much as you think)
– electronic machine because of the needle position control and
because the stepper motors give you full "punching force" at
slow sewing speeds — mechanical machines often will stall at
slow speeds.

Please go to the best sewing machine dealers around and ask them
to show you some machines in your price range, *especially* used
machines you can afford. You’ll get a far better machine buying
used than new, and a good dealer is worth their weight in sewing
machine needles when you get a machine problem — often they can
talk you through the problem over the phone. While you’re trying
things out, try a couple of machines (sewing only, not combo
sewing-embroidery) over your price limit, just so you can see
what the difference in stitch quality and ease of use might be.
You may find you want to go for the used Cadillac. Or you might
want the new basic Chevy. Might as well try both out.

Suggested reading: John Giordano’s The Sewing Machine Book
(especially for used machines), Carol Ahles’ Fine Machine Sewing
(especially the first and last few chapters) and Gale Grigg
Hazen’s Owner’s Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and Knitting
Machines. All of these are likely to be available at your public
library.

Used brands I’d particularly look for: Elna, Bernina,
Viking/Husqvarna, Pfaff, Singer (pre 1970), Juki, Toyota

New "bargain brand" I’d probably pick: Janome (who also does
Kenmore).

want to know about buying embroidery machine…..?

January 26th, 2013 4 comments

Hai,
I want to buy a embroidery machine . but not sure which brand / design no to buy. bcas i was learning from one of my friend to stitch chudidars ( in normal tailoring machine-singer) and hand embroidery . my husband is asking me to buy embroidery machine. will it be easy to follow the manuals if i buy those machine?????? can i see a video demo in any web-site for operating machine embroidering machines . so that i can be sure to buy which model & company. otherwise it will be waste to buy with out knowing how to operate. I am living in U.A.E.

plz write me ur suggestions , if possible the web-site names where i can learn online how to operate & learn to do the designs using machines…..Awaiting for all of ur replies………

I have a Singer Futura CE-200. It is my first embroidery machine and I am very pleased. It was low-cost, mainly because it does not have a computer on board. You hook it to your computer and it will stitch what is on the screen. It was very easy for me to learn, and the software will convert designs in many formats. This allows you to download a lot of free designs from the internet. The main disadvantage is the size of the hoops. The largest one has a stitch area of about 5" X 7". This means in large designs you have to re-hoop. Hope this helps.

Where can I find an inexpensive sewing machine?

January 24th, 2013 7 comments

I am looking for a small sewing machine that I can use to do repairs (hems and such) and sew small items like cat toys. I don’t want anything really fancy or expensive, but I DO want it to work well! Does anyone have any recommendations?

Ask your local sewing machine dealers about what they’ve got in used machines.

http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

What I want for beginners in sewing:

– a machine that doesn’t scare you
– a machine that isn’t balky (cheap new machines are often very
balky or need adjustments often and are rarely repairable —
just too frustrating to learn on!)
– very good straight stitch
– good zigzag (4-5 mm is fine, more than that is gravy)
– a method of making buttonholes that makes sense to you
– adjustable presser foot pressure (which helps some fabric
handling issues)
– accessory presser feet that don’t cost an arm and a leg
(machines that use a "short shank foot" typically handle
generic presser feet pretty well. Some brands of machines use
proprietary or very expensive presser feet)

If the budget stretches far enough:

– blindhem and stretch blindhem stitches
– triple zigzag (nice for elastic applications)
– a couple of decorative stitches (you won’t use them nearly as
much as you think)
– electronic machine because of the needle position control and
because the stepper motors give you full "punching force" at
slow sewing speeds — mechanical machines often will stall at
slow speeds.

Please go to the best sewing machine dealers around and ask them
to show you some machines in your price range, *especially* used
machines you can afford. You’ll get a far better machine buying
used than new, and a good dealer is worth their weight in sewing
machine needles when you get a machine problem — often they can
talk you through the problem over the phone. While you’re trying
things out, try a couple of machines (sewing only, not combo
sewing-embroidery) over your price limit, just so you can see
what the difference in stitch quality and ease of use might be.
You may find you want to go for the used Cadillac. Or you might
want the new basic Chevy. Might as well try both out.

Suggested reading: John Giordano’s The Sewing Machine Book
(especially for used machines), Carol Ahles’ Fine Machine Sewing
(especially the first and last few chapters) and Gale Grigg
Hazen’s Owner’s Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and Knitting
Machines. All of these are likely to be available at your public
library.

Used brands I’d particularly look for: Elna, Bernina,
Viking/Husqvarna, Pfaff, Singer (pre 1970), Juki, Toyota

New "bargain brand" I’d probably pick: Janome (who also does
Kenmore).

The Statue of Liberty; why it’s a woman, not a man?

January 24th, 2013 5 comments

Perhaps it’s a silly question you can even offen me,,haha..i know it was created in France.
I studied only the French Revolution,but this is awesome.

Throughout history, liberty has been depicted as a woman.

