Major Project Blog V: Metal and Tech

Sam's Sewing Machine

I mentioned in the previous blog that I had already started working with a sewing machine. What I like about sewing machines is that they are very friendly towards beginners.Their ease of use and speed are what makes them more efficient to use compared to hand sewing. Sewing machines also use two strands of thread at the same time as you stitch. For this reason the stitches are more secure compared to the hand sewn stitches, especially when it comes to thicker fabrics. The main complication I had when working with the sewing machine was threading it. Trying to thread the machine without a guide is complicated. Luckily I found a video on Youtube that helps explain how to thread it.

Meet Blob-O

I decided to make a video of me using the sewing machine. I uploaded the video to Youtube and it can be found here. I decided to speed the video up so that it ran 4 times as fast as it normally does. I did the video editing in a program called Adobe Primere Pro. I found this program to be very useful. It does cost money to download and install, but luckily Adobe offers a 7 day free trial.
The adorable little fellow to the right is Blob-O. He is the finished product of what I was sewing in the video. Even though sewing machine's exist, hand sewing still has its uses. The ladder stitch, for example, was supposed to be used to close the fabric up. I made a mistake by not flipping the material inside out before I started sewing. Because I made this error, it didn't matter how the fabric was closed since the stitches would show. If you look at Blob-O's eyes, you'll notice the stitching pattern to be different than the usual straight stitch. The sewing machine has a lot of different sewing patterns programmed into it for use. Sam told me that the one used on Blob-O's eyes helps seal the ends better. I decided to just go with a straight stitch for the mouth.
Sewing machines are definitely more efficient to use than hand sewing. I still like hand sewing though. It's something that is enjoyable and can be used to help pass the time.