Welcome to Reader Mail, the October 30th Edition.

 

I received an email from someone inquiring about a machine I had advertised on the local buy and sell.   She wrote:

I am an absolute beginner, what would you recommend for a first machine?

I don’t require any fancy stitches, but what about the 4 step buttonholers or a built-in button hole function?

Hi!

I think any “basic” machine is fine for you. The main stitches you will use for most anything are straight and zig zag. A blind-stitch is a variation of the zig zag, and it’s a nice to have, but other than that, the rest is all gravy.

I wouldn’t put a lot of weight on the buttonholer though. A 4 step buttonholer, like on the machine I advertised is really only a half step above building a buttonhole manually.

I have a better solution for you. Singer made a buttonholer attachment that even lifelong sewing people (I just can’t bring myself to refer to us / them as “sewers”.) prefer to the modern button holes made by extremely expensive machines.  They are dirt cheap all over the Internet, and I carry them as well.  This attachment, as well as several others made by other companies (Greist, Ruby, Famous, etc) makes a nicer, traditional looking buttonhole.  It’s a simple device that you stick the correct template into, put it on your machine, and let it take control of the buttonhole process.

 

The 4 step button hole “Feature” always got me a crooked buttonhole, and it always looked unfinished.   The newer more automatic ones tend to be a little problematic, and still don’t look “right”.

Spend the $10 – $20, and get a Singer or a Greist buttonholer with a manual.  You won’t regret it.

Even if you don’t get a machine from me, please do stick with an older/vintage machine. They’re not only nice and basic, but they’re actually still made of metal, and with the proper care, will last a lifetime. The new machines nowadays are definitely not like that.

Take Care,

Tammi