Another sewing machine to buy

In article ,
"Taria" wrote:

I am flat out of I wants right now. Well, unless
I get to really thinking on it. : )


Taria, right now I'm drooling over a pasta attachment (for hollow
shapes) for my mixer. Quilting wants? Nothing comes to mind at the
moment!

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net

It is not a true running stitch - only looks that way from the top.
The machine has a hook that pulls a loop of the bobbin thread to the top of
the fabric, feed dogs push the fabric the required "stitch length" then the
loop is poked back into the fabric and the loop is secured from underneath.
The stitching on the back looks like couching. I don't see any way that one
would be able to do free motion quilting on this machine, only straight
lines and curves. There is a special 3-step technique just to do a pivot.

Here's a PDF of the manual:
http://www.babylock.com/ftp/whitepap...onRefGuide.pdf
Look on page 20 to see the understitching. There also is a comment on page
25 "Securing Stitches" of the manual that the stitches need to be secured -
that they can pull apart if the layers are pulled.

Mickie






"Roberta" Roberta@Home wrote in message
...
I really need to see some kind of slow-motion action on how the stitch
is formed. But it can't be the same running stitch even the Japanese
do by hand, since the needle doesn't go all the way through the fabric
and up the other side. (It's attached to the needle clamp!) So the
thread comes up from the bobbin and then threads through the needle?
The video showed some sort of hook on top that made a loop of thread.
Some genius invented that mechanism, for sure!
Roberta in D


On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 07:56:01 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

On Jan 3, 9:11 am, Roberta Roberta@Home wrote:
Any idea what the back looks like? Some sort of chain stitch?
Roberta in D

On Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:08:49 -0500, IMS

wrote:
I was really interested in finding out how this machine worked, and an
'official' Babylock video for it on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWmEAGdElq4

If the link doesn't work, search YouTube for "Baby Lock Sashiko
Machine Presented by Nancy Zieman."

It's very cool.

-Irene

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:33:28 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

As if I wasn't full up on sewing machines. Along comes Babylock with
their new Sashiko sewing machine. It is a single purpose machine to
replicate the Sashiko stitch on traditional Japanese quilts. I so want
one of these things. I know that it is an "unnecessary" purchase, and
I don't know what they will sell for, and I have never made a Sashiko
quilt, but hey, that hasn't stopped me from buying a lot of things,
that I was glad I did after I bought them. Here is a link to the
website for the machine. Hopefully it won't be Tooooo expensive, when
they finally arrive.
http://www.babylock.com/quilting/sashiko/

John

It is a true running stitch, it is similar to the top stitch. Just a
single thread in an over and under continuous pattern. The difference
is that with this machine, you can adjust the length of the stitch on
the bottom versus the length of the top. It has only one thread on the
machine, that is fed off the bobbin. No top thread. So, it is a true
running stitch, which is the true stitch of Japanese Sashiko quilting.
I know it is kind of hard for us westerners to get our heads around
the lack of a thread locking interface that is a part of our quilting
process, but they have been doing it for centuries, by hand, and it
seems to work for them. Now this machine allows for us machine centric
Westerners, and those Japanese who are similarly inclined, to
reproduce the same stitch as done by traditional methods. I think that
is the thing that caught my eye, when I first stumbled onto it. I do
fear that the price puts it into the realm of a curiosity except for
those that want to experiment and have a larger budget than most
people would have. I have heard prices of about $1600 so for this
single purpose machine, so it may not have the status of a must have.
John

On Jan 3, 5:44*pm, "Taria" wrote:
Road trip for John to see the machine.
Stash raid on his sewing room while he
is out. *I think it would more likely be
a funrniture raid at his house though!
; )

I'll have to see which dealer nearby sells
babylock so I can go look myself.
Taria

