New Sewing Machine

The past few weeks have been hard on me post-wise, especially when it comes to sewing. The reason why is because of my sewing machine.

I already had a sewing machine, a Singer, but I messed up the timing of it a year ago. I would have been more than happy to get it fixed, but I had trouble finding someone that lives in my area that can fix a Singer. (They can fix a Brother, Jerome, ect. but not a Singer) I made do with my grandmother’s old machine, but it has some serious problems of its own. Still, the timing works and if you work with it very gently, it would sew straight stitches and maybe zig zag stitches if it wants to cooperate.

Recently, I’ve begun to work with fabric that needs to be sewn using a more dependable machine (Specifically the taffeta for my Snow White dress) and my grandmother’s machine has begun to act pickier and stranger than before. A few months ago, I began looking for a new machine to serve as a more dependable back-up machine than my grandmother’s. I finally found one, a Singer 4411 Heavy Duty sewing machine and I ordered it.

After waiting a long time for reasons I won’t go into, the machine finally arrived at my house. Here’s how it looks….

The reason why I picked this machine is because it is the most similar to my first Singer with the selection of stitches, build, materials used for the frame, ect. Also, since both machines are Singers, I can use the attachments for my first sewing machine on this one. That way I don’t have to buy all new attachments or converters for my new machine.

The plan is to use this new machine until I can find someone to fix my old one. (I haven’t given up on it yet!) Once my old machine gets fixed, I’ll use the new machine as either a back up, like I originally planed, or keep it threaded with a different color thread than my old one so I can used both machines without having to re-thread it for a darker color.

Anyway, back to the machine, it sews so much better than the machine I’ve been using. I can do zig zag stitches and it even has a decorative stitch I used when I was hemming some fabric to make a blanket for my dog….

The bottom picture shows when I tired out the satin stitch, another stitch I couldn’t do on my other machine.

Since I got my machine, I’ve been searching for something to make that is non-costume related. So far I haven’t decided on what project to do, but I did begin to work on some new costumes and began to finish unfinished costumes. I cannot begin to tell you how I really enjoying the satin stitch function on the machine. It makes the edges of trims I sewed look a little more fancy and finished. 🙂