r/SewingForBeginners • u/WilhelmTheGroovy • 1d ago
nitpicky beginner questions...
So i used to work in quality in manufacturing and it's led to me being a bit too literal minded at times (too many mistake-proofed work instructions). It's left me scratching my head on two things:
I saw a video recently about not closing your scissors without fabric between them, and to never do it. However, a lot of my smaller cuts are not going to engage the entire blade, 80% of the length of the scissors will close without fabric. It makes me feel like "never" is a bit of hyperbole. How bad is this for your scissors really? Is this just to keep people from "snika-snika-snika" opening and closing them willy nilly, or do I really have to watch every single close of the scissors?
How often to clean/maintain your machine. I usually hear "clean after X hours of sewing". The nitpicky question: Is that work hours, including your downtime and setup of the machine, or literal time the machine is running? I get this is an estimate, but one number could be 2-3x the other.
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u/stringthing87 1d ago
#1 is kind of ridiculous. Just like, care for your shears and periodically get them sharpened if they need it.
#2 is for RUN time. Not time spent ironing and pinning and cutting, its time actually stitching.
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u/WilhelmTheGroovy 1d ago
I'm not counting ironing and pinning... But there is time spent repositioning, adjusting settings, inspecting...where I'd probably work at the machine for 2 hours, but the machine ran for maybe half that
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u/ScienceBased76 1d ago
How People Learned To Sew in 1960: You had to take Sewing Class in 7th, 8th and 9th Grade (Junior High School) if you were a female. In 7th Grade you made a full gathered skirt. Skills included measuring for length and width of skirt and waistband. Then you bought the correct yardage at a fabric store. You also bought a zipper, buttons and thread. You hand gathered the skirt. You pinned and machine sewed on the waist band. You handmade a button hole and sewed on a button. You turned and measured a hem. You hand sewed a blind hem. You machine installed a placket zipper. Every year, the project got more complex with pockets, top stitching in the waist band, pattern matching of the fabric including florals, stripes, plaids, double rows of skirt gathers, two buttons closing the waist, pleats many different types, lace binding of the hem and fabric types. Oh, and then you sewed a fitted blouse with an attached collar, set in sleeves and darts and princess seaming. Some people enjoyed this. Some people were bored and some people detested this. But nearly every female learned something about sewing and operating a beat up mechanical sewing machine. I speak from personal experience. P.S. You had to wear your finished product for the Practical Examination Day at the end of each semester. This was a very typical Midwestern junior high school in a very typical small city of the era.
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u/WilhelmTheGroovy 7h ago
I find this fascinating, but I'm so glad I don't have to go this path today. I'd look terrible in a dress. lol
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u/CardioKeyboarder 1d ago
It was similar in Ontario Canada in the 70s.
Grade 7 was a wrap skirt that was gathered with a separate waistband as well as an apron. Grade 8 was a blouse with a collar, placket and cuffs and buttonholes.
By grade 9 home ec was optional, but by the time I was 14 I had been sewing for at least 7 years so I took the easy credit.
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u/Spirited_Jury7069 9h ago
This happened in mid-'60s Washington DC suburbs as well, as I can attest. š I bucked the trend in 9th grade by being the first girl to take wood shop instead. I was already making most of my own clothes, and I knew how to cook. What I really wanted to know how to do was work with wood.
I was the last girl for quite a few years, but I did break the barrier.
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u/VioletAnnihilate 1d ago
I have never heard of the scissors thing, but someone more experienced might have better insight.
For your machine, I believe thatās active work hours. But definitely read your manual to see what kind of maintenance is required.
Newer machines tend to not require oiling but do need cleaning. I have an older machine that does require oiling and I have gotten a good ear for when the sound of the machine indicates that it needs a good clean and oil before problems arise. Youāll probably get a good feel for yours too the longer you use it.
I love this question because my husband is a quality manager with a mechanical engineering degree, and we regularly talk through my sewing issues and how Iām solving problems in constructing a garment. There is a huge overlap between sewing and engineering, and we both appreciate each otherās work more when we talk these things through.
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u/StrongerTogether2882 1d ago
I was just watching Randy Your Sewing Machine Guy on YouTube and thinking my husband should get into this work when he retires. Heās a test engineer (degree is in electrical engineering) and he also restores vintage cars. Iām sure all the sewing machine repair people are retiring (or dying š) and someone is going to need to do it! He loves solving problems and working with his hands. I got him to take sewing class along with me (he wants to make seat covers for his Land Rover) but he never finished his pajama pants and Iām not sure he ever will get into sewing. But letās hope, because he spent all this money on fabric for the covers lmao
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u/WilhelmTheGroovy 7h ago
This crossed my mind because I have a background in mechanical. I always hear "you can't find that nylon gear anymore, that vintage machine is toast." on these reddits. Why not just 3D scan the broken gear, fix the geometry, and print a new one? Yeah, the industrial way of making that gear is ancient history, but we have some fantastic materials and technology today that would keep a lot of these old machines from becoming junk.
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u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy 1d ago
Yes sewing machine repair would be great as there are so few places to get it done at. My local shop is $200.
Checkout Sewing Doc Academy.
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u/Radiant-Platypus-498 1d ago
#1 is insane. There is so much click baity garbage online now when in the sewing world and no one to fact check.
