Which machine?

As a matter of practicality; what machine?

I have a confession to make...I am a machineaholic!

I have collected vintage machines for a number of years and have a few, I like to think that when the sun spots hit and electricity goes down for good I will still be able to sew away on one of my hand cranks or my treadle so it won’t stress me out too much.

Anyway, back to the question, what machine is best for costume making?

The good news is that it doesn't need to cost a fortune to buy a decent machine that will chunder through everything you throw at it.  If you are compelled to buy a new machine then please go ahead but I have a new (ish) one, its about 6 years old now.  It is a Bernina Activa 135 which is a lower range model but did everything I wanted it to do at the time in a delicate kind of way.

Then I started costuming proper and it was as if the machine had decided “enough!  I was never designed for this!”

Luckily my husband mother used to make kilts.  This means that she had a ‘proper’ machine.  It is a Pfaff 30 that she gave me about 10 years ago when she knew I was into sewing.  It was handed over with that ‘oh its old and you will probably never use it’ that is often thought of these vintage wonders. 

Here is a pic of the old man of the sewing machine world;

He will sit there and declare...’come on woman, what else have you got to throw at me...give it here and I will show you what I can do!’

He grabs hold of it by the neck and throws it out the other end with a perfect seam.  I have even sewn pleather onto chicken wire with this (with that leather needle of course, the needle being the one weak link on the Pfaff 30).  The only problem with ‘Bert’ as I like to call him...is that he is a BEAST!  You put the foot on the pedal and he roars into action, I do sometimes wonder who is in control here, Bert or me?

I would like to point out that the Pfaff 30 is the only male in the female dominated society of the home sewing machine.

So for everyday use I go to the Singer 201k;

I would say that none of these machines are good if you can’t leave them out all the time as they weigh a tonne!  I have to get hubby to help out when I need to switch from Sally to Bert.

But Sally is nearly as strong as Bert, she goes through so many layers of fabric at one time you wouldn’t believe and can be lovely and delicate at the same time.  There are also loads and loads of attachments for these vintage machines and there is something wonderful about doing a tiny rolled hem on chiffon with little effort.

Both these machines are from the 1950’s and relatively expensive (in the vintage world) but still very cheap compared to a new model as you can still get them for under £100.

Sally is sitting on a cabinet that houses Gretel the German made Singer 411g who has an array of cams that gives you some wonderful embroidery stitches.  I had to steal a pic off Ismaacs (a wonderful site full of info on vintage machines) as I can't get to Gretel without moving Sally and I don't feel that strong today;

You can of course get a Singer 99k cheap as chips.  I have a few of these as handcranks and electric and are ‘almost’ as wonderful as the 201k to sew with.

It is smaller and lighter than the 201 which is an added bonus.

The only thing I would say to you is get the electrics checked on a vintage model before using them, you don't want to go up in smoke do you?  But even with that they are still cheap to buy, wonderful to use and perfect for the weird and wonderful things you get to sew making costumes.