Put the feed dogs up, and you don’t have to move the fabric.
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well I just visualized that so thanks for that involuntary cringe.
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It’s been literally 33 years since my mother tried to teach me. Either her machine didn’t have what I imagine a feed dog is or I still managed to screw it up.
Also no cage around the needle on her machine.
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That’s just one of about forty feet (and it doesn’t come with the machine). I suppose you could remove the cage and screw it onto other feet, but it’s probably offered in order to calm the fears of primary school teachers.
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I did mention the heavy-duty double-needle sewing machines cobblers and saddlemakers use that pre-punch the holes, didn’t I? Some of those can sew right through your finger bones. I’ve seen a giant old cast-iron one sewing through a full half inch of stacked leather at the same speed you’d sew table linen.
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I’m confused about one aspect of this mechanism. So the upper thread wraps fully around the bobbin…what holds the bobbin in place? From this gif, it looks like the bobbin is floating in space. Wouldn’t the upper thread get caught on the axle of the bobbin? Please help me understand how this actually works.
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Came here to ask that…
The axle is typically mounted only on one end and doesn’t protrude (or not much) through the bobbin. The bobbin does not spin (I think), the thread is unwinding from it around its edge. The axle has a mechanism that snaps on the bobbin from one side or from the center and holds it in place.
Happened to mom some decades ago. A small round hole in the nail that bled somewhat and was annoyingly painful. Healed cleanly, was visible as a dot under a regrown fingernail for some time after.
The finger guard is a good idea.
Silly thought: steel fake glue-on nails.
That’s why I suggested a hot-melt adhesive impregnated thread. The glue wouldn’t stick until ironed over, the seam would be removable with relative ease until then.
Did a little sewing myself. It’s a useful skill. Should learn more, maybe get that old heavy machine I learned it on as a kid, we still have it somewhere. Maybe retrofit it with a brushless motor for better control…
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There’s a page on bobbin drivers on Wikipedia that could use some love from people with more expertise than me.
If the page is accurate, I learned on an oscillating shuttle bobbin type Singer that my mother still uses. My own machine uses a transverse boat shuttle, but it’s a couple decades older than Mom’s.
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Thanks for the reply. The axle is mounted on only one end. OK. I don’t get how the upper thread loops around the bobbin without catching on that axle. It’s like the magician’s levitating body trick, passing the hula hoop along the length of the body… it’s still magic to me, until I understand how the thread loops around the bobbin without catching on the axle. It works somehow, obviously. I just don’t see it with this gif, which has the bobbin floating in space.
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If you’re patient, I could break out my macro lens, some colored thread, and show you… Though my machine is an oscilator, so it differs from the gif.
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Or see the giant human version here:
at about 5:30 in an episode of one of my favorite series of all time.
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I’m patient. This is actually a pretty cool gif, and I would love to
understand the full mechanism. Thank you!
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The gif leaves out the bobbin case that holds the bobbin inside the hook assembly. The loop doesn’t go around the bobbin, think of it as going in front of the bobbin, sliding across a very smooth case.
The bobbin does spin inside the case to feed the thread. The case also provides the proper tension on the bobbin thread to create a balanced stitch. From experience, a machine that is out of tension is incredibly difficult to get back to balance (especially the older “tank” machines). Modern machines have automatic tension, so it very rarely needs to be adjusted - the computer does it for you.
The gif actually only shows one possible type - as far as I know only one manufacturer today makes machines with a rotary hook and vertical bobbin like that, Bernina. Most machines today have an oscillating hook and a horizontal bobbin, known as a “drop in”. A drop in machine has no axle for the bobbin, it just stays by gravity in most cases (although there is a little magnet in my machine supposedly helping out).
Edit for shameless plug: In case anyone’s in the Portland area, I teach basic to advanced sewing and happily give private lessons!
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942:
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The needle thread travels along the top of the bobbin case, and is hooked on the bobbin case finger.
This happens in the blink of an eye if the pedal is depressed-- I’m turning the hand wheel slowly. (And I’ve omitted most of the stitch sequence-- there’s no visible, thread, although the hook does rotate forwards and back.)
They’re in correct order, now
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Yes, that!!! I stay corrected, the bobbin spins. I forgot having to get the thread through a little hole that is keeping it in the track of the rotating spike.
@Matthew_MW_Holl: The bobbin case is free! That’s the trick. It’s not attached, so the upper thread can loop around it. Thank you.
@pjcamp: That’s a great show! I remember watching some of those episodes back in the 90’s, and had lost track of it.
@jerwin: I see how the bobbin case sits in the housing, loose, and the thread wraps around it.
Thanks all. Got it!
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Pfaff uses the rotary hook bobbins, too.
This YouTube video does a better job explaining what actually happens. It also shows the take-up lever which is an important part of the stitch cycle.
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Yes, part of what makes a sewing machine actually work is that the machine varies how much tension is applied to each thread throughout the stitch cycle.
