3D printed bobbins jamming in the heat

Is it too hot to be sewing? The temperature is 30C (86F) - we're having a heat wave. My new 3D printed bobbins for Adler 87 suddenly started jamming. My old plastic bobbins for computerised Pfaff 7510 are also suddenly jamming! I blame the heat which makes the plastic expand. With Pfaff and other machines…

Bobbins for Adler 87 – 3D printed

My main and most used machine is a 1930 Adler 87. It uses proprietary bobbins and old style needles, both impossible to find today, but it sews so well that it's worth while for me to address these issues. I still have a lot of needles for it (70+), so there is no pressing urgency…

Hengstenberg/Anker finally working!

It took a long time but my little Hengstenberg/Anker is finally working! The motor This was in February 2018 - over two years ago. I had cleaned her up and got her sewing with the original 12x1 needle, and attempted to fit a motor. The difficulty here was that not only does the Saxonia balance…

The lowest bobbin tension

Low tension on the bobbin thread is required in many situtations, in particular for zig-zag, buttonholes and embroidery, or also for straight stitch to make a flexible stitch that stretches with fabric (think knits and jersey!). Each machine has its own limit to how low the bobbin thread tension can go before the stitches get…

Jones needles and bobbins for CS and Spool

Jones was one of the oldest British sewing machine manufacturers, established in 1859 in Greater Manchester. Jones produced a number of classes of sewing machines, but I have only worked with cylinder shuttle (CS) and rotary (Spool), so this post focuses on them. Jones CS is a vibrating shuttle machine after a White design, named…

The not so standard “standard domestic” bobbin case of Singer 15

Sewing machines based on the Singer 15 design are often referred to as "standard domestic", in particular their bobbins and needles. They were first introduced in 1895 with Singer model 15 and so are also known as "class 15", remaining unchanged to this day. Well, almost. 🙂 The bobbins remain indeed unchanged but the bobbin…