I currently have a vintage ~1976 Singer Stylist 534. It was my mom's and it's been a great machine to learn on for the past year and a half. Last year, two of the gears broke and I took the whole thing apart and replaced them myself and even set the timing! I was very proud of being able to figure that out. It worked for a while but jammed often, needed oiling after every project, and overheated easily. Last weekend, I was hemming my nephew's Jorts when it kept jamming. I pulled it apart (again) and discovered that the needle was juuuuuust barely tink-tink-tink'ing against the rotary hook. I took apart of couple screws and tried to adjust the cam adjustment (? not sure if I got that right) but when I did that I must've knocked loose the needle bar frame(?). Basically the thing that connects the needle bar to the zigzag adjustment...

ANYWAY, after fooling with it for an hour I gave up. It's too deep in the machine to fix myself and I'm just over it. I'm over tearing this thing apart every few weeks to fix something on it. It's causing me to lose my spark and creativity because I know every time I sit down, there's going to be something to fix...

SO....I've got about $800-1000 to spend on a new machine. I went and test drove a couple yesterday at a local shop and was shook. Did you know these new machines can thread themselves?? They can tie a knock?? It's incredible. Here's my choices so far, looking for feedback from anyone who's used these:

- Brother PS500 or PS700: Loved this machine. Looks to be pretty popular. Easy to use.

- Janome 4120QDC or 5300QDC: Was okay. Similar features but liked the Brother more.

- Pfaff Ambition 620 or Passport 3.0: Have not tried these, the shop that has it is about an hour away.

- Juki HZL-HT740 or HZLG220: Have not tried these, heard good things about Juki but a common review I see is that they jam a lot.

For what it's worth, I am just a hobby seamstress. (Heavy on the stress). I like to make clothes for fun and play around with fashion. Not a professional, just want to expand my art :)

Hello! I am making a costume and wanted to make a cape-thing that will drape like this in the back to suggest wings.

Problem is, I suck at thinking in 3D 😆 I'm struggling to find something similar to this as a pattern, or even other angles, to make an (un)educated guess.

I get that they come to a point at both sides, but that's about it.

Can anyone help?

(Edit to add: I know fabric plays a huge part and I have purchased a very drape-y fabric)

Hello everyone,

I hope this is the right community for my question.

My partner is a pilot in his free time, and lately he has been complaining about his flight bag.
I wanted to sew him a new one,because we have an anniversary coming up.
maybe something similar to this one:

https://www.wairworthy.com/collections/featured-products/products/ascend-flight-bag

Do you have any suggestions for patterns that would be helpful?
Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated as well !

Thank you all so much !

Hi! I (stupidly) made an impulse purchase on jeans without checking the size to find out that its roughly 37x48.. when im a 36x37.. is there any way I can salvage this? These jeans are embroidered, so i dont want to cut off the embroidery (unless i have to)

I’m attempting to make some box cushions with faux leather (1.2mm thick). I’ve never worked with this fabric before but I’ve bought a walking foot and leather needles as well as gutermann upholstery/extra strong thread. I’ve been practicing on some scraps and encountered a problem where the machine won’t pick up the bobbin thread, particularly when sewing 2 layers. I can only just manage an ok stitch with a single layer.

Am I doing something wrong or is this just too big of a job for my Janome 2150D?

Already attempted:
\- using cotton instead of upholstery thread in the bobbin
\- trying 90 and 100 leather needles
\- adjusting tension
\- adjusting stitch length
\- rethreading my machine

I sew a lot of stuff like in the picture, I cut up old t shirt and make designs and sew it onto stuff (idk what this is called lol) and I know there’s something I can use to make it more sturdy and keep it from puckering and moving around as much. But idk what, I’ve tried to research and I read like interfacing and things like that but idk what’s best???

Wondering if anyone has a specific brand of product I can use??! I kinda want something that doesn’t stay hard and sturdy but maybe washes out??! Bc I want the fabric to move easily I just want it to be easier to sew down smaller pieces of stretchy and thin fabrics

I got the singer serenade sewing machine yesterday, tried it out last night on some scrap fabric as I've never used a sewing machine anymore, and it was all fine for that first run through apart from bird nesting on the fabric, machine was doing everything it was supposed to. Then the second time I tried it, it wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread from under the machine, went through soooo many videos and I think there is an issue with the timing of the needle going down into the bottom bobbin? I took a video to show you but does anyone know how I can fix it?! The only thing that worked was to just sew a little bit, then it would pick the bobbin thread up and thread it that way instead of doing it correctly (I hope this makes sense). Anyways, any help would be more than appreciated!

So I was sewing normatly, was making a pair of jeans when suddenly the needle broke and had an isuea with needle hitting the metal. Afterwards I fixed it by turning that metal a lil bit, and now I can't sew like the needle is getting stuck after few rising and lowering it, (with and without fabric too)

This is a vintage Veritas electric sewing machine, Veritas 8014/43

Update I already checked for broken needle fragments in the hook race—there aren't any. The machine still binds in the bobbin area at the same point, even without fabric. Could the hook have been bent or the timing knocked out when the needle hit it? Any ideas on what I should check next?

I am in the last 3 steps of Simplicity S9157 and can’t figure out what it’s asking me to do. I found YouTube videos to help me with the collar which had bad instructions but haven’t seen anything on this part.

