A long journey to decent stitches

[AlZilla]

Well, after months of on and off tinkering with my 111W153 and a lot of reading this forum, I finally have my machine stitching nicely with 138, top and bottom.  Ignore the chicken tracks on the sample pieces, that was something else I'm working on.

This was basically the first sewing machine I ever worked on to any extent. It took getting it turning freely, putting it in a different table, re-timing the bottom shaft, replacing the hook, hours of cleaning, adjusting, re-adjusting,  you name it.

Now, I need to master locking the stitch without reverse. And I think it's going to get treated to a servo motor. The little run of sample stitches took just a few nanoseconds ...

Thank you to all the sewing experts who contribute their knowledge, expertise and experience so generously to this forum. I've been reading threads that go back 10 years that are still like a masters thesis on these old machines.

Edited April 2, 2023 by AlZilla

[kgg]

6 minutes ago, AlZilla said:

Now, I need to master locking the stitch without reverse.

You may want to try putting the item under the presser foot so you are say about 3 stitches from the end and instead of sewing forward along the direction of your intended stitch line sew the item towards what would be the normal starting point, lift the presser foot turn the item and then sew back through those stitches in the direction you want to go. Doing that will lock the stitches and you will only have two layers of thread as compared to doing what a lot of people do when they a machine with reverse.

Example with a machine having reverse:

Typical way: Start the line of stitching, go three stitches forward then reverse to lock stitches then forward again to continue on doing the stitch line. Those first three stitches will have three layers of thread, 1 forward, 1 reverse and 1 one forward again.

A method to reduce the number of layers of thread in those first three stitch holes is to start in 3 stitches on the intended stitch line, reverse stitch 3 stitches and then forward again too do the seam. So you get 1 layer of thread in the reverse direction of stitches and 1 layer of overlapping stitches in the forward direction to lock the stitches.

kgg

[Wizcrafts]

5 hours ago, AlZilla said:

Now, I need to master locking the stitch without reverse.

 

4 hours ago, kgg said:

You may want to try putting the item under the presser foot so you are say about 3 stitches from the end and instead of sewing forward along the direction of your intended stitch line sew the item towards what would be the normal starting point, lift the presser foot turn the item and then sew back through those stitches in the direction you want to go. Doing that will lock the stitches and you will only have two layers of thread as compared to doing what a lot of people do when they a machine with reverse.

Most of my Singer sewing machines don't have reverse levers. I use the same method as described by KGG. I call this "Poor Man's Reverse." I named it that because I didn't have the money to buy a new Juki machine with reverse when I began acquiring sewing machines in the mid 1980s. As a result of learning to do Poor Man's Reverse, I don't shy away from buying 100 year old machines that sew forward only.

Another way I lock in the stitches is simply sewing over the starting stitches for 5 or more stitches. They aren't coming out on their own after that. I do this with all of the patches I sew onto vests, jackets, hats and bags. I sew around the patch and over several starting stitches.

[kgg]

25 minutes ago, Wizcrafts said:

I call this "Poor Man's Reverse."

Love the name.

kgg

[AlZilla]

Thanks, guys. I also think that on a straightline stitch with 2 layers of leather, I could leave enough tail threads and just tie it off between layers the same as a saddle stitch. Just depends on the job and aesthetic required.

It'll be fun learning. 

[dikman]

I do as KGG suggested but if it's critical to start at a particular point I remove the thread from the needle and sew forward three holes, re-thread the needle and then sew back to the start. This way I'm at the starting point I want.