[Nfb-krafters-korner] Embroidery Machines

Sat Aug 11 17:39:46 UTC 2012

Hi Jennifer,
I have a Singer Futura 350, which is an electronic sewing and embroidery 
machine. I love the machine, but I primarily use it for sewing.
It is fairly accessible since, apart from having a screen, it also has 
buttons that will bleep when pressed. You can count how many times to press 
to get to a certain stitch. It also has sliding levers with a bleep noise to 
let you know when your stitch is correctly set up or within a certain 
allowable range.
I have my stitch numbers on my pc, so I can look up the numbers. I haven't 
made other adaptations. The threading path is also fairly easy and 
accessible. The machine also has an automatic needle threader, which, after 
some practice, I am able to use with no problem. I have also learnt to 
replace needles, sewing feet, the throat plate etc. of the machine, which 
does help a lot of times when I don't have sighted help available.
About the embroidery part of the machine, I will try to give a quick 
explanation for in case others might be interested. Keep in mind this is my 
personal opinion and your ideas and circumstances may differ.
This machine has a separate embroidery unit, which is about the size of a 
laptop, just more bulky. Each time you want to do embroidery or sewing, you 
have to change the machine by ataching the unit and changing the feet and 
the thread, since you use different thread and an embroidery foot than when 
you are just doing normal sewing. For doing embroidery, you must secure the 
fabric you are going to use within a hoop, which is like a plastic frame 
with clamps. This machine can be connected to a pc and you can buy or find 
embroidery patterns on-line, which are then transmitted using software to 
the sewing machine. It does sound easy, although I found it to be a long 
process which wasn't easy to do on my own. Basically, after you have done 
the setting up of the unit, the foot and the thread and found the pattern to 
use, etc. your colours are done one by one, so you do the red, then the 
machine stops, then you re-thread and do the other colour, etc. I did not 
even get as far as sorting out how to fix problems with stitches not done 
correctly by the machine. I did a small design and it did have a few 
glitches which I could feel. It took a lot of thread, which is fairly 
expensive.
Having said all this, I know that embroidery is done a lot these days, 
mainly with dedicated machines, but there are also many people who do it on 
a machine from home. Maybe I might have had a different experience if I had 
one machine for sewing and another for embroidery.
So, I find the setting up of the embroidery unit so cumbersome that I now 
mainly use my machine for sewing.
So, my advice would be to ask a lot of questions and if you have someone 
with you let them help you as much as possible, especially if they know a 
bit about machines.
HTH
Lindy

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jennifer Jackson" <jennifersjackson at att.net>
To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 2:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] sewing

> Hey, does anyone have any information about the accessibility of an
> embroidery machine?
>
>
> Jennifer
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Henrietta
> Brewer
> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 6:23 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] sewing
>
> You might make some adaptions yourself. Like marking the measurements for
> seam gauge. But a simple machine with dials and levers can work nicely.
>
> One thing I did to save time is to put a piece of masking tape on the end 
> of
> my thread while threading. I was doing the threading without it but it 
> took
> forever. Then I cut the tape off before threading the needle.
>
> Oh, and for how would you know if you made a mistake? Can you find a hole 
> in
> your clothing now? In fact, I have never left a hole in my sewing. Might
> have made seams that were not so straight, Might have kept sewing when the
> thread broke, and even sewed two pieces together so one was inside out but
> never left a hole in anything. lol
>
> Oh, to keep my quilt pieces on the same side I pin the colors together 
> wiht
> the head of the pin on the right side.
>
> Lots of things you learn as you go. But skirts might be a good way to 
> start.
>
> Henrietta
> On Aug 10, 2012, at 4:26 PM, Nikki wrote:
>
>> Are they adapted?
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Tanya Wheatley
>> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 6:14 AM
>> To: List for blind crafters and artists
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] sewing
>>
>> Yes, it is. I have three electric sewing machines and three treadle
> machines
>> that I use!
>>
>> Tanya
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Nikki" <daizies304 at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 1:13 AM
>> To: <Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] sewing
>>
>>   Is it possible for the blind to use a sewing machine?
>>
>>
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