The Roman Republic built a temple to Libertas, the Goddess of Liberty, on Aventine Hill, and her face appeared on the denarius silver coin — according to the Bible, the denarius was a day’s pay for a laborer. Historian Nancy Jo Fox explained, "the Goddess of Liberty appeared in art as a robed female holding a scepter, indicating sovereignty over herself, with a liberty-loving cat at her feet alongside a broken jug (shattered symbol of confinement) and crowned by Phrygian cap, the pilleus libertatis, bestowed upon slaves when granted freedom."

After the New World was discovered, Fox noted, ?the promise of great wealth, strange virgin lands, religious freedom, or the thrill of adventure appealed to many who wished to better their lives even while risking great danger. Danger came from the native Indians who, while enemies of the Colonists, were viewed by the white man as exotic symbols not only of the new continent but also of the unrestricted, natural life that Europeans could find in this new country. Just as females had come to symbolize the other major continents ? Asia, Africa and Europe ? it was the American Indian Queen who first personified the New World.?

The Indian Queen, or Indian Princess, appeared on maps, books, newspapers, engravings, embroidery and coins as a big woman wearing a headdress, holding a tomahawk and bow and arrow, sometimes mounted on a llama, armadillo or alligator. When the American colonies struggled to be free, she came to symbolize them rather than the continent. She subsequently served as the principal symbol of the United States until about 1815.

By then, with interest in Greek culture and design in vogue, the female figure was depicted as a Greek goddess. ?The Princess?s headdress changed from eagle feathers to ostrich feathers worn in a turban, bonnet, or helmut,? Fox observed. ?This new classical lady with flowing brown hair was tall, full breasted, and draped in a toga and cloak to her ankles, revealing her feet clad in sandals. The Plumed Goddess also held the caduceus, the staff of Mercury with two snakes intertwined around it.? Mercury was a messenger, and he symbolized neutrality among possible adversaries as America aimed to remain neutral and stay out of European wars. The Greek goddess appeared in paintings and engravings, on fabrics and cookware. The Greek goddess was carved on weathervanes, shop markers and ship figureheads. As the iron industry developed, Greek goddesses were made of iron.

In France, following the Revolution of 1830, Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) painted Liberty Leading the People. Trained in the low key neoclassical style, Delacroix embraced bright colors and dramatic subjects, and he emerged as the most important French Romantic artist. Liberty Leading the People, displayed at the Louvre museum, shows a strong woman with bare breasts, holding a musket in her left hand and the French flag in her right hand, walking amidst the bodies of fallen revolutionaries.

In 1855, the American sculptor Thomas Crawford, then living in Rome, was commissioned to design a statue of Lady Freedom which would go atop the U.S. Capitol, then being constructed. Crawford proposed an ?Armed Liberty? design, including a shield, a sword and stars around a liberty cap. But a liberty cap was a symbol of freed slaves, and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, the Mississippi man who later became President of the Confederacy, objected. The liberty cap was replaced by a helmut with an eagle headdress. The statue was mounted on the Capitol dome in 1863. It’s 19 feet, six inches tall and weighs about 15,000 pounds.

Liberty heads had begun appearing on U.S. gold coins in 1838. By the end of the 19th century, Liberty?s head appeared on ?Morgan? silver dollars. Perhaps the most famous Liberty image was on the gold ?double eagle,? or $20 gold piece, with a high relief image of a ?striding Liberty,? a female figure designed by the American sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens (1848-1907). More than 70 million of these gorgeous gold coins were minted between 1907 and 1933.

The most famous symbol of liberty began amidst the frustration of a Frenchman at his country?s tyrannical ruler, Napoleon III. The Frenchman was Edouard Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye (1811-1883) who was a professor of comparative law. He wrote spoke out against slavery and wrote about Benjamin Franklin. It was in 1865 that he conceived the idea of a statue about libery. This would be a gift to America and a symbol of ideals suppressed by Napoleon III. One of Laboulaye?s friends, the French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), was thrilled with the idea, and by 1869 he was sketching designs. Early on, a torch became a major feature. It’s believed he modelled the face of the Statue of Liberty after his mother. He took out U.S. patent #11,023 for "Design for a statue."

In 1871, Laboulaye reportedly urged Bartholdi to see America: ?You will study it, you will bring back to us your impressions. Propose to our friends over there to make with us a monument, a common work, in remembrance of the ancient friendship of France and the United States. We will take up a subscription in France.?

Bartholdi toured America, meeting many of the most famous people of the day, including President Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionist Charles Sumner, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead and merchant Cyrus Field. Bartholdi?s first choice for a site was Bedloe?s Island in New York Harbor.

There were fund-raising events in Paris, aimed at covering the cost of the statue. Americans, for their part, were asked to cover the cost of a pedestal. In 1877, some New Yorkers formed a committee to pursue the statue idea, and they raised about $100,000. They retained the most successful architect, Richard Morris Hunt, and he conceived an 89-foot high pedestal with a granite fa?ade. The pedestal involving pouring 24,000 tons of concrete, the largest concrete mass ever made, which would be 52 feet, 10 inches high and 91 feet square at the bottom and 65 feet square at the top. Before construction proceeded very far, the project ran out of money.

