Hand Sewing vs Machine for a Newbie

[MamaPam]

There are a fewer smaller things that I want to make. A small pillow for one of the girls and a small bag for knitting projects are the main ones. Would hand sewing them take forever? Would the hand sewing hold up as well as something done by machine? Or if I am going to do such project more regularly would I be better off getting a small sewing machine? Any thoughts on this appreciated.

Also thought I'd add that I have not sewn anything in a very long time and have almost no experience machine sewing.

[autumnbloom]

i love my machine because it goes SO MUCH FASTER which is encouraging to me... but there is also a gentle feeling of accomplishment by doing it by hand... i would say that they are both equally strong as long as it is done correctly.

have fun!

[nascarbebe]

Sounds like you're ready for your own sewing machine! All you need is one from walmart for around $100 or so. I learned to sew from my 8th grade home ec class and by watching my mom. I got my own machine a couple of years ago and basically taught myself. I started out making toss pillow. Since then I've made curtains, blankets, duvet covers, now I've started quilting and I sew baby carriers for profit. Oh I'm also making baby toys and probably other things. About all I ever use is a straight stitch. I have not only saved money by making my own things, but I've also made money from what I sew.

[lightheart]

All your projects you talk about can be done by hand but things would go much quicker with a machine. Because they are all staight line sewing type of projects if you were to get a machine, it would be great practice on learning how to use it.

If you want straight sticth only look for an old black singer 99 (a smaller machie) or a singer 66 (same machine as the 99 but full size) if you want to do zigzag, a singer 401 is my favorite. The 99 and 66 use the common side clamp, low shank feet (there are some older 66's that use back clamp feet which are sometimes hard to find and a little more expensive when you do, so be aware if you are looking) the 401 use the slant shank feet and are easy to find, it has tons of built in stitches.

I'm not fond of the 'new' machines, definatly not the cheapy ones and the real expensive ones are just that... expensive...

[MamaPam]

Both my grandmother and mother have a sewing machine in a cabinet. I had completely forgotten I could have one of those as neither sew anymore. So I'm going to hold off on projects until I can get one of the machines moved here. As a pp mentioned the things I want to do would be good practice on the sewing machine. I'm planning on selling somethings on etsy so if I wanted to add some sewn projects to that a machine would be especially handy.

[astrophe27]

I taught myself to sew on a full size Simplicity Creative Spirit Plus but later got a smaller "green" Hello Kitty Janome from Target.com with the idea that it is easier to take to sewing circles and I can give it to my daughter when she's older. I like that is is slower stitch speed, and less variables to control for her. (tension, stitch width, etc.)

Guess which I like better myself? The HK! OF course, for big projects I will prefer the full size machine, but for little things or mending -- the HK is great.

I say def. go with machine sewing.

Think about the Hello Kitty (It is really a Janome Harmony 1017 ) and use a magnetic seam guide on the plate to help keep fabric straight. Also use metal bobbins. I can put it away in a large laptop bag and cart it around and it does great stitching. The blue Hello kitty is smaller and cheaper, but has a plastic plate so the magnetic seam guide won't stick to it.

The fact that I'm an HK fan doesn't hurt.

http://www.target.com/Hello-Kitty-Se...machine&page=1

GL!
A.

[medaroge]

Originally Posted by nascarbebe

Sounds like you're ready for your own sewing machine! All you need is one from walmart for around $100 or so. I learned to sew from my 8th grade home ec class and by watching my mom. I got my own machine a couple of years ago and basically taught myself. I started out making toss pillow. Since then I've made curtains, blankets, duvet covers, now I've started quilting and I sew baby carriers for profit. Oh I'm also making baby toys and probably other things. About all I ever use is a straight stitch. I have not only saved money by making my own things, but I've also made money from what I sew.

saw you are from MO, I am in central Missouri, where are you?