I broke my promise ya..ya..i know. Throw me stones! I recently finish sewing a 21 pcs cloth diapers for a group of mommies at Malaysia Cloth Diaper Parents at Facebook. They are all nice ladies who heart handmade. As i was completing their orders, I managed to take few shots of process cutting a 10y of bamboo fleece to make the soaker aka insert for the diapers. With the help of my all time favourite tool aka tool-that-i-can't live-without hahah! My OLFA rotaty cutter!
I have 36" OLFA cutting mat on my cut table and 18" OMNI EDGE ruler plus my 45mm rotary cutter and I'm good to go! 10 yards Bambo fleece here I come!
This is what happen after 15 minutes cutting. Didn't believe me? Well ..believe it. I rotary can cut up to 4 layers of bambo fleece in one shot! Imagine if I use scissor? How long will it take to finish it and not to mention strain on your fingers. Shown is stacked of cut from 5 yards of bamboo fleece ready to serge!
Serge and ready to go!
I've a love and hate relationship with my serger..not matter how much i hate using it..i love it haha. My tips to get smooth shape of serge insert..cut the fabrics in rectangle shape, just big enough to fit your soaker pattern. Trace your soaker pattern on the top layer of fabric. When you serge...follow the lines that u traced earlier..and go slow when you reach the corner. InsyaAllah your soaker will turn out nicely. There will always a learning curve when working with serger.I'm a newbie too.
21 cds ready to fly to M'sia!
More picture of these project can be seen here.
I also made few embroidery diapers. They are fun to work on!
I believe my Brother SE400 perform tremendously great for the past 11 months I had him. Yes my SE400 is a dude! Hahah! Next month will be our anniversary working together. Since I've been torturing him with my both sewing and embroidery projects I'm thinking of getting him a partner..ya..a partner. So that he can rest a bit and work on solely embroidery project and become my back up machine for sewing.
Shopping for a new sewing machine is fun! I read tons of reviews.. mainly i go to Patternreview.com to read reviews on sewing machine. So far these machines are my finalist for SE400 partner heheh!
JUKI EXCEED F600 - read more about this machine here
Details on the sample stitches can be seen here
Price as per online dealer $1049 (on Sale price) and another online dealer $1399 (negotiable)
I read nothing but great stories about this machine. It has hundreds of built in stitches. Comes with extendable table which is a bonus. It's truly workhorse, Juki applied the technology they use on industrial machine onto this home sewing machine! Click at the link above and you'll understand what i mean. Even it;s more expensive than 835 below...it comes with so many extra foot that u can think of and the table too. It use class 15 bobbin, have knee lifter and comes with auto thread cutter too! Also other features that my dud SE400 didn't have. and it's good to know this machine use 120v and 220v so..if i were to bring this back to M'sia later..it shouldn't be a problem!
When i talk to dealer over the phone yesterday..he said this machine is totally kill Bernina...(Bernina would cost my arm and legs haha!). I didn't know if any JUKI dealer in Denver...not sure. If i were to get this..i;ve to order it online.
I found few blogger post their reviews on this machine..one is here..another one is here..i dream of this machine every night. Is that i a sign I need to take a break from this hunting so that I can be more rational in making decision hahah! I don't want to end up with with remorse after i had it! Ok next machine in line is....
VIKING SAPPHIRE 835 - read more about this machine here
Price as i check with dealer $999
I saw this machine at the dealer few months back at Joann. (The one yg jauh skit dari rumah). It's a solid machine, with the long arm feature i can see it will be a bless if I have a quilt in my to sew list. The only thing this machine didn't have but my dude SE400 has..Auto thread cutter. I'm spoiled with that feature. It would be great if it has one. It uses different bobbin, means i need to buy another bobbin for this. It use the green bobbin, not like her sister Emerald lines that use class 15 bobbin (which same as SE400 i guess). Still it;s not the end of the world. Another thing, no such thing as cheap parts for this machine..I've to invest another $$$ for extra foot that I need, however their price range still cheaper than Bernina's i think. But all in all this machine a workhorse and great machine to own. Which still put me on the fence bohooo!
Update 11.20pm: I went to dealer today! Now i want Sapphire 835 so badly!
Update 11.20pm: I went to dealer today! Now i want Sapphire 835 so badly!
But after looking at this video..i lean more toward JUKI
JUKI vs SAPPHIRE
JUKI vs Brother HE 420
So..my hunting is not yet end...here's some fun fact about my new sewing machine hunting journey:
- At first i only had $400 in my budget...i won a Viking 545 on ebay for $355 and was so excited about it even it;s and old machine but still it's a good machine. After i won the bid, seller contact me saying that the machine has stitch prob..dang! she will send it to service before ship it to me and i've 7 days to test out, if i don't like it i can return for full refund. I ask opinion from people at patternreview forum..most of them ask me to back out the deal and use that money to fund for a better machine rather than dealing with all the drama. End of story..i back out the deal and seller refund my full payment.
- After incident no 1, i increase my budget to $500...i'm planning to buy new machine. No more ebay machine for me. So i was eyeing on PE 420 and another Janome..till I stumble upon Juki F600 review.
- So..there's a thread in patternreview discussing about Juki price..it was around $899 when the machine was first introduce to the market. Such a good price for a great machine right..I keep that number in my mind and telling myself..if I wait for some times..i might had a chance to find extra $ to fund for this great machine..why not I give a try..i just need to be patient :D
- Here we go..my budget going up from $400 to $899..till i call the dealer yesterday...the day of the price was at $899 has gone with the wind! that's what the dealer said...huhuuhuh!
- Now..i've to dig up more $$$ for Juki F600 and another side of me saying..are you sure this is what u want? why not look around for European brand that's within the same price range? So..that's how the 835 comes into the story...bear in mind..European brand but made in China.
You got to dig a little deeper
For you it’s gonna be tough
You got to dig a little deeper
You ain’t dug near far enough
Ok..end of my gumboo entry. See ya next time! Wassalam.
