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December 13, 2019
Consider the sewing machine.
It's really a very amazing product and even more so when you consider exactly what it copies.
This is a basic little animated graphic, that is not very clear, but it makes my point.
The actual act of sewing is:
- With threaded needle in one hand, and the other hand holding the fabric, the needle is inserted either from the top or bottom and brought through the other side
- The needle is then inserted into a space (determined by the type of seam/stitching that is desired) in the opposite side (if the needle came up from the bottom, then second part of stitching would be the needle going from the top to the bottom and vice versa)
- This process is continued either in a seam type process or a design type process until the process is completed.
What happens here is that with one hand the seamstress is manipulating the needle and thread while the other hand is holding the fabric either to keep it taught or to shape it around the thickness of the thumb or in another location.
So that both hands are performing functions, that are needed. So try and imagine how a machine would copy this? Would the machine have one part holding the fabric while the other part threaded the needle in and out of the fabric?...from top to bottom and from bottom to top? That's almost like having a robot sewing - or at least that's what would be needed.
The idea that was used to solve this dilemma was really ingenious. Instead of using one thread, how about having two threads with one on the bottom and one on the top. Now when you do that, what you need is a way for the top thread to loop around the bottom thread, pull tight and go to the next stitch where it would loop again and move onto the next step.
There are several inherit problems with this though, and that is that the fabric must be held not only in a certain position, but it should also be taught - not tight, but clearly without any slack which would cause the stitching to become loose and eventually wouldn't be a functional process. By that I mean that it wouldn't be a seam that would hold together well, and probably not a seam in which the thread didn't break.
As any sewing machine operator (more commonly called a seamstress, where as a person who uses a sewing machine to sew is called a dressmaker!), can have many errors like:
- you can have broken threads,
- tension too tight on bottom (causing the upper thread to be looping too much on the bottom), or
- tension too tight on top (causing the lower thread to be looping too much on the top of the fabric),
- loopy or loose stitches,
- too tight stitches (that cause the fabric to buckle or pucker)
- jamming and all sorts of bird nests below
These types of errors show you all the inherit problems in sewing with a running thread on the top and one on the bottom. This process is also a lot like tambour beading process, with threads on both sides of the fabric.
Solving them takes some practice, trial and error adjusting of the machine, but my history has been that the best solution is a good sewing machine. This is why I recommend you purchase a sewing machine from some of the best made manufacturers and not a cheap one online. You won't receive any kind of service for those online cheap machines - no matter what the name, and if you decide you want to sell it, you can get a lot more for a good-name sewing machine than a cheap
one. If you decide you want to upgrade, then you can usually get even more for the trade-in, especially if you trade up with the same dealer you purchased the original machine. And often good stores will have excellent used machines that can be great for an entry machine.
With an excellent machine, usually it's the user error - that's what I've found, and it's usually while I'm expounding on my four-letter word vocabulary ending with, "Oh....nevermind...I had it threaded wrong!"
I never cease to be amazed at the action on sewing machines, particularly when I have the pedal to the metal and am sewing at full, break-neck speed. To think what's going on down below and above with my machine while I'm whipping through those seams is really amazing.
So while you're sewing up your Christmas gifts or a new outfit for yourself this holiday season, take a moment to appreciate your machine - keep it clean and well-oiled and take it in for maintenance annually to be professional cleaned and examined. Not only will you thank yourself, but your machine will thank you for many many years and even decades of beautiful sewing.
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