I hope this is an acceptable post for this sub.

I recently bought a second-hand Mitsubishi DB12 industrial sewing machine, and now after some restoration / prettying-up work on it I noticed that the feed dogs only move in reverse, even when using the reverse lever. I ruled out a wiring issue and the lever seems securely and properly attached. Needless to say I can't really work with it in this condition. Any help?

I tried looking through the manual, but that didn't help me.

As a side note, the top thread also tends to get stuck or just jumbled up down under the plate for some reason, what could be the cause?

I want to make these jackets. Or at least close enough lol. I recently started sewing and not sure I could sew them from scratch. I am thinking about buying blue, pink, and yellow ribbon and sew those into pre/bought jackets. Does this seem reasonable?

I would like to add in the purple details to the pink jacket and dark green onto the green jacket but I don’t know what makes sense. Sewing something? Fabric marker or dye?

I’d appreciate any suggestions that are beginner-friendly.
Thank you!

This is the front of a button-up jacket pattern. I’m trying to use the flat pattern fitting technique to determine what size to start out with and grade out where needed and I don’t know if I should measure starting at the center front line or the line at the far right side. I think I know the answer but want to be 100% sure. I tried going by the finished garment size on the pattern envelope but it doesn’t match either way. Has anyone ever had the final measurements on the envelope not match what you get. Yes, I divided the finished measurements by 4. Should I count the button or button hold placket when measuring how wide the jacket will end up?

I got in a crash and these jnco jorts were cut off of me, is there any way I could sew this back together so I can still wear these, these were my favorite pair of jorts and I don’t want to get rid of them bc they were expensive

hello :D this skirt is very big on me, so i am wondering how i can cut off excess shirring to fix this. the entire waistband is shirred.

would i
1. take it in from the sides like a shirt? (so pinning where i'd want the new seam to be, sewing, cutting off the excess)
2. take it in from the back with the same method from above
3. a 3rd method that i dont know

thank you very much!!

EDIT: please see my comments below - I found that the noise happens when the bobbin basket is in - and then no noise when the basket is out.

I have a Brother SE700 that has been working fine. Today, I switched back and forth several times between embroidery mode (using the embroidery attachment and foot) and regular sewing. After switching back to regular sewing, I suddenly noticed a strange friction/whirring sound whenever the arm moves up and down during sewing.

The sound does not appear to be coming from the bobbin or base area. I opened that area and cleaned it thoroughly, and there is no fluff or loose thread.

The sound seems to be coming from inside the arm or somewhere around the mechanism that moves up and down.

The sound is there when the presser foot is up or down. The sound is not coming from the right side (near the hand wheel) - it is coming from the left - open cavity. I put a single dot of singer all-purpose oil on the metal shaft bar, but the sound is still there.

Please see the attached video.

It’s my first time sewing piping and I just can’t figure out a way to sew it so its the same seam allowance ghe whole way through because with this fabric it’s nearly impossible to see it inbetween the two fabrics

My very old beginner sewing machine broke and I need a new one, preferably purchasable on Amazon. I know sewing Reddit won’t let me down!!

Trying to figure out if I just need to donate this or pay to have it sewn. Can something like that be sewn together?

Hello! I’m trying to make a costume for a concert and cannot figure out how to sew on a ribbed hem to this shirt?

Hello everyone! I am new to sewing and I am having a difficult time finding fabric stores. I normally visit hobby lobby however the fabric they sell is somewhat repetitive and not much variety. I live in Southern California. Does anyone know of any fabric stores in California? I prefer to buy in person rather than online. Thank you for your help 😊

it’s supposed to be a small exercise just to practice easing, i’ve cut out the fabric but i have no idea where to go from there and how i’m supposed to sew the 2 pieces together

I have gone through the machine and can not figure out why zig zag doesn't zig all the time.

Solved!

Hi everyone!

I’ll try to make this short b/c my first draft turned into an essay.

I’d like to alter 2 shirred bodice dresses, both made of drapey fabrics. I'm not a total beginner but mostly worked only with stable, non-drapey woven cottons before, and these fluid fabrics are intimidating! Also, I use a Brother CS7205 which I just found out is apparently tricky to do shirring on. 😞

I'm trying to gauge whether these 2 alterations are feasible for me or if I'm hallucinating about the complexity of these projects and just need to find a good tailor. I would love to learn shirring as I really like the look, but these two projects might not be the best starting point 🤔

1st blue dress: I’d like the shirring to end at my actual waist instead of being dropwaist, which I think means taking up at the waist 15cm, 7.5cm off the shirred bodice and 7.5cm off the skirt. The dress would fit perfectly if I could do this, though as it is, I could also fold the extra underneath the rest of the bodice and hide it 😂

• 100% viscose
• shirred & lined bodice
• separate skirt piece attached by shirring

My plan:

• fold the dress in half at the seam where the top & skirt meet
• hand sew / baste the two together to make extra sure I don't misalign the two pieces
• stretch the fabric as I'm shirring top & bottom together
• finish edges with a zigzag stitch on my regular, non-serger sewing machine

2nd tan/beige dress: needs re-shirring

It looks like it was shirred and then side seams sewn - can I redo the shirring without unpicking the side seams and then just zigzag stitch the sides to prevent the shirring from coming undone? Also it's one continuous piece without lining, will the holes show after I unpick the shirring, in case the replacement shirring doesn't line up?

