A day dealing with Buttonholes. ;-)

Hmmmm, I think I found a new insult...

Anyway, another tutorial/demo/thing! Yay! And the blogosphere rejoices.

Really though, this buttonhole maker has been ominously staring at me ever since I got it for $4 on ebay. I will admit, I was scared to death and horribly intimidated by a gadget the size of a twinkie. However, now I feel much better and decided to share my (limited) knowledge in the event that one of the 2 people who reads this needs help operating a 60 year-old vintage buttonhole maker. So, let the games begin! (If you are overly anxious and want to see it in action, there is a video of the thing running at the end of the post)

First, your Singer buttonhole maker should come with things like this:

The mechanism itself, metal cams (the buttonhole patterns), a feed plate cover, feed plate cover screw (smaller), and an ankle screw (larger). And maybe an instruction book.

First, remove your presser foot, but keep the needle threaded (trust me, it's a pain to try to thread it after the foot is on)

Next thing you want to do (aside from getting coffee if you are doing this at 10pm like me) is to screw down the feed cover plate via one of the holes on the bed of the machine. It's pretty obvious which one because the needle still has to be able to go down. This prevents the feed dogs from moving the fabric so that the buttonhole maker can move it instead.

Next is to load the desired cam into the back of the machine. First, use the white knob on the top of the machine and turn it counter clockwise until the front slot is at its most extended length. You can also just gently pull on the slot if you don't have a cam loaded already.

Pull the back bottom plate forward and up to open. Load the cam with the "divets" face down, lining up the round end with the shape on the base.

Close the back plate. You should be able to turn the top white knob and the front slot/guide should move in an elongated circular motion.

Next, bring the foot from the back of the machine and attach to the ankle. Also, make sure the "fork" on the right side of the machine goes around the needle bar.

"Fork" arm going around the needle bar

Large screw secures the foot to the ankle.

Holding your needle thread, take one stitch via the hand wheel and pull up the bobbin thread.

Next, get the fabric ready. I am using a scrap of cotton with another scrap of medium weight interfacing ironed on the back. Using chalk, I marked 3 buttonholes 1 inch apart, showing the beginning line. The hash marks are not the exact length, but rather mark the distance between each buttonhole. I didn't do the "neatest" job, but you get the idea!

Next, turn the white dial on the back of the buttonhole maker so that the needle is positioned at either the bottom middle or top middle of the buttonhole, depending on how you marked your fabric (turn the dial a few times to get an idea of how the thing moves, you'll be able to see it!) Now, properly speaking, one is supposed to start at the back of the buttonhole, but here I realized that with this gadget, it doesn't really matter as long as you have it marked.

Line up the needle with the cross-hash of your first buttonhole marking, lower the presser foot, and start sewing!

First time around, a little sparse.

2nd time around, much better! Yep, just keep sewing.
No need to reset!

Move on to the next one!

And if anyone is interested, here's a video of it in action!

Easy-Peasy Zipper Installation... a la masking tape

...But first, a Lydia update, because I am obsessed.

Yay!!!

I have a 60 year-old roommate named Lydia. She's small, quiet, doesn't eat much, but packs quite a punch.

I heart her, big time.

I am slowly getting used to life with a vintage Singer. I have to say, I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!! :-D There is a learning curve, as with all new things, but it is well worth it! I have so far made 3 skirts on her and will finish a 4th and 5th one by tomorrow evening, I am sure.

Anyway, onto a tutorial:

Inserting Zippers With Masking Tape

Note:
I hate, loathe, despise sewing zippers. Really. I can never get them looking right... until I tried this.

Step one:
Measure your zipper (bottom to top where the zipper pull ends and you see two small metal "stops" on each end)

Step two:
Pin your two pieces of fabric together as usual. Measure from the top of the garment down to the same length as your zipper. Mark this measurement (I used two straight pins)

Step three:
 Sew the fabric pieces together using a normal-length stitch, starting from the bottom of the garment to the top. On my machine, this is between 8 and 12 (stitches per inch).

A stack of post-its for a seam guide

Medium stitch length

Sew up to your marking

Stop when you get to your marking and choose the longest stitch length (Mine is 6). Continue sewing to the top.

Longest stitch length

 Step four:

Press the seam open.

Optional: First, cut a notch where your marking is (not through the seam, though). This is only necessary because this pattern calls for all of the seams to be pressed in one direction and topstitched, whereas the zipper seam needs to be pressed open. 

Step five:
 Position your zipper (closed) with the coil (face down) lined up with the seam.

Step six:
Apply masking or painter's tape across the zipper to adhere it temporarily to the garment.

Step seven:
Sew around the zipper. I don't have the zipper foot yet (had to find one online) so I just used my regular foot and positioned it right next to the coil. Yep, sew right over the tape.

Step eight:
Peel the tape away. The needle should have perforated it enough for easy removal.

And remove your basting (long) stitches to open up the zipper seam...

TA DAAAA!