I have hem foot attachments of varying widths in the parts that came with my old Universal sewing machine (clone of Singer Model 15, I think)
I have played with said attachments, with no success.
Can the Rev, or other of you sewing mavens, give me some guide lines and tips?
I'm kind of thinking if you combined justJeffs no pins technique with the hem foot It might work. (i.e. hold fabric infront and behind of the foot as feeding through)
Any and all advice gratefully accepted.
grinder
Nope! heheheOriginally Posted by Grinder
I can't get them to work either. So you are not alone.
It is as much a feel as anything else. With practice I can roll a hem as fast by hand as I've seen people use the hemmer. Don't sweat the small stuff. But keep trying to get them to work if you want. Some people love them.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
good morning, Rev.
I just found another thread linking to a PDF How To which I'm downloading now.
http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/me...techniques.pdf
We'll see.
I got a Florida Hang in less then two weeks, so I'm all Aholes and elbows, making a down underquilt (my mostambitious project to date and I'm scared to death) and want to knock out a single layer hammock (of some walmart camo I bought years ago, before the fabric department went away.) The hem foot would greatly speed up the hammock if it were near automatic.
"Search forum first, ask question second" should be my new motto.
Ho Ho ,Gotta go
grinder
since they mention it works better on light fabrics, this should be good with nylon, once you correct for the 'slip/slide' factor; just practice on the scraps you got from squaring up the edges of your fabric..KM (who has plenty o' scraps, you betcha..)
I've had better luck with a hemmer foot on natural fibers. The nylon seems to be too slippery for my foot to fold it properly. The other thing that is probably extremely important is a good clean even cut edge. Any dips or tabs on the fabric edge will throw off the fabtic track as it goes through.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
They can work but it takes a lot of practice. Nylon is probably the most difficult to make work in a hemmer foot or attachment. Sil nylon is a BEAST. I don't use them on sil at all.
The problem I have with hemmer feet (as opposed to an attachment) is starting it, especially with nylon. I usually start it as well as I can and once it gets going, I can control how much fabric I am feeding into the foot.
Here is a video of 1/2" roll hemmer on nylon taffeta. I was shooting the video with my phone with one hand and trying to sew with the other. What is missing in the video is how "engaged" your left hand ist as well keeping the fabric in the right place and feeding it along/keeping pace with what is being stitched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31EOwtBukGY
Hey there, sorry to dig this thread out of the grave, but is that a separate hemmer attachment you've got there, rather than a hemmer foot? I just picked myself up a 6mm hemmer foot, and I like the idea of it, but it's just a bit too small in my opinion. Even when I feel like I'm doing a good job with it, the slightest movement and I'll get an exposed raw edge or something. That thingamajig you got there looks very cool, and I really like that it does the larger hem. Have a link or anything as to where to get one?
yes. Hemmer attachment vs. foot. Not really a fan of feet if your machine is capable of handling attachments.
Ebay has them all over. They vary in price from reasonable to outrageous. If you purchase outrageous from a real attachment manufacturer, you send them your fabric and they build one that works and send it to you with samples. Expect several hundred dollars. I purchased mine on ebay and much less expensive <$20.
Okay, newbie question. How do I know if my machine is capable of handling attachments? I have a Singer 4423.
Hey, y'all. I've used those rolled hem feet quite a lot on thin & slippery fabrics (used to make opera & theatre costumes in a past life, also lots of camping gear on an old OLD long-bobbin, straight-seam-only Singer with just a few attachments). I have a few suggestions that may make a fiddly job easier.
1. I find it a lot easier to get the rolled hem started if you first attach a small square of scrap or ribbon or Tear-Away etc to the beginning corner. This gives your left hand something to hold onto, and you can feed the scrap into the hemmer first to get the roll going. Then just keep going onto the "real" fabric. Cut or tear off the scrap when you're done. If I have it, I use a little piece of water-soluble interfacing instead and it just melts away with a wipe of a sponge -- or the first time out in the rain!
2. Hold the fabric pretty taut in front and back as you feed it into the roll foot. I roll the edge a little in front between thumb and first 2 fingers about 4-5 inches away from the foot at a slight angle UP and also to the LEFT to encourage it to roll into and STAY in the foot. That way you can easily control how much fabric goes into the roll. This gives a straight, neatly finished rolled hem without raw edges sticking out here and there along the way.
3. It's especially hard to roll edges on thin and slippery and ravelly nylon or polyester. I made a down jacket, tent, sleeping bag from ripstop nylon several years ago, and before I sewed anything I first seared all around the cut edges of each piece on the side of a candle flame (carefully!!! or you'll melt the whole thing. Some folks use a solder iron instead but I haevn't tried that yet. I think it would make a mess of the tip). Searing the edges made it a lot easier to sew without all those ravels, and no worries about it ravelling away over time. More to the point of THIS post, though, is that the seared edges also stiffened them just a little and made it easier to feed the stuff through the hemmer.
4. Also helps to cut the corners a little rounded before you start if you need to roll adjacent edges, so you won't have trouble turning as you go (slowly) around the bends. This way you can go all the way around (e.g., for a tarp) in one continuous go without having to stop at every corner and then start the roll again on the next edge.
5. Last tip (then I'll shut up!) is to first sew a straight seam along the line where you want the hem to roll. No need to fold it over, just sew the flat face along the fold line. This makes it easier for the fabric to fold itself over, straight along that line and into the foot when you roll the edge. Don't do this if you'll be bothered by the appearance of an extra line of thread showing on the rolled hem.
Don't want to come off as a know-all. These little techniques have worked well for me, so maybe they'll help other folks, too.
Oh, and sorry for no pix -- my camera has gone into hiding after the Big Move across country. I know, no pix so it didn't happen! I'll try to post some soon if anybody is interested in seeing what the heck I'm talking about!
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