Overlocker for the Space

The Hackspace
1

So, a few people have been interested in acquiring an overlocker for the hackspace, and a Singer one has come up on sale at Lidl for £130, around £60-70 lower than other shops selling it:

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=37580

It’s got good reviews, and if we can get enough money pledged, I’m happy to pick one up tonight if there are any left - here’s a good review I found

http://www.kestrelmakes.com/2013/11/the-singer-14sh754-overlocker-from-lidl.html

It’s from a reputable manufacturer, parts should be easy to find, instructions easy to read, and having four threads is better than the two or three thread options (this can also do both the two or three thread stitches as well).

Thanks,
Chris

2

Pardon my ignorance but what is an Overlocker for?

3

If you take a look at the main seams on a t-shirt or a quilt, they have an
odd stitching pattern to them, where the thread goes around the top of the
seam. This is an overlocking stitch, and it allows for some streach, seals
the hem in so it doesn’t fray, and is really quite strong. The machine also
trims away the seam allowance, to give you that nicely finished edge.

This machine also does flat overlocking, so again, on a t-shirt, the end of
the arm holes and the bottom hem of the shirt will have a 1cm turn-up of
fabric, and then again, an odd stitching pattern almost like a celtic
weave. It’ll do that too.

And a rolled hem - but I don’t have a good example of that, for mens
clothing.

These beasts take four threads, have blades inside, and are a Higher Form
of Sewing Witchcraft. Like a wankel engine and a jet turbine engine, both
spin, and use hydrocarbons to push the object forward, but you don’t strap
a jet turbine into a car (unless you’re Rover or Jaguar). Both a sewing
machine and an overlocker will join two pieces of fabric together, but
their use cases can be quite different, and neither machine can do the job
of the other.

Hope that helps,
Chris

4

Sewing - it’s for doing clean & professional seams.

S

5

We now have £60 pledged, with £70 to go - £30 from me, £30 from Bob.

Chris

6

Thanks for the information. I will put in £20.

I really do need to learn how to use the kit though. I have clothes that need altering all the time.

Alex

7

… and I probably should have added that I’ll happily chip in to the
pledge drive as it’s worth acquiring, even though I’ll probably never get
around to using it! Uh… £20? What are other people pledging? I tried to
look in the ML, the wiki and even scanning through Telegram but didn’t see
anything.
—EDIT - oh FFS,that’s twice today another ML message has come in and
pipped what I was in the middle of typing.

S

8

Awesome, upto £100, just £30 more to go - so far we have:
Me - £30
Bob - £30
Alex - £20
Simon - £20

thanks,
Chris

9

I can put £20 in :slight_smile: and happy to show people how to use it/how to do other basic clothes alteration stuff

10

And I’ll put in the final £10!