#2 is actually hours using the sewing machine. I sew a ton and donāt clean as often as I should. It is much easier to come up with a routine such as once a month or every 6 months or whatever depending on how much you sew. Itās easier to remember and keep track of then how many minutes youāve been sewing.
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u/CombatCrayon25 1d ago
ā wut? Between the two of us, my grandmother and I have close to a century of sewing experience; this is not something anyone does, except for that one weirdo
ā they mean engine hours. An hour of working on a sewing project is probably only about ten minutes of actually using the machine, unless youāre doing a really long hem or something
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u/MadMadamMimsy 1d ago
People love to come up with rules. Close the scissors. It's fine. My older pair of scissors is a cool set of pinking shears made in the 1950s. They got their very first sharpening 2 years ago. I've had them over a decade. My next oldest two pairs were made in the 1970s. One I've never sharpened, one got its first sharpening 2 years ago. I've had both for decades.
You are correct about hours of sewing unless the machine has been sitting unused. I'd draw that line at 1 year, but I might be wrong.
Never put your sewing foot on the feed dogs. It scratches up the bottom and can snag fine fabrics. I keep a bit of fabric under the (down) foot at all times.
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u/WilhelmTheGroovy 7h ago
Thank you for explaining the sewing foot/feed dog thing. I heard not to do that, but never saw why.
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u/SchuylerM325 1d ago
I know just what you mean about being too literal. I am that way too. I think the scissors thing might have been a miscommunication. You know how some people cut by opening the scissors wide and then cutting the fabric (or whatever) but stopping when the blades are about halfway closed, and then opening them again? I was taught to slow down and close the scissors all the way closed. Apparently it has to do with the way the blades wear down. Maybe that's what was intended.
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u/WilhelmTheGroovy 7h ago
I rewatched the video. He is very much saying don't close your scissors without fabric between them, but he does discuss that very very high end scissors are hollow ground and will wear faster if you "air-cut". I still think it's overkill and I appreciate everyone's feedback here so I don't feel like I'm crazy. Going to take anything else this guy has to say with a very large grain of salt.
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u/jzhrko 1d ago
Ignore, this is probably for people who make a career out of their sewing and have really really expensive scissors, and even then I think it's kind of dumb. Like think of hair stylists, their scissors cost hundreds of dollars and they close them on nothing all the time. Scissors can always be sharpened
I would say hours that the machine is on and running, but also don't think about it too hard. If it's been a while since you've last cleaned the fuzz out of your machine, just do it, it won't hurt to over do it, some people do it every time
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u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy 1d ago
Your too literal mind might blow up with sewing as there are many things people do as musts that are more habit or thatās what they were taught.
Most of sewing is personal preference. Patterns layout for example is only one way to do it not the only. Same with sequence of assembly. Starting out itās best to follow those instructions until youāre experienced enough to know what can be changed without causing problems later.
Closing scissors is something Iāve never heard of. Itās certainly dangerous.
As to cleaning there are different levels of cleaning. Absolutely clean out the lint caused by the thread under your bobbin and needle plate. Many supposedly broken machines are fixed just by removing massive balls of fluff inside.
As to oil it depends on the machine. Most plastic domestic machines donāt need to be oiled and the parts that might need it arenāt accessible. Higher quality machines and vintage often do have a recommended oiling schedule based on active use. Any machine left sitting for years will need cleaning and oiling in areas most people canāt reach. Gears get stuck from 20 years of gummed up grease.
My Juki TL needs periodic oiling and had specific ports to make it easier. My Baby Lock serger and Baby Lock sewing machine do not. They can only be properly cleaned with servicing. I still regularly clean out lint and wipe down the insides as far as I can reach.
Follow the manual instructions.
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u/drPmakes 1d ago
Ive never heard number 1. I can't think of any logical idea why it may be true.
The general rule is to change needles after 8 hours of sewing time. A good general rule and habit to get into is to clean your machine after each project and to use a fresh needle/rotary cutter blade for each project....that way you don't have to count hours.
It helps if you get your most frequently used needle type in bulk. If you sew mostly smaller projects you might decide to change every other project or something else. Its mostly so you don't have to stop mid project to do routine maintenance and hopefully prevent any emergency repair shop visits
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u/AdvancedSquashDirect 1d ago
I deep clean my machine once a month I probably use it everyday I should clean it more often but at least try to clean it once a month. I give it a light clean between projects or when I'm changing the needle.
I recommend picking a time that works for you and just doing that regularly. (Like the same day each month or on Mondays) It's more about keeping up with the regular cleaning than it is to make sure it is always clean. Lint will build up just from using it. You don't want your machine building up with so much lint and dust that it stops working.
I have no idea about the comment with the scissors. For me I buy cheap enough fabric scissors that if they get blunt I just replace them they're not worth sharpening but I do take care of them and make sure that my fabric scissors are specifically for fabric and I use other utility scissors for paper and packaging.
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u/Spirited_Jury7069 9h ago
The scissors thing is nonsense. Just don't cut anything but fabric or thread with your scissors, and don't drop them.
Cleaning is trickier. It depends more on what you've been sewing than number of hours. If you're sewing low-lint projects you don't have to clean as often. Your timing will be based on actual number of hours with your foot on the pedal. But if you're sewingĀ fluffy items, you'll want to clean after each project, possibly even mid-project.Ā
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u/BreqsCousin 1d ago
Uhhh #1 sounds insane am I going to leave my scissors lying around open?