I don't know about this machine. If I understand the workings of a
sewing machine, and I think I do. There is no way a machine could
provide a running stitch with one thread passing over the upper
surface of the fabric, then passing through the fabric and then
carrying the same thread along the bottom surface and then passing
through the fabric to repeat the process along the upper surface. This
is what is done with the hand made Sashiko stitch. I have a feeling
that the stitch it does make, looks like the Sashiko stitch on the top
but the bottom must have some sort of chain stitch to hold it in
place, on the bottom. I will need to be convinced by sight of the back
and front of the material to verify it is a running stitch, and not
some clever interlocking stitch on the bottom. Until that time I will
remain skeptical. If anybody has a dealer who has one of these
machines and can get a picture or brochure which explains clearly how
this machine does whatever it does, it will clear up a lot of
confusion, at least for me.
John

Not so fast. From the description below, I won't be taking any road
trip for a look see. My interest had faded without a true running
stitch.

John

If anybody has a dealer who has one of these
machines and can get a picture or brochure which explains clearly how
this machine does whatever it does, it will clear up a lot of
confusion, at least for me.

I did some searching and whilst I cannot find a picture of the reverse
side, I found a description from someone who had seen a sample, they
seemed pretty impressed, that technically it is a chain, but the tension
is such that it looks comparable to a regular machine stitch with a
heavier thread.

This did raise the concern that the tension may be tricky to maintain
when sewing with different threads and through different thicknesses,
but unfortunately there are so few of these machines around that no one
could answer that one.

Cheers
Anne

How much Sashiko could one person do in his/her life? It seems to me
that if Sashiko is your passion, you would want to do it by hand.
Unless you're like me and have lousy hands. Nonetheless, it seems like
an odd machine without broad use. Even narrower than the felter
machines, which do produce some fun stuff. I am intrigued by Sashiko,
but there are enough other things out there to try that it's going to
be a while before I arrive at that particular technique. Maybe by then
the mechines will have been perfected and I can get one cheap on
Craig's List or the like, LOL.

Sunny

On Jan 3, 11:51*pm, Sunny wrote:
How much Sashiko could one person do in his/her life? It seems to me
that if Sashiko is your passion, you would want to do it by hand.
Unless you're like me and have lousy hands. Nonetheless, it seems like
an odd machine without broad use. Even narrower than the felter
machines, which do produce some fun stuff. *I am intrigued by Sashiko,
but there are enough other things out there to try that it's going to
be a while before I arrive at that particular technique. Maybe by then
the mechines will have been perfected and I can get one cheap on
Craig's List or the like, LOL.

Sunny

That is my problem, hands that have taken too much abuse from hammers,
saw blades and other less than friendly implements of mass
disfiguration. Would that I could engage in fine needlework with these
tired old hands. It is machines for me, I fear, unless I come across
some needle skill that will allow me to partake of this pleasure. The
one that I can do, is needlepoint. It is a straight through and pull
type of skill and not the rocking motion that is required of some of
the other movements. Sigh!
John

Thanks for the link, that was interesting! It also says they recommend
long-staple polyester thread, so any sewing machine envy I might have
been feeling just died.
Roberta in D

On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 21:01:50 -0500, "Mickie Swall"
wrote:

It is not a true running stitch - only looks that way from the top.
The machine has a hook that pulls a loop of the bobbin thread to the top of
the fabric, feed dogs push the fabric the required "stitch length" then the
loop is poked back into the fabric and the loop is secured from underneath.
The stitching on the back looks like couching. I don't see any way that one
would be able to do free motion quilting on this machine, only straight
lines and curves. There is a special 3-step technique just to do a pivot.

Here's a PDF of the manual:
http://www.babylock.com/ftp/whitepap...onRefGuide.pdf
Look on page 20 to see the understitching. There also is a comment on page
25 "Securing Stitches" of the manual that the stitches need to be secured -
that they can pull apart if the layers are pulled.

Mickie






"Roberta" Roberta@Home wrote in message
.. .
I really need to see some kind of slow-motion action on how the stitch
is formed. But it can't be the same running stitch even the Japanese
do by hand, since the needle doesn't go all the way through the fabric
and up the other side. (It's attached to the needle clamp!) So the
thread comes up from the bobbin and then threads through the needle?
The video showed some sort of hook on top that made a loop of thread.
Some genius invented that mechanism, for sure!
Roberta in D


On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 07:56:01 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

On Jan 3, 9:11 am, Roberta Roberta@Home wrote:
Any idea what the back looks like? Some sort of chain stitch?
Roberta in D

On Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:08:49 -0500, IMS

wrote:
I was really interested in finding out how this machine worked, and an
'official' Babylock video for it on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWmEAGdElq4

If the link doesn't work, search YouTube for "Baby Lock Sashiko
Machine Presented by Nancy Zieman."

