I went up the road today and got caught in a rainstorm. I haven't gotten totally wet in the rain since childhood. It was exhilarating.
When I got back in the house after drying my hair and changing my jeans, I plugged in my lovely old straight stitch Singer and tried out this "Singer Automatic Zigzagger" attachment. I mentioned in the last post that whenever I've seen these little attachments they look hardly used. I just had a yearning to see how useful they might be.
As you can see there are a variety of little patterns that can be made. The little red "stitch pattern" cams are interchangable and fit inside the top cover when a different stitch is desired. The presser foot clamps on to the fabric and wiggles it around to produce the patterns which is a bit unnerving at first. But the darn thing works! Sort of works anyway. The material jumps around so much that one would need to practice a lot to get the effect pictured in the instruction manual which is filled with ideas for sewing trim on dresses, handkerchiefs, tablecloths, and the like.
Ah, excuse me? That waist looks highly improbable. Almost as improbable, in my mind, as the trim in this next photo. Here's the Singer Zigzagger pro version
And then, my version
Well, I'll just have to practice, won't I. Here's a link to April 1930's sewing pages to see an old commercial of the zigzagger in action.
I missed you!
Posted by: Jessica | June 20, 2009 at 07:26 PM
Looks like fun!
Posted by: Jan | June 22, 2009 at 12:15 PM
HI! The Automatic ZigZagger is a fun attachment to use, isn't it! It does help to use stabilizer or interfacing on the backside.
A long stitch length requires a tighter tension (6-7) whereas a shorter stitch length requires a much lower tension (1-2). That's based on a tension of 4 being the norm.
Have fun - I look forward to seeing what else you use it for.
Posted by: April | July 02, 2009 at 12:01 PM
By the way - LOVE! your Singer 185. That Jade-ite green is spectacular!
Posted by: April | July 02, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Love your sewing machine photo's. Hope the zig-zag practice works out ok :o)
Posted by: Tilly | July 11, 2009 at 07:18 AM