[Nfb-krafters-korner] Embroidery Machines

Blindhands at aol.com Blindhands at aol.com
Sat Aug 11 18:00:26 UTC 2012


I  really never thought about if they had such a machine as yours  Linde.  
Now it does sound a bit tedious, but I had thought in the past  about 
embroidery machines and different colored threads and when they run outand  how do 
you know which one to refill, etc.  Now doing it one color at a time  isn't 
too bad of an idea.  I, as a blind person have learned it takes  longer for 
me to do many things then a sighted person, but that is OK as I am  doing 
it.  So I know that this might be expensive, but to use a machine  just to 
embroider and I have several machines I can sew on, might be a  consideration.
 
I am going to check in a little more now that you sparked my  interest.
 
I just would have to think what I would like to embroider and consider  
that.
 
Can you embroider words?  Does it embroider on all types of cloth or  only 
special cloths?  What do you use for stabilizers ?
 
Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

 
In a message dated 8/11/2012 1:42:51 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
stephlin at iafrica.com writes:

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

Find PRACTICAL PRODUCTS  on FACEBOOK: 
http://www.facebook.com/practicalproducts
----- 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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