It's very cool.

-Irene

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:33:28 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

As if I wasn't full up on sewing machines. Along comes Babylock with
their new Sashiko sewing machine. It is a single purpose machine to
replicate the Sashiko stitch on traditional Japanese quilts. I so want
one of these things. I know that it is an "unnecessary" purchase, and
I don't know what they will sell for, and I have never made a Sashiko
quilt, but hey, that hasn't stopped me from buying a lot of things,
that I was glad I did after I bought them. Here is a link to the
website for the machine. Hopefully it won't be Tooooo expensive, when
they finally arrive.
http://www.babylock.com/quilting/sashiko/

John

It is a true running stitch, it is similar to the top stitch. Just a
single thread in an over and under continuous pattern. The difference
is that with this machine, you can adjust the length of the stitch on
the bottom versus the length of the top. It has only one thread on the
machine, that is fed off the bobbin. No top thread. So, it is a true
running stitch, which is the true stitch of Japanese Sashiko quilting.
I know it is kind of hard for us westerners to get our heads around
the lack of a thread locking interface that is a part of our quilting
process, but they have been doing it for centuries, by hand, and it
seems to work for them. Now this machine allows for us machine centric
Westerners, and those Japanese who are similarly inclined, to
reproduce the same stitch as done by traditional methods. I think that
is the thing that caught my eye, when I first stumbled onto it. I do
fear that the price puts it into the realm of a curiosity except for
those that want to experiment and have a larger budget than most
people would have. I have heard prices of about $1600 so for this
single purpose machine, so it may not have the status of a must have.
John

John, I hear you on the inability to do much hand work. My hand/finger
joints look like somebody took a hammer to them in the past. In my
case, it isn't abuse from work, just bad genes. I was excited by the
sashiko thimble. It looks like something that might work for me. I
have a hard time stitching down a binding by hand, or putting in a
hem. With that kind of thimble it just might be that I could push the
needle a bit more effectively without pain. It's a shame we can't go
get nice, new fingers and hands, isn't it?

Sunny

On Jan 4, 12:51*pm, Sunny wrote:
John, I hear you on the inability to do much hand work. My hand/finger
joints look like somebody took a hammer to them in the past. In my
case, it isn't abuse from work, just bad genes. I was excited by the
sashiko thimble. It looks like something that might work for me. I
have a hard time stitching down a binding by hand, or putting in a
hem. With that kind of thimble it just might be that I could push the
needle a bit more effectively without pain. It's a shame we can't go
get nice, new fingers and hands, isn't it?

Sunny

Ah! Yes, the ultimate thimble quest. I have a drawer full of various
types that I have bought and tossed in there as unsatisfactory. That
was an interesting variation and might have to be added to my
collection. The one I tend to use, when I use a thimble, is one of the
leather ones with a small metal disc encased in one of the surfaces.
That seems to be the least annoying to use, but that is damning with
faint praise. I generally don't use a thimble, because I have lots of
callous finger tips, left over from guitar playing and various
carpentry adventures. They will get me through all but the most
extensive use of a small needle.
John

I got one of those for my son and DIL for Christmas. Bed, Bath & Beyond had
to order it for me, shipped it to my house FREE, and gave me all the
paperwork for a $20 rebate! It looks really interesting; it is also a
grinder.

--
Alice in PA
http://community.webshots.com/user/twosonsatpsu
"Sandy" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Taria" wrote:

I am flat out of I wants right now. Well, unless
I get to really thinking on it. : )


Taria, right now I'm drooling over a pasta attachment (for hollow
shapes) for my mixer. Quilting wants? Nothing comes to mind at the
moment!

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net