Bennett

[quote=Phyllis nm]Thanks, I'll copy this for her. I make quilts and do a little mending here and there. She's been bitten by the clothing bug though, so sometimes I'm at a loss on what advice to give her. :)

deplaylady

[quote=Bennett]I've been keeping an eye on this post for suggestions, I had heard to wind the elastic you put it on put don't pull it through the tension you, feed it by hand? Anyone try that - i think that was what was written as the instructions to do it also. (Not sure that would work.) I've been wanting to try out the elastic thread in the bobbin with the gathering foot, so many of the baby clothes now have gathers and pin tucks and ruffles - all the stuff I can practice using my nifty VM attachments on. And my DD actually likes the style of clothes that makes use of these methods. She's shown me a couple at stores recently that she thought were cute (they were and I was thinking, I have this pattern at home) but she then said to look at the price! I used to sew my girls clothes when they were younger, even did smocking and stuff. One big thing I'm learning is matching threads and needle sizes to the materials I'm using. I used to do a lot of machine embroidery, so I'm finding I have a lot more machine embroidery thread than cotton or cotton/poly thread, and need to buy more covers for quilting and regular sewing.
Does anyone notice any of your machine having a preference to of one type/brand thread to another?

shnnn

I experimented with elastic thread for the 1st time a few weeks ago. I wound the bobbin by hand, and just sewed a 6 or 7 rows about 3/8" about(that's how wide my foot is so I went with it) then pressed it -- it was like magic -- I had this wierd rippely thing going on, then as soon as the heat hit it Voila! shirring! I don't know that I would try it with the gathering foot though.. then again, maybe I will, could be interesting.

Bennett

I'm taking her a "sewing care package" tomorrow. She wanted a ruffler, so I'm giving her one of my duplicates. I'm throwing in a gathering foot too since she mentioned trying shirring. I hadn't even heard of elastic thread until she told me about it. She's really having fun making things for my little niece (almost 2 yrs) and herself.

Phyllis nm

Another method: loosen your upper tension or your lower tension [the thread you loosen is the thread you pull up] ; sew about 6 rows about ½” apart leave long thread tails pull up and gather up to desired width, steam lightly. Go back and stitch between the rows with a loose open emb design stitch, pull your basting thread out. This is mock smocking.
Don’t forget to set your tension back to normal.

shnnn

Drove past a yard sale today and right there in the middle of the yard is a very distinctive shape. Hubby ("my mom has like 5 sewing machines!") asks me if I want to go back... well, duh! it was a 15-91 with bare wires showing in a very rough cabinet, and they wanted $200 because of the "rarity of the knee controller" I explained to him that I hadn't spent $200 on all of my machines combined and he said he would go as low as $100... still more than I was willing to pay... if it had been a 99, maybe. Then sitting here watching tv a few hours later hubby notices something odd in my sewing room... apparently he missed the update on the clone that showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago (courtesy of ebay and ups). aside from the how long have you had that, and the eye rolling because apparently I hadn't told him about it (I know I had a discussion with him about how quiet it is!!!) he had no comments even though that brings me up to 5 working machines and 2 doorstops (I still haven't given up hope). Makes me wonder if he's feeling alright!

Oh! the clone is a 66 clone! I thought they were 15s or 99s. It's still a really cool machine but I really want a 99

tomilu

Picked this up for a friend. Looks like a commercial version of the 130. Pretty neat treadle. Anyone seen a 130 like this?
Tommie

cabbagepatchkid

[img]http://www.pic4ever.com/images/gigglesmile.gif[/img]
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[img]http://www.pic4ever.com/images/gigglesmile.gif[/img]
That is funny!!

If you want a 99 keep an eye on your local Craigslist. I see them on there all the time. I even found a nice one in a cabinet for $50. The cabinets are harder to come by--99's don't fit in regular cabinets because they are 3/4 sized.

Miz Johnny

:lol:

Lostn51

I never tried it on the Shellac/Varnish surfaces I always use the Liquid Gold in the pourable can and come up with wonderful results. The LG will hide almost all of the crazing and polish the machine to a like new high gloss finish, and will not transfer to your fabric when you use the machine after it sets.

The Carnuba wax is perfect for the later Enamel finishes and will leave them slick as snot!! I like the Meguires products because that is what I use on all of my show cars and I have never had any issues with them at all. They even have a wax out that is perfect for the Japanese machines that have the oil stains in the finish. It is a Polish that has a light cleaner to it and I have used it on a couple of machines and it is wonderful and will not take the decals out. Its $20 a bottle but well worth the expense.

But after 500+ restorations and refurbs the Liquid Gold is my polish of choice on the japaned finish machines.

Billy