Chain chain chain, chain of fools?

October 25, 2020 9:25 AM

I want to learn how to do chainstitch embroidery using a machine. This seems like a hobby that you have to go all in on financially before even trying it. Is this a bad idea? If not, where do I start?

I need a new creative hobby that meets certain requirements (see question #1 below), and chainstitching seems perfect.

My questions are:

1. Will I like this as a hobby?!?! I'm fairly handy, and good with art type things. I know how to hand embroider. I tailor my own clothes (with no real skill) using my cheap sewing machine but don't especially enjoy it because it feels utilitarian, not creative. I'm not the most creative person in terms of generating ideas of things to make (e.g., I'm very good at photorealistic drawings but not great of thinking of things to draw and totally awful at drawing something without a reference). I find that I don't enjoy art/craft projects that take weeks or months to pay off or are super repetitive, as I don't have much free time or attention span. I also don't enjoy doing things that require a pattern because it doesn't scratch the creative itch for me. So for example, I don't like knitting, and don't feel interested in learning to make clothes with a pattern, but I like ceramics, and very small embroidery projects once I have an idea of something to embroider.

2. Is there a way for me to try this out as a hobby before investing in a machine, or do I really have to go all in?

3. If I need to buy one now, should I get a good one or a widely-available low-quality one? I don't have a sewing machine meant for chain stitching and my research so far suggests (1) the good ones are vintage, expensive ($1-2k), hard to find, and often refurbished with shoddy parts when you can find them, and (2) the less-expensive (~$500- still very expensive for me!) widely-available alternatives are poorly made and maybe not worth getting. I don't even know if I'd enjoy this as a hobby, so I'm reluctant to sink too much money into it. But sinking $500 into something that I'd just have to replace in the best case scenario also sounds not ideal. I'm assuming these things have decent resale value but I'd have to depend on there being a local market for them- which is probably a reasonable assumption given that I'm in Seattle.

4. Where do I find a decent machine? I've set up an alert on Craigslist and checked FB marketplace.

5. How do I learn to use one once I have one? I'm assuming classes are a nonstarter in ~*~these uncertain times~*~. Could I teach myself with youtube videos alone? Are there other options that I'm not considering?

6. Any other general advice?

posted by quiet coyote to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Huh. The only halfway approaches I can think of are getting a hand tambour needle, to verify that you like the results, or dropping your feed dogs and trying free motion satin stitch embroidery with your sewing machine (most machines can do this, and probably the hand-skill translates to machine chaining?).

If you’re on Facebook, join the Seattle sewing groups to ask if someone has a machine you can rent from them and return through a sewing machine store’s tuneup?

Have you asked our two sewing machine shops if they have used ones?
posted by clew at 10:51 AM on October 25, 2020

Oh hell yeah you can do this with NO investment. The trick is to simply drop out the feed teeth on your sewing machine (there is a lever or switch, usually on the back of the machine , below the foot) and set your foot pressure to zero. Sketch out your design on non-stretch fabric with marking chalk, colored pencil, ballpoint, literally whatever. A layer of thin interfacing underneath will help eliminate puckering or buckling (def. use it while learning, but try it without once you get the hang of it...it makes it thicker and stiffer). Set a zigzag stitch, hold the fabric taught, and move it freely under the needle...you're trying to use it like a tattoo needle. To do solid/heavy satin stitch lines, it's often better to try doing it in 2 passes rather than one, because if you go too slow the stitches will make a bump that can snag on the pressure foot. If your machine has decorative/hem stitches, you can use those for shading effects. For large solid areas, I usually just snip out pieces of colored fabric and do them as applique, stitching them down around the edges.
Once you 'git gud', try this: guide the fabric with one hand while using the other to control the stitch width. This is particularly good for leaves and petals and other curvy shapes.
It will almost certainly not look as neat/clean as an automatic embroidery machine (your first project wil likely be filled with knots and snags...wheee!), but why would you want that when you can just buy that stuff?
I made pretty good money one summer at the crafts fair using this to embroider random music lyrics on t-shirts. They looked really cool and hand-made in about 1/100th of the time it would take to do it by hand. Definitely give it a try!
posted by sexyrobot at 12:08 PM on October 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

I agree with sexyrobot. There are a lot of youtube tutorials on how to embroider using a regular machine.

Some inspiration:
- embroidery on the most basic machines
- bobbin work, which lets you use much thicker thread for an effect more similar to chain stitching (she uses a fairly fancy machine, but you don't need to)

You also might get some ideas looking at "thread painting" or even free-motion quilting videos (the topstitching doesn't need to be made on an actual quilt, or on a quilt that you make yourself, or on a complicated quilt).

(You didn't ask but some other things it sounds like you might enjoy: making 3D shapes like bowls out of rolled fabric strips or rope using sewing machines; making "art quilts" out of random scraps - most quilts are carefully planned before starting, but art quilts use irregular shapes and all kinds of cool texture effects and I don't see why you couldn't just make things up as you go along, especially if you're doing it to enjoy the process as much as the final result.)
posted by trig at 2:57 PM on October 25, 2020 [1 favorite]