69 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
69 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
<p>Those of you who have followed this blog for a while will know that I’ve
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collected a few sewing machines over the years. I have a modern Janome DKS100
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and a Brother overlocker which I use for most of my sewing, and two vintage
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Singer machines (<a href="https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/sewing-1911-style/">hand-cranked</a> and <a href="https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/singer-201k/">treadle operated</a>) that I use when I just need
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a beautiful straight stitch and I want to enjoy the serenity of non-motorised
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machines. Actually, I have another tiny <a href="https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/old-and-new-but-both-classics/">Singer 99</a> which was the first I bought,
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but I don’t often use that one these days. When I learned more about the unique
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features of different brands, I really wanted to try a <a href="https://www.pfaff.com">Pfaff machine</a>. Sewing
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enthusiasts tend to have their favourite brands, but Pfaff (and Bernina) fans
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tend to be very loyal to their chosen machine maker. However, when I bought my
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Janome, the problem with that plan was that both were <em>really</em> expensive to buy
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new. I think I made the right choice with my Janome at the time. It is a very
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capable and well-made machine for the price, and I have thoroughly enjoyed making
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a wardrobe of clothes on it. However, I’ve kept an eye on eBay from time to time
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to see if any used Pfaff machines came up at reasonable prices, and about a week ago,
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I spotted one. Reader, I bought it.</p>
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<p>It’s a <a href="https://www.pfaff.com/en-US/Machines/performance-5-2">Pfaff Performance 5.2</a>, and it’s an absolute beauty. Pfaff make some
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machines which are oriented more towards quilters, some which have machine
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embroidery features, and some which are all-rounders and great for garment
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sewing. This model is one of the latter kind. The thing which makes Pfaff
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machines unique is the Integrated Dual Feed (IDT) system, which they have had on
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almost all their machines for more than 45 years. Most sewing machines feed
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fabric under the moving needle from the bottom, using toothed plates called
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‘feed dogs’ which rise up and forward in time with the needle to move the fabric
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forward and make the next stitch. This works well enough, but since
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you are almost always joining two pieces of fabric when sewing, it means that
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the bottom piece of fabric can shift relative to the top piece as only the
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bottom is in contact with the feed dogs. If you don’t hang on to the fabric
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(with your hands, or with careful pinning or basting), the top layer of a seam
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ends up being longer than the bottom, even if the fabric length of both pieces
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is the same.</p>
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<p>You can (and should) counteract this tendency for the pieces to shift with
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careful handling, or you can use what’s called a ‘walking foot’. I’ve got one
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and use it sometimes on my Janome. It’s a rather large attachment which grips
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the fabric from the top while the feed dogs move it from the bottom, and it
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helps to keep things from shifting. It’s quite a wide and generic presser foot
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though, and doesn’t help when you need to insert a zip or do something else
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which requires a special foot. The IDT is built-in, and can be engaged to sew
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with most of the feet that you can get for the machine. It works beautifully.
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You barely need to hold the fabric, as it feeds evenly and precisely. The stitch
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quality is lovely too. It’s one of those things which is hard to quantify, but
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sewing on the Pfaff feels smooth and almost effortless. There are a lot of nice
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features which make it less of a stop-start activity, and help to keep you in
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the flow. You can set it so that the needle stops in the down position when you
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stop sewing. Lots of machines (including my Janome) let you do that, and it’s
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very helpful to be able to pivot the fabric without moving the needle position.
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However, the Pfaff also automatically raises the presser foot slightly to hover
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when you stop, so that you don’t have to raise and lower the presser foot
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manually when you want to pivot. In fact, when you press the foot pedal, the
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presser foot lowers before the machine starts sewing, and when you stop, the
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foot hovers. Once you’ve got used to this, it makes for a lovely, flowing way of
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sewing, and you can concentrate more on manipulating the fabric and keeping an
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eye on the accuracy of your stitching.</p>
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<p>I’ve only had time to make a couple of face masks as a test this weekend, but
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that went very smoothly. I’ve got some denim to make another pair of Ginger
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jeans to replace <a href="https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/ginger-jeans-2/">this pair</a> which have now worn through on the legs because (as
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predicted) I wore them to death. I’m hoping to start those next weekend. I’m
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looking forward to all that top-stitching which I think will work out well on
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the Pfaff with the IDT. It also has a bit more fabric piercing power, which is
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always welcome when you are sewing seams in denim through multiple layers.</p>
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<p>So, I seem to have become a sewing machine collector. I did think hard about my
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purchase, but I’m really glad I took the plunge as it was a real bargain. We
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don’t really have the space for six (yikes!) machines in the house though, so my
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plan is to sell the Janome and the Singer 99 so that someone else can enjoy
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them. I do like using the other two vintage Singers though. There’s something
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about the contrast between a very hi-tech sewing machine (which does a lot for
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you) and a very low-tech but beautifully built machine (which does very little
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for you) that I enjoy. They both challenge my brain and hands in different ways,
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and switching between the two is refreshing.</p> |