Читать книгу 3 Beautiful Bags - Lisa Lam - Страница 6

The Sewing Machine

A sewing machine is the most important tool in making

bags but it doesn’t need to be a grand or costly affair.

There are only two features that I insist on: a powerful

motor and a free arm. The others listed here, while not

essential, are useful to have.

Needle up/down button – there’s

always lots of stopping and starting

in bag making and having a button

that tells the machine to stop with

the needle down is so useful. When

the needle is down your work can’t

escape and you can turn neat and

precise corners.

Thread cutter – having

your threads cut at the

touch of a button isn’t

necessary, but it is

certainly very nice.

Free arm – incredibly useful in

bag making. It makes sewing

narrow fabric tubes (such as

sleeves) and small- to medium-

sized purses much easier.

Powerful motor – a must for coping with all of those fabric

(and interfacing) layers.

Good stability – when sewing at breakneck speeds or

working with thick layers, the last thing you want is your

machine to shake and judder. Choose a machine that has

a good weight and a wide, stable base. Ask to see or test

the machine in action at maximum speed.

✧

Build quality – how solid does the machine feel? I prefer

heavy machines (the more metal the better) because they

will last longer (with fewer machine services) and they

will vibrate less.

Instruction manual – I am a stickler for a good manual

because no matter how experienced you are there will be

plenty of occasions when you’ll need to turn to it for help.

Don’t be shy in the shop – ask to have a flick through the

machine manual. Also look on the internet for support and

user manuals for your machine.

Bobbin winding system – different sewing machines have

different systems for bobbin winding. While in the shop,

ask to see how the bobbin is wound and check you are

happy with the method.

Dual feed system – this is a feature on some sewing

machines that makes working with several and/or thick

layers much easier because this system feeds the layers

through the machine evenly and at the same speed. In

normal sewing, the bottom layer gets fed through the

machine just before the top layer and this results in the

top layer creeping forwards, which can be a real pain.

Variable speed selector – this is different

from the speed controlled by a foot pedal; it

overrides the pedal by setting the maximum

speed of the machine.

✧

✧

✧

✧

✧

Long arm – gives

you extra table

space to the right

of the needle, great

for when you are

sewing large or

bulky bags as there

are times when

you don’t want to

scrunch up your

bag to fit it under

the machine.

Getting Started