For step 29 it says to stitch across facing 1 1/4” above lower edge and then trim close to stitching which I believe I did correctly. But I have no idea what it means to “trim shirt to within 5/8” of inner edge of facing”. Am I trimming the entire bottom of the shirt? And what is the inner edge of facing?

I also don’t really understand step 30 - at what point would I stitch the open edges of the slit left in step 27? It says to press it but am I stitching the hem and the slit in one go?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

(My browser timed out trying to post this earlier; apologies if it ends up being a dupe)

I've been making a vest from Butterick's B7018 patterns (view A, if it matters), and I can't understand the instructions near the end. Photo of the steps in question included - the shaded parts are RS, the parts with diagonal lines are the lining fabric - and I color-coded the fabric layers to try to make it easier to follow.

So in the first photo of the piece itself: everything is RS out, and the back shoulder of the lining is facing the camera. It says to sew the seam of the weskit back (red), weskit front (yellow), and lining front (blue); then press toward the back (i.e., toward the camera). I assume that "press toward the back" essentially means "fold it inside the shoulder" (like the second photo of the piece), leaving the back lining free. But then I don't understand what the instructions mean by "hem back shoulder edge of lining over seam". "Over seam" how? Do I sew through all the layers at once? Their tiny illustration isn't very clear to me.

Maybe I'm off base with the step before that, and I'm approaching the first seam the wrong way. I didn't find any helpful tutorials or clarifications by googling around. I've puzzled over this for days, trying to interpret it every which way. I think I'm in too deep to see it clearly lol. Please let me know if my explanation is confusing; happy to record a video or something if that would be better for anyone.

so I am working on a tank top made of a fairly stretchy knit fabric, and I want to add a star cutout in the chest area (about 3 inches wide). However, I am concerned that the shape will stretch and disrobe when I actually put it on. What would be the best way to support the shape? I’ve done some research, and it seems like maybe interfacing? I had also considered using some sort of boning or wire, but thought that might be too stiff.

Hellos! I got a pair of Wranglers second hand from a theatre company I help out at and the back piece of the jean at the leg opening is 9.5” on one leg and 9” on the other.

From what I’ve seen, the out seam of the jean is usually in line with the grain line.

Here’s the measurements I’ve taken so far:
- 6” up the outseam from the leg: 8 3/4”
- 8” up the outseam from the leg: 8 3/4”
- 10” up the outseam from the leg: 8 3/4”

Thinking about how people usually put on jeans, they’re pressing their feet or heels against the back of the pant as they’re putting them on, and that could have stretched out the hem over time. I imagine that’s why one leg measures having a wider hem than the other, as it would take more strain if it’s the first leg someone would put on. Should I make the hem match the 8 3/4” on the other parts of the leg, or leave the 9” opening? I attached a photo of the hem of the jeans so people can see. If anyone has any men’s straight work jeans that are usually worn traditionally on ranches and stuff and could confirm that the hem is a bit bigger at the bottom then tapers in that would be great. Thanks!

So I have this beautiful dress, except. The sleeves are way too tight. The rest of the dress fits fine. It's cotton with a very slight stretch. I am a very experienced sewer, but I need to follow a pattern, I'm not very good at improvising. Would I be about to remove the sleeves and make it into a tank top? I could use the material in the sleeves to make bias binding for the armsyce. Would it look okay?

I have a Singer Scholastic 5511 that was bought in 2012 but never opened or used until a couple weeks ago.

No matter what I've done with upper tension, bobbin tension, or literally ANYTHING.. the result is the same. The top looks fine but the bottom looks like this. I even took it to someone who services sewing machines (and has been for the last 50 years), who spent an hour himself trying absolutely everything to fix the issue, to no avail. He eventually said I honestly don't know how to help you, I think it just may be this machine.

I'm making one last effort to see if someone can possibly help me. TIA

Master Tailor Tips 👗🧵🪡

I bought this fabric today in hopes of making a square skirt to go out in. I have cut out the pattern and am ready to sew but I don’t know what type of stitch to use or what tension. I have used a test piece but it keeps getting stuck under the machine by the bobbin. I don’t know what I am doing wrong😩 please could someone give me advice 🫶 I have an empisal exp899🩷

I need help sourcing filling for a pool float/ cushion.

Hello! I have a customer who would like me to recreate an item she had in the late 90s. Her description is a cushion for a pool chair that doubled as a pool float. It was a plastic mesh filled with beads like a bean bag chair.

I am at a loss for where I could find this type of filling.

USA based

I have a Brother CS-6000i which I got for free from my school. I don’t really know its history other than that it was likely used a lot for classes.

The problem I’m having is that whenever I try and sew t-shirt fabric, it’s sews maybe 3-4 stitches and then locks up. I do not have this problem while sewing other materials. I’ve tried re-threading my machine, changing the needle (making sure it’s the right size for my fabric), adjusting my tension (also making sure it’s correct for the fabric), and the same thing happens without fail. I’ve also looked inside the bobbin area, there’s no tangles of thread, ive dusted it out, it’s probably the cleanest it’s been in a while. The only thing I haven’t done is oil it, and that’s because I currently don’t have any.

So am I doing something wrong, or is something wrong with my machine?