help. not a quilting question per se.
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,857
the zigzag can be very narrow to give it the stretch. Another way is to use a double needle. I use this whenever the hem comes down in a t-shirt. the topside will look like a double row of stitches and underneath will look like zigzag because of the one bobbin thread - but it stretches!
#12
They were wrong. Any ZZ attachment will work except the one meant for high shank and slant shank machines.
#13
the zigzag can be very narrow to give it the stretch. Another way is to use a double needle. I use this whenever the hem comes down in a t-shirt. the topside will look like a double row of stitches and underneath will look like zigzag because of the one bobbin thread - but it stretches!
#14
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
#15
i would suggest to the OP that she purchase a Singer 401 or 500, etc. oh darn! HATE it when I have to buy a new "vintage" machine!, lol. I have (4) 401's and (2) 500's. Love, love the 401's! Worth every penny I've spent.
Or....for you more mechanic minded....would it be possible to "bore" a slightly bigger hole in the stitch plate to accommodate a twin needle?
Last edited by Cogito; 10-30-2014 at 04:07 AM.
#17
Yep, that's exactly what I said in above post...... So I wondered.....is it possible to slightly modify the stitch plate.....bore it out a tad? I am sure some on this list know the answer to that, lol. Or would it make more sense to just purchase a vintage zig zag? I know some don't care for the 401's, but I personally think they are the next best thing to store bread, lol!
#18
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. After you enlarge the hole you would still have to replace the bobbin case with a zigzag 15 class case. I also suspect there may be other issues like clearance on the feed dogs and maybe even timing issues. I certainly haven't seen every twin needle or zigzag capable machine out there but I think the ones I own are either drop in bobbin or the bobbin faces toward you as well.
By the time you modified a straight stitch machine to take dual needles you would have far more time and money in it than the $10 it takes to buy a zigzag machine at your local thrift store - at least that's where the prices start here.
Rodney
By the time you modified a straight stitch machine to take dual needles you would have far more time and money in it than the $10 it takes to buy a zigzag machine at your local thrift store - at least that's where the prices start here.
Rodney
#19
I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. After you enlarge the hole you would still have to replace the bobbin case with a zigzag 15 class case. I also suspect there may be other issues like clearance on the feed dogs and maybe even timing issues. I certainly haven't seen every twin needle or zigzag capable machine out there but I think the ones I own are either drop in bobbin or the bobbin faces toward you as well.
By the time you modified a straight stitch machine to take dual needles you would have far more time and money in it than the $10 it takes to buy a zigzag machine at your local thrift store - at least that's where the prices start here.
Rodney
By the time you modified a straight stitch machine to take dual needles you would have far more time and money in it than the $10 it takes to buy a zigzag machine at your local thrift store - at least that's where the prices start here.
Rodney
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
I think I'm most likely wrong about the part about which way the bobbin faces but still, these days it's far easier to find a twin needle/zigzag capable machine than it is to modify a straight stitch to accept a twin needle.
Rodney
Rodney
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