Mini sewing machine

[akis]

I need to stitch on a piece of material very close to the edge and the total space is about 5-7mm. The stitch should be about 4mm in from the edge. As far as I know, sewing machines have a "bit" which is at least 7mm wide if not more, so it would not fit on my 5-7mm width strip.

Are there any mini sewing machines - not in size but the bit at the bottom needs to be tiny.

[SeanB]

Go look for a hand held sewing machine, which is small, and uses a single rel to make a running loop stitch. Caveat is it will unravel unless you tie off both ends properly.

[Psi]

i'm not totally sure what you mean, but there are hundrends of different 'feet' you can use on a sewing machine for different alignments

[nctnico]

Just remove the foot. The sewing machine will work just fine.

[ajb]

Just remove the foot. The sewing machine will work just fine.

You will have to manually hold the material flat and manually feed it for each stitch, though.  If the piece is very short front to back this may be easier said then done without sewing it to your fingertips in the process.  You could also hand stitch it, or maybe take it to a professional who might have a suitable presser foot on hand.

Edit: just reread the OP, and you can certainly run a stitch right at the edge of the material regardless of the width of the presser foot.  Look at any piece of clothing that's not a T-shirt and you'll surely see stitching within a millimeter or two of an edge.  The width of the presser foot should only pose a problem if the pieces themselves are too small to hold outside the foot.

[Mechatrommer]

i'm not totally sure what you mean, but there are hundrends of different 'feet' you can use on a sewing machine for different alignments

he's talking something about 7mm spacing. i guess that is the jigsaw teeth like underneath to drag the material about, i never done that but if one is to need smaller spacing, he need to hack that down to drag lesser distance between each stitch. maybe the more expesive unit have that button customizable not sure. for small quantity, i vote hand stitch, very small lead time for anything.

[Psi]

oh does he mean the thing being sewn is too narrow for the feed dog to pull it.

That seems odd, from memory they run the entire length so as long as the needle alignment is set so its over the top of one of them it should pull it fine

[akis]

The piece of material I want to stitch on has a width of 5-7mm, it is too narrow. On one side of this material there are obstractions. The other side is clear. I imagined that the foot of a typical sewing machine is too wide to even fit on the 5mm width I have and the needle would then be too far out, probably scraping the edge of my material. I will try to remove the foot and feed it manually. I will go the sewing machine first.

[Psi]

Have a look in the sewing machine's pull out draw thing. A foot that lets you sew right on the edge is quite a common foot to have.
You have to change the foot and then set the machine so it knows to move the needle all the way to the right (or left)

[G7PSK]

Hand sew it, by the time you have fiddled around with a machine you will have the job done.

[nctnico]

The piece of material I want to stitch on has a width of 5-7mm, it is too narrow. On one side of this material there are obstractions. The other side is clear. I imagined that the foot of a typical sewing machine is too wide to even fit on the 5mm width I have and the needle would then be too far out, probably scraping the edge of my material. I will try to remove the foot and feed it manually. I will go the sewing machine first.

On some sewing machines you can adjust the needle to be more to one side for stitching edges.

[Teledog]

Could use a zipper foot (on a standard sewing machine) if you have the obstruction on the say, right side.
There are a few types of zipper feet, just use the one with metal on LH side, RH open.
And if the material is very narrow, you can sandwich the entire thing in tissue paper (pinning horizontally or tacking with a glue stick), then just peel the paper off after sewing.

[akis]

I borrowed my m-i-l's sewing machine, a Brother of some kind. It has a rather large foot, and only one. It also only has one needle, I'd prefer a finer needle. From the 14 stitching patterns, number 11 is the "all the way to the left", but on that setting it does not let you choose the spacing. You can only select spacing with the needle in the mid position. So a crap machine so far.

Second annoying thing, the foot pedal, they were economising on the cable so it barely just reaches the floor. To make matters worse, it is very hard to go slowly and carefully, there should be a "low gear" setting so that even if you overpress the pedal it still would go slow. But it has none of this. It was a challenge trying to press the pedal just enough to get it to move without going at 100 mph.

I managed to stitch one of my pads, a brand new one with 7mm sides, and the thread was right at the edge. I would have prefered the thread to be further inwards but it is impossible due to the size of the foot.

Now that I know what I want, I need a sewing machine with a thinner foot, thinner needle, and the ability to move its needle all the way to the left, as much as possible. And with a "very slow" pedal setting. Actually I need a machine with a good selection of ZIPPER FOOT !

[nctnico]

Well it's time to go online and look at your local classifieds website...

[akis]

Could use a zipper foot (on a standard sewing machine) if you have the obstruction on the say, right side.
There are a few types of zipper feet, just use the one with metal on LH side, RH open.
And if the material is very narrow, you can sandwich the entire thing in tissue paper (pinning horizontally or tacking with a glue stick), then just peel the paper off after sewing.

Have a look in the sewing machine's pull out draw thing. A foot that lets you sew right on the edge is quite a common foot to have.
You have to change the foot and then set the machine so it knows to move the needle all the way to the right (or left)

Obviously, only now, after having used the sewing machine, do I understand your advice.
Unfortunately the supplied feet are too bulky.

On some sewing machines you can adjust the needle to be more to one side for stitching edges.

Yes, position 11 on the Brother. Even in this position the needle is still quite far from the edge of the foot.

he's talking something about 7mm spacing. i guess that is the jigsaw teeth like underneath to drag the material about, i never done that but if one is to need smaller spacing, he need to hack that down to drag lesser distance between each stitch. maybe the more expesive unit have that button customizable not sure. for small quantity, i vote hand stitch, very small lead time for anything.

I was not talking about that exactly, but I noticed the limitation on this sewing machine. Positions 6-10 allow you to select different spacings of straight stitches. Position 11 moves the needle all the way to the left, but at a predetermined spacing. There should be two separate knobs, one to select the spacing, and another to select the needle position, eg left, middle, right - so you could try all the combinations.

[ajb]

Most sewing machines do have separate knobs, one for stitch type (straight, zig-zag of varying width, left needle, etc) and one for stitch length.  Sounds like a very basic/cheap machine.

To make matters worse, it is very hard to go slowly and carefully, there should be a "low gear" setting so that even if you overpress the pedal it still would go slow. But it has none of this. It was a challenge trying to press the pedal just enough to get it to move without going at 100 mph.

 

If you're only doing a few stitches, you should be able to run the machine by hand--usually a big knob on the top of the side of the machine.  That'll go as slow as you please.  Or you could find yourself an industrial machine.  A few minutes of that will make your MIL's machine seem nice and sedate by comparison!

[akis]

I ended up using the rotary knob on the right to advance it by hand.

New problem discovered today: the material I am stitching together is silk tape. The glue somehow finds its way to the underside of the foot and glues the fabric to it so it cannot advance anymore. Major pain. I need to invent a new way of making these pads.

[SeanB]

Get some paper ( bond paper is fine) and simply stick the silk to it with some pins. then stitch the whole lot and afterwards tear the paper off. If you want a thinner paper any sewing shop will have rolls of thin dressmaking paper that will do as well.

I needed sewing done today, so walked around the corner to Idi the tailor. He will drop it off tomorrow all done very neatly, and at a very good price. He also does a lot of work on a bigger sewing machine making car upholstery. I must take my chair cover to him soon to reupholster it nicely in a velour cloth, the old one is wearing out, on the 30 year old typists chair I use.