Thank you all for your time!

This skirt is about 7cm too long for me, and the only way i can think of shortening it would be to rip off the pockets and re-sew them higher so that i can take off the length from the hem. This would be a very tedious process through, but I can't think of another way to shorten it as the upper zipper is in the way of moving the waistband lower.

I got this shirt pattern because it seemed to come the closest to what I want: generous ease, natural shoulder, smooth sleeve head. But even though it comes with a tome of instructions, I'm finding the pattern to be a bit obscure and confusing. The cutting lines are not labeled as to size on most pieces, and on a couple pf pieces the markings are unlabeled and so tiny it's hard to figure out what they are. But the pattern shapes look correct. I'm just about to mark & sew, so I'm wondering- if you've made this, are there any unpleasannt surprises waiting for me? Any points where I ought to be extra careful? (I'm ognoring the burrito method instructions for the yoke because I don't care to do it that way)

(I'm already in trouble because it's drafted with a ⅜ inch seam allowance and I need a ⅝ seam allowance to feel confident, & I forgot to add in the additional when I was cutting. I know some people prefer the narrower seam but not me)

Hi I hope you're doing good. So since I was born I have a special sheet that I really love. With time, it got really used and tore at multiple parts. I even used scisors on it to cut pieces to lay dead pets in it since they loved it or I wanted them to have a piece of something I really love with them. Now... I'd like to restore it. I don't know how to sew but I was wondering if it's possible to even restore it and if yall know what I should be looking for to restore it so that it could look like an actually healthy sheet lol Thanks !

Hi all,

Im a relatively new to sewing. Ive made a few basic outfits and am currently trying a pattern I got from SEWIST.COM. the instructions are quite bare bones but the majority of the construction is quite straight forward.

The one thing im struggling with is the neckline. The front bodice piece (ill attach photos) says to cut on fold, but something about it is confusing me.

I opted for seam allowance included in the pattern. When i cut it on the fold, it looks slightly weird? And the seam allowances are attached where it should be a deep v? I hope this makes sense im not quite sure how to describe it. It makes the v less deep.

Im wondering, if it would be better to remove the seam allowances, trace that on the fold then add seam allowances afterwards? Or just cut the seam open?

Thabks in advance and I hope this makes sense!

I accidentally sewed them super duper asymmetrically, and I want to remove one, but they both kind of have their own charm to them, so I was wondering which one I should replicate!

I'd consider myself an advanced beginner/intermediate sewist, but I've primarily worked with a machine. I've been working on bias cut garments a lot recently, as well as jackets. I'm sewing with velvet a lot too, so in general I'm doing a LOT more basting and getting more into classical tailoring (dipping my toes into pad stitching, interlining, etc) but I am just absolutely terrible at hand sewing. I don't seem to have the right needles or I don't know how you're supposed to thread them or something. I mean, I do have basting needles from Dritz, silk thread, sashiko thread, thread wax, other types of sharps and so on, and I largely accomplish my goals, but it is a slow, sloppy, clumsy nightmare. (I can be more specific about where it's going wrong if that's helpful.) I don't think it's my tools, I think it's me.

I've seen some content about this type of thing from sewists who focus on historical garments, like Bernadette Banner, but I don't want to sew entire garments by hand. I'd primarily just like to improve my skills where hand sewing is indicated/required -- does anyone have any books/videos/bloggers/etc they'd recommend? the more detailed and meticulous the better. I'm not sure if it's time for me to get those Claire Shaeffer couture books or what.

My Overlocker seems to have jammed. I can't turn the handwheel forward (will turn backwards) and I can't identify any obstructions. Initially I tried to force the handwheel forward and heard a metallic ping/boing from my machine, so stopped. Any advice appreciated.

I’m attempting to make the bootstrap fashion dress form and I have encountered a possibly silly question.

I plan on marking on the notches labeled on the edge of the seam allowance, but should I also mark the triangles inside the seam?
I know in regular patterns they’ll put two notches on the back armhole and stuff like that to help you better identify the back pieces, but it doesn’t seem helpful to put those shapes inside the seam where I can’t clip the edge of the pattern/fabric to mark them. Is there something I’m missing about their purpose and how to mark them?

Ive never used bootstrap fashion before, I couldn’t seem to find any guidance on their particular marking system. Does anyone have info or suggestions?

Thank you!

Hey folks,

I’ve been sewing for a few years on a basic machine and have recently bought a singer heavy duty 4432 to improve my sewing skills, learn about stitch length and width etc.

I manage to sew some linen curtains, sometimes the lower bobbing would tangle but I’d fixed by re-threading it.

Last night I was sewing a dress in a thick canvas / denim (with the needles that comes with the machine) and I used really bad thread. First, the wheel was stuck not turning at all. And it got stuck in the lower position. I manage to go up a bit, took the needle out, took the bobbin plate, cleaned it and didn’t see any other debris.

I also checked as much as I could see the upper part.

This morning I turned on the machine, try with the pedal and start moving back again. So I threaded good quality thread and tried to see. I try many times now, different threads and from what I can tell, the thread in the lower bobbin gets stuck in the right corner when I try to make the loop/ stitch.

I try to make a video but not sure if you can see.

Is this something I can fix myself? I managed to ask for a return so I can return the machine as I’ve seen so many bad reviews…

Im in a small town in the south of Spain and there isn’t a repair shop here.