Neither the federal government nor New York State would support the project, but the Hungarian immigrant Joseph Pulitzer, who had become a successful newspaper publisher, thought a statue of liberty was a great idea. Through the pages of his New York World, he launched a campaign to raise funds from his working class readers. He offered prizes for big contributors and held special events at the Brighton Beach race track. He published poignant letters from ordinary people who contributed a few dollars each. On August 11, 1885, a New York World headline announced ?ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!? Some 120,000 contributors had helped reach the fundraising goal in five months.

By this time, components of Bartholdi’s statue had been assembled by securing some 300 copper sheets to a steel frame. The components were packed into 200 cases and shipped to New York. The statue was mounted so that she faced Europe. Initially known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," she was unveiled on October 28, 1886. More than a million people turned out on this rainy and foggy day. President Grover Cleveland led the ceremonies, and naval ships fired their guns as salutes. Some 20,000 people marched along Wall Street as office boys threw pieces of stock ticker tape out the windows of nearby office buildings, making this perhaps the first ticker tape parade. Curiously, none of the speeches mentioned immigrants, with whom the Statue of Liberty later became so closely identified.

Historian Fox noted that ?The Statue of Liberty appeared in advertisements for kitchen ranges, sewing thread, paint, pens, circuses, theaters, toys, and innumerable other items?Twentieth-century painters have re-created the Statue of Liberty?s image in buttons, acrylics, enamels, plastic, metal, paper, and collages.?

In 1901, a bronze plaque was added to the base of the Statue of Liberty. It had lines written nearly two decades before by New York poet Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), the daughter of a successful Jewish sugar merchant. As a teenager, she had been encouraged by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and later Russian persecution of Jews inspired her sympathy for immigrants and her passion for justice. Her poem, "The New Colossus," had been published for the Art Loan Fund Exhibition, a project by artists and writers who helped raise money for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. The title was a reference to the Colossus of Rhodes which, overlooking that Greek city’s harbor, had been considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Lazarus went on to produce more work and corresponded with leading writers of her day including Ivan Turgenev, William James and Robert Browning. She died at 38 from cancer, but a dozen years later, as the number of immigrants surged into America, people remembered the stirring lines she had written for "The New Colossus":

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
?Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!? cries she
With silent lips. ?Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of our teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!?

For millions of people escaping tyranny and seeking a better life, Lady Liberty, as the Statue of Liberty came to be called, has been one of the first things they see in America, and Lazarus’ immortal words still express the American dream of achieving liberty and peace.

A decade ago, Chinese dissidents built a Statue of Liberty in Beijing?s Tiananmen Square, protesting communist tyranny. It was a dramatic affirmation that liberty is a dream shared by people everywhere.

More about Eugene Delacroix

Pictures of Bartholdi’s 21-inch terra cotta model for the Statue of Liberty, at the Museum of the City of New York
[At bottom of screen, click on "Collections," then click on "Paintings and Sculptures," then click on "Sculptures" and look for Bartholdi’s model of the Statue of Liberty.]

Information on the Statue of Liberty National Monument

Was the Statue of Liberty about the emancipation of slaves rather than immigration?

More about Emma Lazarus

Augustus St. Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire

Machine embroidery software – Creative Drawings demo 1

January 23rd, 2013 No comments

http://www.embroiderysoftware.co.za
Creative Drawings is an amazing digitizing machine embroidery software. NO EXPENSIVE ADD-ONS! Powerful features in one package.

Here you’ll learn how to convert a clipart image into embroidery with stitch quality.

Duration : 0:3:59

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Categories: Free Embroidery Software Tags:

Machine embroidery software – Creative Drawings demo 1

January 23rd, 2013 No comments

http://www.embroiderysoftware.co.za
Creative Drawings is an amazing digitizing machine embroidery software. NO EXPENSIVE ADD-ONS! Powerful features in one package.

Here you’ll learn how to convert a clipart image into embroidery with stitch quality.

Duration : 0:3:59

Read more…

Categories: Free Embroidery Software Tags:

SOFTWARE – Pulse Ambassador

January 23rd, 2013 1 comment

Uma importante ferramenta para converter desenhos de bordado para outros formatos. Está vídeo aula é um tutorial mostrando como alterar formatos de arquivos de desenho de bordado.

Duration : 0:2:8

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Categories: Free Embroidery Designs Jef Tags:

PEN DRIVE – Transferir arquivos de bordado para as Máquinas de Bordar Janome

January 23rd, 2013 2 comments

Tutorial para transferência de arquivos de desenho de bordado do computador para as máquinas de bordar eletrônica da Janome.

Duration : 0:1:7

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Categories: Free Embroidery Designs Jef Tags:

MasterWorks II Demo Video

January 23rd, 2013 3 comments

For digitizing designs, no embroidery software program is more powerful – or easy to use – than MasterWorks II. This stand-alone software is packed full of innovative tools for the ultimate control when digitizing designs. Transform art or other images into embroidery designs with incredible detail and professional results.

Duration : 0:2:55

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Categories: Free Embroidery Downloads Tags: