How a sewing machine works (gif edition)

boing
41

Hammer pants FTW!!!11!!!eleventy!

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42

I canā€™t think of a use for that, except perhaps a leather heel? (Just curious what else that thick a piece of leather would have.)

43

I just looked it up! I thought they had moved to an oscillating hook with the move to drop in bobbins, but it looks like their drop in machines still have the rotary hook. My previous machine was an Ambition 1.0, I traded it a few months ago for a Janome Skyline S7.

The Pfaff Select is a thing of beauty. Talk about longevity - the drive in that machine is identical to the drive in my Tiptronic from the early 80s, just with a faster motor.

44

I think the difference is that we donā€™t wear the kinds of fabric that iron-on patches are made for. shudders

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45

The bobbin is actually lying down in its little hole. Itā€™s horizontal, not perpendicular. Does that help?

46

Nope. Cold water is not something Iā€™m interested in entering.

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47

Is the timing correct on the GIF? Does the tension really come from advancing the fabric forward as opposed to the upswing of the needle?

48

I think this is pretty common in leatherwork. See, for example, the step-by-step demonstrations on A Fetish Leathercrafters Journal.

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49

Sufficiently Advanced Technology.

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50

Somehow I expected the link to be to a site for people who have a fetish for leather crafting rather than are leather crafting for fetishes. Regardless, high quality work, but no sewing demonstrated much to my disappointment. I supposed I could browse to find someā€¦ :-/

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51

It was part of a saddle, but the same machine was being used for saddlery and bootmaking. Big old cast iron thing, the size of a triphammer.

Edit: Check out this smaller, more modern machine. It only has a single needle but it does have a leading punch.

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52

Having sewn leather by hand (with and without a punch), I am completely impressed, thanks so much for posting that!

(Please allow me to award you one Internet for the day. :slightly_smiling:

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53

My wife is an avid sewist. Iā€™m always impressed by how much - and at the same time how little sewing machines have changed over the past 100 years. While modern machines can be heavily computerized, mechanically they havenā€™t evolved all that much. Probably the biggest evolution other than computerization was the invention of zig-zag functionality in the late 1940s.

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54

Then thereā€™s the heated debate of which is better: top vs side loading bobbins. Bernina still uses side loading.

55

I use a new top loading machine hours every day, but have a couple of vintage side loaders as well. (When my main machine is in the shop my backup is a side loader.) I don;t care how they load as long as they make a balanced stitch and donā€™t get in the way of my sewing.

I do wish I could afford one of those sweet ass Berninas though.

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56

My Singer is side loading. Itā€™s about ten years old. Honestly, the only time Iā€™ve ever used a top loader was in school. It was nice just to drop the bobbin in, but I donā€™t remember seeing many for sale when I bought my machine.

57

Actually, it loads from the front. There are industrials, and perhaps even a few vintage Singers that load from the side.

Supposedly, thereā€™s no good way to produce a oscilating zigzagger with a stich width of greater than 5.5mm.

A side loader:

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58

Just curious: how many of you would be interested in a python interface to .las files?

59

Is it the laspy thing, for the LIDAR point cloud data files?

60

Hah-- when I began the project, thatā€™s what came up. No-- itā€™s a vector graphics format used by a particular CAD program for sewing patterns. I was using it to analyse a scanned in pattern drafting manual, and I was annoyed that I couldnā€™t draw with enough precision and speed to test my hypotheses.

Now, I can generate a las file using a python script, and overlay the proposed draft over the scanned copy, instantly filling in the gaps in my knowledge.

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